NASHVILLE – The sixth annual K-LOVE Fan Awards returned to Nashville for an evening honoring contemporary Christian artists and hailed as the only fan-voted awards in Christian entertainment. Bandit Lites provided the lighting for the event, which featured 15 live performances and appearances including Natalie Grant, Hillsong Worship and Casting Crowns.
More details from Bandit Lites (www.banditlites.com):
With the awards taking place at the Opry House, home to live broadcasts of the Grand Ole Opry, Production Designer Scott Moore and Lighting Designer Mark Carver had to fashion a high-energy rig that could be installed quickly enough to allow for programming by Carver, Programmer Andre Petrus and Media Programmer Tony Fransen, and then effectively disappear for the Opry’s Tuesday, Friday and Saturday night shows.
“There is a very limited amount of space in which to rig the various bits of automation required to conceal the set changes, so there is always a great deal of give and take between my production designs, Mark Carver’s lighting design and the realities of working around the Opry Production,” said Moore.
The result was a versatile lighting rig coupled with a production design that filled up the video canvas that enveloped as much of the physical Opry stage as possible.
“We wanted to make sure that when we had a cut-away shot back into the audience or a jib or dolly shot from the audience that there was ample lighting to give the viewer at home a real sense of the space and the audience,” said Moore. “Mark did a brilliant job of that.”
“The process behind this design was to try create various layers with the fixtures,” said Carver. “On Site Andre Petrus served as programmer and Lighting Director to cue the musical acts and assure each act enjoyed its own special look and to assist in creative concepts. Tony Fransen served as media Programmer playing back and adding media texture to the looks and adding his expertise.”
Bandit Lites supplied more than two hundred fixtures for the celebration including Martin MAC Viper Profiles, Martin MAC Auras, VL 3500 Spots, GLP X4, GLP X4S, Elation Paladins, Chauvet Rogue RH1 Hybrids, Clay Paky B-EYE K20, Clay Paky Mythos, Solaris Flares and two grand MA 2 Full consoles and two grand MA 2 lite consoles for control.
Clay Paky B-EYES and GLP X4 provided color tone and ambiance, while Elation Paladins and Flares supplied effects and song punctuation. Martin MAC Auras highlighted the audience during both awards and performances and Martin MAC Vipers were used for specials, gobo specials and back lighting, while Mythos and RH1 Hybrids created sharp beams and gobo patters for a layer of texture.
“The RH1 Hybrids were a very versatile fixture with impressive beams and gobos that would really cut,” said Carver.
With all the moving parts surrounding the awards and the venue, precision and preparation would make or break the success of the production, which had to balance the entire power distribution on the cat walk, cabling having to both work around the existing Opry production and remain invisible during Opry performances, and an exceedingly tight time frame to tech even minor issues. Fortunately, Bandit Lites team was well versed in providing a thoroughly prepped rig.
“It is crucial to have a lighting partner that understands the necessity of a detailed prep job and technicians that can maintain their composure even when the simplest of tasks become overly complicated,” Moore explained. “The Bandit staff did an exceptional job on all counts. I was very impressed with how the entire Bandit team handled the long hours, and the tight deadlines and ended up producing a great looking event both live and on television.”
“Mike Golden worked hard to make my show spec happen and protect the integrity of the design,” Carver shared, adding, “Project Manager Don Lockridge executed a flawless prep for a very tight production schedule. Special thanks to an awesome crew Chaz Martin, Aaron Swetland, Steve Strickland and Adam Mcintosh who worked tirelessly through a difficult schedule working around the Grand Ole Opry to deliver a one hundred percent lighting system.”
Photos by Erin Moore
