SLOVENIA – A dynamic visual system comprised exclusively of ADJ lighting and LED video fixtures was used for the recent 2021 finals of the Miss Earth Slovenia Pageant. Utilized both to clearly illuminate the contestants for the online broadcast and to add texture and interest to the set in the background, the highly efficient and predominantly LED-powered rig also fit with the theme of the event by limiting energy use to an absolute minimum.
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The Miss Earth Pageant is an international contest founded in 2001 with the purpose of using the beauty pageant entertainment industry as an effective tool for the promotion of environmental awareness. With its strapline of ‘beauties for a cause,’ the pageant is a search for the most beautiful women of the earth to serve as role models dedicated to advocacy for preserving and restoring Mother Earth. Culminating in a worldwide final featuring delegates from 100 different countries – due to take place online throughout the fall – the contest begins with regional competitions in participating countries.
The process of selecting Miss Earth Slovenia, who will represent her country in the worldwide final, ran over a six-month period and featured various challenges and judging rounds. This culminated with a live final featuring 10 participants who took part in swimwear and fashion rounds in front of a panel of judges. The event was hosted by Danijela Burjan, one of Slovenia’s top models, featured musical performances and ended with the coronation ceremony for this year’s winners. Asja Bonnie Pivk was crowned as the 2021 Miss Earth Slovenia, who won the use of an MG electric car for a year as well as the opportunity to compete in the world final for a change to be crowned ‘Miss Earth 2021.’ Meanwhile, the runners up or ‘companions’ were Ana Elez Ćiković as the first companion ‘Miss Earth-Air Slovenia 2021,’ Maša Pučnik as the second companion ‘Miss Earth-Water Slovenia 2021’ and Tinkara Vengust as the third companion ‘Miss Earth-Fire Slovenia 2021.’
Although the finalists, judges and sponsors all attended in person, pandemic restrictions meant that a live audience wasn’t possible. However, the whole event was captured on video and broadcast online, with the responsibility of lighting the proceedings falling to local Lighting Designer Tomy Vertigo. He designed a system – using a variety of different ADJ fixtures – which not only ensured the contestants were lit evenly and flatteringly for the cameras but provided a dynamic backdrop of color washes, aerial effects and video elements to give a vibrant aesthetic to the entire production.
To create tight static beams in the air behind the contestants as well as animated effects for the transitions and musical performances, Tomy used 12 of ADJ’s Vizi Beam RXONE moving heads. Eight were positioned directly on the floor of the venue, split equally on either side of the set, while four more were hung above the center of the stage. One of ADJ’s bestselling fixtures, the RXONE is a compact and quick moving luminaire powered by a potent Osram® Sirius HRI 100W 1R long life lamp, which produces a super sharp 3-degree beam of light capable of traveling up to 100 meters. It features 14 colors plus white and split colors, 15 fixed GOBOs plus spot, a 21-degree frost filter, and a 16-facet prism with macros.
Commenting on the RXONE, Tomy says, “I like the brightness and the incredibly intense beam that is created from such a very compact fixture. The output is almost impossible to believe from such a small unit. When they first came out, I was convinced they were too small for the work I do and Joseph [Chardon, international sales rep for ADJ Europe who also helped with programming on this show] had to really convince me to buy a pair to try them. But when I did, I was amazed and instantly ordered more. I now have 24 in total and use them for all kinds of events and productions. They are compact enough to use in smaller venues and bright enough to use on big stages. That’s why they are my absolute favorite fixtures.”
In addition, four of ADJ’s flagship Vizi CMY300 LED powered hybrid beam/spot/wash moving heads were also used. Hung in pairs, at either side of the Vizi Beam RXONEs, these fixtures were used to create additional aerial effects as well as for projecting gobo break apart patterns onto the floor of the stage area. Featuring an energy efficient, long life, 300-watt LED light source and an extensive collection of beam-shaping features, the Vizi CMY300 is a truly versatile luminaire ideal for stage and event lighting applications.
“The Vizi CMY300 offers a huge amount of flexibility,” confirms Tomy. “Not only can it be used as a beam or spot or wash, depending on what is required in a given moment, it also has CMY color mixing which takes things to the next level. Being able to select exactly the color I want allows for a lot of creativity and my clients really appreciate that. The multiple gobo wheels and prisms add to this versatility, meaning that it can be used to create a massive variety of effects. What more can I say? It’s a fantastic fixture.”
Above the moving head fixtures, rigged to a black piece of truss running the entire length of the stage area, were eight ADJ 18P HEX LED par fixtures. These were used to create a background wash of the performance space using richly saturated colors which helped to ensure that the participants stood out clearly from the set in the background. With a robust all-metal construction, compact design, multipurpose dual hanging/floor-standing bracket and 18 potent 12-Watt 6-in-1 RGBAW+UV color mixing LEDs, the versatile 18P HEX is the ideal modern par fixture for use by lighting and event production companies.
“The 18P HEX is definitely the fixture type I use the most,” explains Tomy, “because I can use them anywhere! They are really small and compact for the power they provide, in fact a lot of the time I only use them at 50 percent brightness. The color mixing is great, and the HEX LEDs mean that they can also be used as UV fixtures when needed. Add to that the bracket design which makes them ideal for up-lighting and you have a very versatile fixture.”
Further wash lighting was provided by six ADJ 32 HEX Panel IP fixtures, four used to up-light a set panel featuring the pageant logo at the rear of the stage area and two more serving as side fills. The 32 HEX Panel IP features the same 12-Watt HEX LEDs as the 18P HEX, but 32 of them arranged in rectangular matrix. This allows for extremely bright output considering the size of the fixture, while the LEDs are also divided into eight individually controllable ‘zones’ to allow for the creation of ‘eye candy’ chase effects. With a robust IP65-rated construction, it is a fixture designed for a wide variety of applications, both inside and outdoors.
“I like the versatility and the power of the 32 HEX Panel IP. I don’t use dedicated strobes but, when I need it, this fixture creates a fantastic bright white strobing effect. It also offers a powerful wash with really nice color mixing and very impressive output. Eight of these on a large stage – for an audience of 2,000 people, for example – are enough to cover all the color washing and strobing I need! It’s also very compact, comes with a frost filter, offers zone control, and is even waterproof, so I can use it for outdoor events if necessary. The possibilities are endless with this fixture!”
For the important task of illuminating the contestants themselves, Tomy used four of ADJ’s COB Cannon Wash ST DW fixtures. Harnessing the power of a 150-Watt COB (Chip On Board) cool white + warm white LED light engine, these potent fixtures allow a variable color temperature of between 3200K and 6400K to suit all kinds of key lighting applications. They offer a wide native beam angle of 80-degrees but are supplied with easy to fit 40-degree and 50-degree lens kits. These features, along with a compact design, rugged construction and versatile multipurpose brackets are all reasons that these units are Tomy’s ‘go to’ choice for stage lighting.
To ensure the moving head beam effects appeared sharply on camera, without having a negative impact on the way the contestants and performers appeared on camera, Tomy chose a pair of ADJ Entour Haze Pro units. Each of these professional atmospheric generators is built into its own durable road case and makes use of oil-based haze fluid to create an odorless transparent haze that is ideal for enhancing beam effects without a significant impact on visibility.
In addition to the lighting, Tomy also provided two LED video screens for the production. Each comprising of 12 ADJ AV4IP panels, the screens stood at either side of the central logo set piece and were used to display additional logo content as well as animated visual elements. Despite offering incredible brightness of up to 4000 NITs, Tomy made use of the panel’s variable brightness control and dialed it down to just 5% to ensure that the video content blended seamlessly into the rest of the set.
For lighting control, Tomy used ADJ’s myDMX 3.0 control software in conjunction with a MIDICON-2 tactile interface. He then used a number of Airstream DMX Bridge devices – as well as the WiFly functionality of the Vizi CMY300 – to wirelessly transmit DMX control signals to the various parts of the rig instead of running cables along the floor, which could pose a trip hazard to the contestants and performers.
Despite a limited window of just three hours for Tomy and his team to setup and fine tune the programming of the rig, it performed flawlessly throughout the show. Feedback from everyone involved – from the contestants to the performers and the organizers – was incredibly positive, and Tomy says that his clients were “blown away” by the quality of the lighting production.
