BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic – The 2012 Miss Universe Slovak Republic, staged at the National Tennis Centre in Bratislava, saw Martin Kubánka once again at the design helm for his 14th year. Local production and rental company Q-99 supplied the lighting equipment including a substantial Robe moving light rig.
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BRATISLAVA, Slovak Republic – The 2012 Miss Universe Slovak Republic, staged at the National Tennis Centre in Bratislava, saw an aesthetic departure from previous years with a stripped back, streamlined, high-tech look onstage with multiple LED walls and panels.
Martin Kubanka was once again the lighting designer in his 14th year of Miss Universe SK. Local production and rental company Q-99 supplied the lighting equipment including a substantial Robe moving light rig.
Kubanka used Daniel Sichman’s raw, stripped back set as the visual starting point to his design, complementing its clear linear cuts and shapes with a futuristic styled lighting rig to match.
The set and all the high brightness LED elements influenced how the show was lit. Bright light sources were needed to deal with the LED, and so ROBE ROBIN MMX Spots and ROBIN 600 Beams were central to the rig.
On top of the general looks, there were the specific requirements of any beauty pageant, including to light the girls in flattering skin tones and with no shadows on their faces for the cameras. As always in a color temperature sensitive environment like this, the CRI of the fixtures was crucial – another area where Robe scores really well.
The Robe fixture count included 10 ROBIN MMX Spots, 24 ROBIN Beam 600s, 20 ROBIN Beam 300s, 17 ColorSpot 1200E AT and eight ColorWash 1200E ATs.
The challenges included lighting first and foremost for live TV and also for a capacity audience of 3,500 people.
In addition to the contestants, there was live entertainment from an award winning line up of bands including Chinaski from the Czech Republic and Slovakia’s Desmod and No Name, all of which needed their own distinctive lighting.
The fixtures were dotted around on five trusses arranged in a fan shape above the stage, with some on the deck below and around the set.
Robe has been Kubanka’s moving light of choice for some years. He specifically likes the latest ROBIN products and the idea generally of smaller, lighter and brighter fixtures, which is a key aim of all Robe’s on-going product development.
“They are reliable, powerful and really well designed,” says Kubanka, adding that the streamlined look of the fixtures themselves also makes them ideal for being in full camera shot.
The ROBIN 300 Beams were placed on the floor around the steps of the stage for in-camera aerial effects.
The MMXs were rigged upstage and used for back lighting effects and painting the stage floor with various patterns and textures.
Kubanka introduced enough glamour and magic to the picture, but also kept it clean and free of distractions.
Kubanka operated allt he lighting on a grandMA2 full size console and the show was directed for TV by Tomas Eibner and broadcast live on STV1.
The DOP was Vladimir Durkansky and the video effects operator was Michal Brna using another grandMA2 console.
