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sb Special user 567 Posts |
I just found this on the Martin Lighting website... I cut and pasted it below (in its entirety, without the one photo it has in the article), and here is a link to the page if you wish to read it there....
http://www.martin.com/casestory/casestory.asp?id=1356 Enjoy, sb Hailed as the greatest illusionist of our time, an icon of modern America who sets box office records wherever he goes, David Copperfield knows the importance of lighting to his one-of-a-kind show. “Each of my illusions takes two years of preparation and work,” he states, “and lighting is a big part of that, not just for the look but also to make the magic work.” David Copperfield has elevated the art of magic to new heights. By combining illusion with theatre, he has revolutionized magic. "For magic to be relevant," explains Copperfield, "it has to evolve so it keeps up with, or even surpasses, the best film and theatre.” Although Copperfield tours the world, travelling up to 40 weeks a year and often performing several shows a day, he is all about excellence and state of the art. In 2002, Florida based Paradigm Productions swapped out Copperfield’s aging lighting rig with an automated Martin lighting package that consisted of MAC 2000 Profiles, MAC 2000 Performances, MAC 600 washlights, MAC 250+’s, RoboScan Pro 918 scanners and Atomic 3000 strobes. Paradigm has provided ongoing support for the David Copperfield show ever since and just this past spring refreshed the entire rig with new fixtures while substituting MAC 250 Kryptons for the 250+’s and adding MAC 700 Profiles to the mix. “I’m very involved in the lighting aspect of the show,” Copperfield comments. “I love design and the idea to paint with light is very important. Also, lighting plays a very important part in the magic itself. Lighting can focus the attention on what people should see, or misdirect to what people shouldn’t see. A missed lighting cue could be disastrous, for example. A piece of magic would become less magical if a button was hit at the wrong time.” Lighting design for his magical shows is a collaborative effort between Copperfield and Homer Li Wag, the show’s Illusion Designer. Lighting is not only integrated into the illusions, it’s used to set mood, what Copperfield calls ‘emotional magic’ as well as to complement musical pieces in the show. “Everything you’d see in a big Broadway show or a rock concert we do,” he explains. (Indeed, he did a Broadway show a few years ago with Francis Ford Coppola as a collaborator.) “The whole show is like that – it’s a big production. Even in my TV specials I collaborate with a lighting designer to set the stage version and then recreate that version on TV.” Copperfield notes that his TV specials have won several Emmy awards for lighting alone. “Lighting plays a key role in every minute of the show. We strobe the lights, use moving patterns, decorate scenery, everything. For years and years it was all about fixed lighting and you’d have to have quadruple the instruments to do a single thing. The idea to have moving lights that are programmable give you so much flexibility – it’s an exciting thing. I love these lights.” |
Christopher Starr Inner circle Heart of America 1850 Posts |
Thanks for sharing this, sb!
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Sammy New user 50 Posts |
That (for someone doing stuff like what David is doing) is the way to go - bring YOUR automated lighting to the location. Sweet setup!
Sammy |
Son of a Beat New user Montréal, Canada 82 Posts |
When doing the TV Specials, they usually work with the Varilite projectors. But nice plug for Martin, that I like so much, too.
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Paul Arthur Regular user 196 Posts |
I see a lot more Martin moving fixtures on show tours than Vari*Lite.
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
Vari*Lites and Martin offer pretty much the same fixtures these days.
Vari*Lites aren't the king of the hill they once were, and these days there are a great number of fixtures nipping at both Martin and Vari*Lites heels. VL's patents expired long ago. |
abrell Loyal user Remscheid, Germany 284 Posts |
As a chief electrician in several TV shows I worked with both of them. There are still a lot of effects and designs that can be done only with Varilites. They are more expensive, but for everybody being able to pay them, they are worth it.
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silverking Inner circle 4574 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-12-02 15:48, abrell wrote: Abrell, while I respect your opinion, I actually own a few dozen VariLites and stand by my statement above that there's nothing that a Vari-Lite can do that any given Martin fixture can't do as well. As I said in my earlier post, the patents which gave Vari-Lite the edge many years ago have long since expired. I'd be happy to eat my words if you can explain EXACTLY what a Vari-Lite can do that a comperable Martin or High-End fixture can't do. If you're talking about specific gobo patterns, gobo's can be custom cut for any moving fixture. |
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