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Chroma-Q Color Force LED Battens Create Texas Sky Effects for Boston University Show

Chroma-Q Color Force LED Battens Create Texas Sky Effects for Boston University Show

July 4, 2014 06:13

Boston University lighting design student, Jessica Elliott, has created big Texas sky sunset and sunrise effects for her production of American playwright Horton Foote’s The Traveling Lady, using the incredible color palette and theatrical grade dimming of Chroma-Q® Color Force 72™ premium performance LED battens.

Jessica is being tutored on the University’s Master of Fine Arts Lighting Design program by Associate Professor (Lighting Design), Mark Stanley -  the resident lighting designer for New York City Ballet and former resident LD at New York City Opera.

When it came to creating the show’s technical production aspects in the University’s Virginia Wimberly Theatre - a brand new 360-seater, state-of-the-art proscenium performance space - it was tutor Mark who suggested Jessica designed the lighting for the performance utilising the Chroma-Q Color Force 72 battens.

"In my opinion, the Color Force units have the best color mixing available in an LED strip light, and their intensity makes them an ideal unit for lighting through an RP and scrim,” says Mark. “I’ve used them on several operas and seen them in numerous demos.”

Jessica’s lighting design for the show needed to be big, bold, powerful, and offer a real-world color palette.

“As the show is set in Texas, a big Texas sky was a must,” says Jessica. “It was one of the first things the show director said he really wanted, and I had to agree. Since sunsets / sunrises have a plethora of color options, I knew that LED technology was the way I wanted to go. I had seen the Chroma-Q Color Force fixtures for myself during the 2013 Hemsley Portfolio Review in NY, and after seeing the smooth color transitions, I was dying to use them in a show.”

The Color Force range’s custom optical design provides a smooth, even light output with outstanding color blend across the spectrum - for equally impressive bold saturates, subtle pastels and a complete range of whites from 1,000K to 10,000K.

In addition, the fixtures offer theatrical grade dimming, emulating the extremely smooth dimming curve of tungsten fixtures, from completely off to completely on, and with no visible stepping or jerkiness.

Jessica rigged five of the super bright Color Force 72” / 1.8m battens – which can wash up to 26 foot / 8m in an extremely smooth, uniform wash – as a ground row, and another five on an electric, all positioned behind an RP screen and scrim, upstage. They were individually circuited, for optimal DMX control from a lighting console.

“The battens were simple to rig and went up fast, which is great. I used them throughout the show and found the range of available colors to be top notch,” Jessica continues.

“I have used a variety of cycs before, but none that were LED. For this to be my first experience of an LED cyc was wonderful. Having the option to change the color of the background with just a press of a button is something every lighting designer would love to have. It will definitely be a difficult transition going back to conventional cyc lighting!”

The Color Force 72 battens were supplied to Boston University for the production by Chroma-Q North American distributor, A.C. Lighting Inc.

Every aspect of the Chroma-Q Color Force lighting solutions range – both inside and out – is designed to deliver the highest performance levels from a lighting instrument, for today’s most demanding applications.

The LED selection, combined with Chroma-Q's advanced ColorSure™ technologies, provides meticulous color consistency between fixtures in any situation. In addition, through batch control and careful thermal management, fixtures deliver the same color results during any period of operation.

As a result, the Color Force range is ideal for highly meticulous lighting applications such as theatre and other staged productions. Furthermore, the high quality output fits seamlessly on a stage with other lighting instruments, giving a perfect result every time.

The Color Force lineup has been used on prestigious UK touring productions of The Phantom of the Opera and Die Fledermaus, as well as leading theatrical productions at the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, UK. In addition, a diverse range of performance venues and educational establishments in North America have adopted the fixtures – such as the 12,000 seater Celebration Church in Florida, Frostburg State University in Maryland and the University of Hawaii.

Highlights from the Chroma-Q LED range will be showcased at CITT, Canada in August on the A.C. Lighting Inc. booth.

To arrange a Chroma-Q Color Force demo, call +44 (0)1494 446000, or for more information, visit www.chroma-q.com.

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