The Million Pound Drop UK

[danielbriggs]

So far as I can tell from observing it appears to be remote laser heads fed by fibre optic from presumably a 445 source.

Wrong.

I'd be very interested to hear what lasers you used to do the show.

Compact4/6's

[smogthemog]

This is what was used for the brit's, taken from their website:

News

25.2.2011
Lasers for BRITS 2011 had to be big! Under the roof of the O2 Arena London ER Productions supplied 121watts of laser power split into 8 systems. BRITS Production asked ER to design a system that could be uniquely used for 2 separate acts giving a wow factor for each.
Our new 21w OPS RRGBB was the star of the show and was used in both Rhianna’s and Tinie Tempah’s performances.

Daily Mail On-Line wrote ‘Tinie Tempah put on a grand performance at the Brits, including an amazing laser light show’

Laser Specialists ER Productions used 8 Locations for their design which enabled the programmer to use all levels of the Arena to superb effect and include a 40 position mirror sequence.
Accompanying the 21w RGB was 2 x 17w RGBY , 3 x 6w RGB , and 2 x 24w G.
All this laser however in such a huge environment would be useless without suitable atmosphere so 8 x VIPER smoke machines with AF1 fans were strategically placed around the O2 giving that all important atmosphere.

The split level programming meant the O2’s audience got an awesome display and also allowed the shows director to get great coverage from all camera positions.

With such a design comes huge safety implications which ER Productions solved using their in-house designed emergency shutdown interface which allows immediate shutdown of all laser power from 1 remote e-stop.

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MfnI-rOSSo
Related product: 21w RGB OPSRelated product: RGBY 17Related product: ER Com6





Deffo Fiber fed jobbies there then

[White-Light]

How much better would it have looked on Tiny's set though if they turned off most of the on stage lighting when the lasers came on?

Why so many companies allow lasers to compete with other lighting I'll never know.

It would have been possible to keep the dimmest amount of light on stage so the artist could just be seen and then let the lasers do the talking for the rest of the laser interval or turn the lighting off altogether and let the artist be lit just by the laser glow.

[norty303]

To be fair, a lot of light was killed, and also I expect the effect of the lasers gets a bit lost on camera, compared to being in the room.

[Marc]

It's a tough environment to work, The o2 is a huge venue... Also competing against TV lighting is always very difficult. We did not use any fibre optics!! We did however use our one of our new 21w OPS whitelight.....

http://www.er-productions.com/products/view/35

Available for hire!!

Marc
ER Productions

[gashead]

Available for hire!!

Dry Hire ?

[White-Light]

It's a tough environment to work, The o2 is a huge venue... Also competing against TV lighting is always very difficult.

Hey I never said I could do a better job! (or even one 1/2 as good).

That said, the problem in my eyes is the LCD screens and the illuminated side panes.

Extraneous lighting makes a huge difference.

This is from a club event, same lasers throughout the clip. In the 1st clip there's stage lighting and even strobes in play, in the 2nd clip, the stage is almost blacked out.

http://www.vimeo.com/20447863

The difference is like night and day literally. You'd never guess it was the same lasers at the same powers (BTW I had no connection with the lasers or the production)

[norty303]

Video is very quickly becoming one of my pet hates.

Lasers look best in a high contrast environment (e.g. dark background) but as more and more productions use more and more projections/LED walls, so the amount of low contrast environments increases.
Lighting I find is usually more pinpoint (i.e. profiles) and so less of a problem than trying to make a laser beam stand out against a bright background.

[smogthemog]

Hey I never said I could do a better job! (or even one 1/2 as good).

FIRST: You need a laser Alistair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

################################################## ########

Marc, if you ever require anywhere to test any of them there lasers you have then please feel more than free to bring any one of them to the impending UKLEM in April

You will be very welcomed Sir.

[White-Light]

FIRST: You need a laser Alistair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quite right there! My last one is happily residing in a club in Yorkshire where its apparently done a good job since being upgraded to 1 watt green by the new owner.

Lasers look best in a high contrast environment (e.g. dark background) but as more and more productions use more and more projections/LED walls, so the amount of low contrast environments increases.

I agree and that was exactly my point. I'm sure the ER were aware of that and sometimes you have no choice but to work with what a client wants, but competing lighting really kills a lasers effectiveness in my opinion.

Video link now added above and here: http://www.vimeo.com/20447863

You can really see what a difference an almost total blackout makes. In the 1st shot it looks like a few hundred milli. In the 2nd shot, its clearly much more powerful.