Tag Archive: Lighting

1. White Light Enhances Showcase of Creative Young Talent at Somerset House Fundraiser

   26 November 2019 09:22 Leave a Comment

   

   

   As London’s working arts centre and home to the UK’s largest and most exciting creative community, Somerset House Trust recently held their first-ever gala in support of the Young Talent Fund. White Light (WL), an approved supplier at the unique venue for many years, was chosen to provide all the lighting, audio and video elements to enhance this important inaugural event. 

   Natalie Howard, Development Manager at Somerset House Trust explains: “We wanted to introduce a wider audience of potential donors to the work we do supporting young creatives’ secure meaningful, paid employment and also keep artists in the capital. We don’t receive any government funding for this work and so it is vital that we are able to raise funds from supporters to be able to continue helping young creatives reach their potential.”

   Over 100 guests attended the gala, including global CEOs, artists, philanthropists and the Trust’s Development Advisory Board of judges, investors, publishers, agents and entrepreneurs. After a welcome drinks reception, guests enjoyed a behind-the-scenes tour of Somerset House Studios – a new experimental workspace connecting artists, makers and thinkers with audiences, before dinner was served in the Seamen’s Hall. Silent and live auctions followed to raise vital funds and speeches from Somerset House’s Chairman, William Sieghart and Director, Jonathan Reekie helped reinforce the need for support.

   WL’s Account Manager, Steven Burnham comments: “It was crucially important that the work of the young artists be given the limelight it deserves to help increase the awareness and support for the Young Talent Fund. With our knowledge of the venue, we knew exactly how to help bring this to life and enhance Somerset House’s beautiful architecture to heighten the guest experience.”

   

   Natalie concludes: “White Light were extremely helpful and accommodating to our needs. We had a vision to create something spectacular and completely bespoke for our guests at the dinner, something they would remember after they left us. White Light helped to create beautiful projections that lit up the staircases; they provided uplighting, which was strategically placed to create an intimate feeling in our dining room and the audio visual equipment, which was essential for our auctions. The whole event ran seamlessly and we are so grateful for their help”.

   Photos © Kris Humphreys Photography & courtesy of Somerset House

2. White Light Offers Big Support for Little Women

   3 May 2018 10:14 Leave a Comment

   Following a successful 2017 season, the Musical Theatre Performance Company at the University of Chichester recently presented Little Women. The production took place on April 19-21 at The Alexandra Theatre in Bognor Regis. The Lighting Designer was WhatsOnStage Award-nominated Jack Weir and he approached White Light to supply the lighting equipment.

   Based on Louisa May Alcott’s life, Little Women follows the adventures of sisters, Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy March. When it was first performed on Broadway it achieved critical acclaim and is often revived across the globe. Jack explains: “I’d never seen the show before but had heard great things. I also knew a lot of the numbers such as Astonishing so I was familiar with it somewhat”.

   Whilst the production was for the University of Chichester’s Musical Theatre Performance Company, a large part of Jack’s brief was ensuring that the show felt like a professional production. He comments: “For a lot of these students, this may be the last performance they have before entering the real world and becoming professional actors. Therefore the standards need to be just as high as they would on any professional production; something that was at the forefront of my design and the equipment I drew on”.

   Jack approached WL to supply him with the equipment he needed. This included the Martin Professional MAC Viper, the MAC TW1, the MAC 700 Wash and the SGM P5 LED Wash Light.

   Jack explains: “The SGMs are fantastically bright and a unit I’ve drawn on before. Due to their brightness, we only needed eight units to light the cyc top and bottom; which resulted in a lovely effect. The main purpose for drawing on the MAC Viper was to shoot through a hanging window. The window was the main focal point of Amy Watts’ brilliant set and, as a result, was a point in which very bright yet controllable lighting was required”.

   This marks another student production that WL has supplied, having provided the equipment on other university shows across the country. It’s also another show of Jack’s that WL has supported,  having also supplied the UK tour of Out of Order along with Rothschild & Sons which ran at the Park Theatre earlier this year.

   Jack comments: “I am extremely grateful to WL once again for their support on Little Women. They worked within my budgets, the constraints I was faced and ultimately delivered a package from which I was able to achieve my design. The final result was a fantastic show which offered the perfect platform for the students to experience the taste of a professional production”.

   Photos courtesy of Andrew Worsfold.

   For more photos, please click here: https://weirdlighting.pixieset.com/littlewomen/

3. Rag'n'Bone Man Goes on Tour with White Light

   11 January 2017 09:33 Comments Off on Rag'n'Bone Man Goes on Tour with White Light

   Following a year which featured a number one single and winning the Brits Critics’ Choice Award, Rag’n’Bone Man has now established himself as one of the most exciting artists in the UK. As his popularity continues to soar, the soul singer has just finished a nationwide tour in which he visited venues across the country. With a strong reputation in concert touring, White Light provided the lighting equipment.

   The lighting designer for the tour was Louisa Smurthwaite. She comments: “My role is to look after the visual aesthetics of the show. I have worked with Rag’n’Bone Man from his initial festival and one off performances. This tour has developed from these and it’s been great to finally create a full length touring show that as many fans as possible can see”.

   Louisa worked closely with Rag’n’Bone Man, real name Rory Graham, to create a set-up that was suited for the tour. Louisa comments: “I wanted my design to work with the set and be personal to Rory. Therefore we designed some skull light boxes, created by Howard Eaton, which were based on the Mexican Dias De Muertos masks that Rory has tattooed on his hands. We also drew on a red velour drape. We wanted a modern take on a classical feel and the juxtaposition of the red drape and the skull lights helped to achieve this”.

   To light the show, Louisa drew on WL’s unparalleled range of lighting equipment. This included Martin MAC Aura XBs, ETC Source Fours, an LSC e24 Dimmer along with a Unique 2.1 Haze Machine.

   Throughout the tour, the show has visited a range of venues all of which vary in size. Louisa adds: “Space has been somewhat of an issue with this tour! The skull light boxes are almost a metre high which meant having to pick and choose what we could actually present on stage at some of the smaller venues. As a result the rig had to constantly change to fit the venue’s requirements. Thankfully the equipment I used from WL was able to adapt to any change in circumstance”.

   The Rag’n’Bone Man tour will be back on the road in March when it embarks on a European leg, visiting venues in France, Luxembourg, Italy and Austria.

   Louisa states: “So far the tour has been a huge success. WL was great as always – I was actually flying in from another tour when this one started and they delivered a great tourable system before overlaying a larger rig for our bigger shows. I really appreciate everything they’ve done”.

   Photos courtesy of Louisa Smurthwaite.