Feedback from Sky lighting directors on energy saving. Plus tips from independent lighting directors working on Sky productions.
MALCOLM REED: Sky Studio production for Sky Movies - The Oscars and The Golden Globes 2009
(Lit by low energy lighting sources)
The Oscars
As part of an on going experiment, the challenge was to use low energy lighting. I was able to combine three different types and all coloured lighting used was LED. The fill or soft lighting was done with controllable fluorescent technology and all key lighting was made with discharge lighting using the new low energy Philips CDI Bulb’s. The down side to discharge lighting is the inability to dim the lighting, so to aid this effect, an Eclipse Shutter “Mechanical Dimmer/Dowser” was fitted to the front of each discharge light allowing full control of dimming.
There were several complaints of the cold studio temperature. This was a result of less heat being produced but the air conditioning was still set at its usual levels. In future air conditioning flow could be reduced if low energy lighting becomes standard. Information learned on this production will be invaluable for future productions.
The Golden Globes
THE CURTAIN: I used 12 x Pixelline 1044 LED’s. The power consumption for each unit was 165 watts and to achieve a similar lighting effect with a tungsten light, I would have had to use 12 x strand 4 cell Orion groundrows. Maximum total power consumption would be 2000 watts per unit.
THE FLATS(with silhouettes printed onto them) I used 8 HID ETC pars. Each unit has a total power of 150 watts. An equivalent lighting unit would be an ETC tungsten par with total power of 750 Watts each.
FACES of presenter and interviewees. I used 6 ETC HID sourc4 junior 36 Deg profiles. Total power per unit 150 watts - an equivalent lighting unit would be an ETC Tungsten sourc4 junior 36 Deg profile. Total power 750 watts per unit.
HID lamps are discharge lamps and not able to be dimmed, so I was presented with a small problem of how to control over intensity and blacking light out. Fortunately there is a product on the market from Wybron which is a dowser or electronic iris, which is fitted to the front of each light. This gives full control over the light source.
SOFT LIGHTING: I used 6 x Photon beard High Light 330 fluorescents. Each unit has a total power consumption of 330 watts. An alternative unit would have been a strand Arturo 2000 watt soft light. However, I still needed to use a very small amount of Tungsten light to finish off the artistic element of the lighting design. 2000 watts in total.
Malcolm Reed
Sky Lighting Director
TOM KINANE – Freelance Lighting Director – Don’t Forget the Lyrics
TK Lighting Associates
LED’s and the reasons I have been using them for many years.
I lit “Love on a Saturday Night” for ITV 5 years ago, which to the best of my knowledge, was the first set in the UK to be entirely done by LED. My reasons for using them then and, indeed now, were not only based on energy efficiency but on versatility in terms of colour and effect and to move lighting on and away from smoke and beams and into the 21st century.
In the last few years more and more LED products have come onto the market. These vary in terms of quality but overall it has helped to make LED very cost effective. Again with environmental issues coming to the fore in recent years, the reduced energy used by LED is, of course, a bonus.
On the two most recent series I have been involved with for SKY 1, “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” and “Sell Me the Answer”, LED’s have played a major part. On “Lyrics” the mixture of more traditional moving lights (beams) would not have worked had the LED’s not been part of the rig. The mixture of LED screens and lights, coupled with the moving lights, helped create a real Rock Music feel. LED was also really effective in keeping the studio temperature down for performers, audience and crew.
As I see it, the next development is the manufacture of a light to replace, what I call, generic lighting, i.e. key lights for faces etc. There are one or two people in this country leading the way with LED technology, Chris Ewington at i-pix being in the forefront. You would do well to check out his web site. Hire companies have not been slow in seeing the advantage of these new toys, the leading companies being HSL Productions Blackburn, Richard Martin Lighting, PRG Lighting, London and Automated Lighting.
Obviously the more Lighting Directors embracing this new technology the more cost effective it will become. In this new economic world, this fact cannot be ignored.
Tom Kinane
mail@tomkinane.com
IAIN DAVIDSON: Hay On Sky Arts: Reduced power by 10% on Hay audience lighting in 2008.
Hay On Sky 2009 Outside Broadcast
In my experience lighting on location is usually more energy efficient since we can specify the best type of lighting to use rather than having to make do with what’s already hanging in the studio.
Typically tight budgets also mean you think carefully about how many lights we will actually use. Our OB this year made 10 daily magazine shows which included a music item within each programme, 6 editions of a quiz show and a one hour political discussion for Sky News. All of this using one lighting rig with time for only minimal changes between shows.
Moving lights are an ideal way to provide flexibility but they are heavy, you require a decent number for the coverage and you need programming time. This year I chose to drop down to just two moving heads and rely instead on a very energy efficient LED wash of colour with accent lighting provided by optically efficient profile spots with the occasional old fashioned steel gobo. This gave me fast turnarounds and every light source was used to the full.
If you would like some figures, the power used for the quiz show was typically 93Amps and for the magazine show, 114Amps.
I still used traditional tungsten lights for the keys since they give the best flesh tones but kept their power down to suit the task they were used for. Tungsten lighting also can be dimmed and switched off easily. A lot of energy can be saved if you switch lights off when not in use. Doh!
Iain Davidson
Lighting Director
BSkyB
SOCCER AM – End of Series show June 2009
Outside stage at BSkyB was lit with all low energy LED’s with a low resolution LED screen fed via a catalyst media server. This was all controlled via a state of the art Grand MA Lighting desk.
Malcolm Read
Lighting Director
BSkyB
