Clay Paky sparkles at Miss South Africa
Published: MEA
SOUTH AFRICA: Carnival City in Gauteng played host to the glitz and glamour of the recent Miss South Africa 2016 beauty pageant. The event was broadcast live on South African television networks, M-Net and Mzansi Magic, therefore requiring a broadcast quality lighting design. To facilitate this, Visual Frontier event lighting and set designer, Joshua Cutts, utilised a set of Clay Paky Mythos fixtures.
This was the second consecutive year that Mr Cutts worked on Miss South Africa and working in collaboration with technical supplier and event production company, Dream Sets, he deployed 16 Mythos units across several arches that framed the main stage. The sharp beams created by the Mythos were then used to cut across stage, creating special lighting effects as each contestant walked the runway. As reported previously, the lighting setup was controlled via an MA Lighting grandMA2 full size and an MA NPU, with grandMA2 onPC employed as a back-up.
‘The Mythos were used on the main arch because of their punchier output compared to the other beams,’ Mr Cutts reasoned. ‘As well as delivering great beam work it’s a neat and compact fixture which helps it fit into any television environment.’
A large LED screen formed the backdrop of the stage and it was said that the Mythos complemented the visuals nicely. ‘The Mythos beam easily cut through and around the LED screen, which was great,’ Mr Cutts added. ‘The overall concept was a huge success and the Mythos definitely added to that.
‘We wanted to have as much negative space as possible to help accentuate the beams,’ he furthered. ‘I also used the fantastic in-built gobos of the Mythos directly into the camera to add even more sparkle. It’s a great product to work with and I will definitely make use of them on future productions.’
The competition winner this year was Ntandoyenkosi Kunene, who will go on to compete in Miss World later in the year. Adding to the show were performances from artists including MTV Africa Music Award winning band, Mi Casa.