Robe lights up Christmas in Ireland
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: Lighting designer and director John Penny Williams recently worked with Robe moving lights supplied by HSL and Production Services Ireland (PSI) to create a lighting design at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh, Northern Ireland. This was for a special ‘Christmas In Ireland’ performance by the all boy choir, Libera, which was recorded and released as their annual Christmas DVD for 2013. Broadcast on PBS American public broadcast network, it has been aired on over 307 stations across 44 US states.
Mr Williams originally met Libera’s director Robert Prizeman whilst filming a series of the BBC’s ‘Songs of Praise’. Robert and TV director Medwyn Hughes asked him to design lighting for this DVD shoot. His brief was to make the space look ‘Christmassy and festive’ with no hardware intruding into the camera shots, a challenge he achieved with the help of 14 Robe MMX Spots and 12 LEDWash 600s, amongst other fixtures.
The MMX Spots were rigged high up and utilised for the side beams, while the LEDWashes were used for washing across the altar and side walls of the nave. Using the LEDWashes zoomed right out, Mr Williams was able to use less fixtures for more coverage.
‘The colour from both fixtures is superb and the LEDWashes were a major part of the overall look,’ he said. ‘Robe has always been a good brand but in the last three years it’s moved forward in leaps-and-bounds to become a real world-wide leader.’
Mr Williams and Andy Neves programmed and operated the lighting for Libera’s ‘Christmas In Ireland’ using M1 and ETC Smartfade consoles.