Croatian company Mojo Rental Southeast Europe has become the first company in the Balkans to add Robe’s new GigaPointe multi-purpose luminaire with a laser-phosphor source to its inventory, with the purchase of 24 units.
The fixtures were delivered directly from Robe’s factory in Czechia during the load-in for two major concerts at Zagreb Arena featuring Jakov Jozinović, Croatia’s latest pop and internet sensation.
The GigaPointes played a central role in the dynamic lighting and stage design created by Sven Kučinić of LumiLas LLC, who was delighted to have the opportunity to use them.
He also incorporated a further 173 Robe fixtures into the rig for the concerts, which generated enormous interest across the platforms and became the largest and most significant shows Jozinović has performed to date.
Due to last-minute changes in the production requirements, the entire lighting rig for the 360-degree show had to be completely redesigned from scratch in just six days. This involved long days and nights of work, as well as intense concentration from Sven.
The situation presented a genuine puzzle and a major challenge, but Sven rose to the occasion and created a multidimensional, interactive environment that connected the young artist with his fans and captivated the audience, especially those attending a live music concert for the first time. In addition to the GigaPointes, Sven’s design included 32 FORTE, 32 CycFX 8, 16 PAINTE, 24 LedPointe, 32 Spiider and 32 Tetra2 fixtures.
Four Robe BMFL WashBeams were used as follow spots, installed high at the rear of the audience seating. They were operated manually using Robe’s LightMaster side-handle kits, with pan and tilt controlled by the operators and all other parameters managed from Sven’s lighting console.
The rectangular stage, with thrusts extending from its two shorter sides, was positioned in the centre of the arena. Above it, a rectangular video cube with screens on all four sides was installed, primarily to display the IMAG feed.
When Sven learned that the GigaPointes would arrive in time for the concerts, he decided to make them central to the design. They were used for almost everything except key lighting, and particularly for creating large-scale visual scenes and a wide variety of mesmerising effects.
"It is always exciting to use a new product", he said. He added that for several years the MegaPointes had been a regular choice for most of his creative projects, so moving to this new, brighter and more flexible luminaire was a logical progression. However, Sven also wanted to extend the concept further and ultimately used ten MegaPointes as support to expand the long-throw beam effect.
The GigaPointes were installed on trusses above the long sides of the video cube, in positions that provided the greatest heights, up to 16 metres, and the longest throw distances. These were ideal locations for aerial effects, where they achieved a huge visual impact as the beams projected from the upper part of the arena. The MegaPointes were rigged on trusses in corresponding positions along the shorter sides of the video rectangle.
Sven even reduced the intensity of the GigaPointes at times, noting that having a fixture that is too powerful is always "a good problem". "It is a solid and reliable next-generation all-purpose fixture", he commented. In addition to their intensity, he valued their ability to integrate and work seamlessly with the MegaPointes and the rest of the Robe fixtures.
In addition to all this, Sven is a genuine laser enthusiast, so he particularly loved "the way the GigaPointes can convincingly emulate laser effects when needed". He also added that "they are the only laser source I have encountered so far that looks like an LED fixture when operating in spot mode, which demonstrates impressive engineering". He also appreciated the fact that Robe had made the GDTF file for the GigaPointes available from the outset, making his pre-visualisation work much easier. The initial versions of the design had been created several months earlier in Capture, using MegaPointes as a reference, as no one could confirm the exact GigaPointe delivery date at that stage.
The 32 FORTE fixtures were suspended just below the video cube on a grid-shaped truss structure. The use of gobos and textures on stage with these FORTE fixtures blended so seamlessly with the floor video effects that it became impossible to distinguish between lighting and pixels, creating a particularly striking effect. Sven also used the FORTE fixtures to envelop the stage in an intense combination of light and smoke during a dramatic entrance, when Jozinović appeared from the centre on a lift.
Sven has always been a strong advocate of the Tetra2 and, for this show, used all 32 units available in Mojo Rental Southeast Europe’s inventory to frame the edges of the stage. The low-profile fixtures were essential for preserving audience sightlines. He also used all of the company’s CycFX 8 fixtures, positioned symmetrically on the trusses above the stage.
The 24 LedPointe fixtures were installed on the floor, once again selected for their compact size and minimal impact on sightlines. Throughout the process, Sven had to remain highly aware of how the show would look both live and later through thousands of mobile phones and across social media.
The 16 PAINTE fixtures were used for key lighting and were installed, together with the Spiiders, on four trusses positioned further away from the video cube. These locations were ideal for lighting both the band and Jozinović, while allowing the Spiiders to bathe the audience in rich, immersive colours.
For Sven, the Spiider fixtures remain an excellent LED wash option. "The colours, zoom, calibration and other parameters are still unmatched", he noted. In addition to lighting the audience, he used the Spiiders to create additional beam effects in combination with the GigaPointes.
Sven acknowledges that two years ago he was somewhat sceptical about the performance of the PAINTE fixtures, but after attending a demonstration and using them on several occasions, they have also become a regular choice for key lighting. He considers the framing shutters and gobos to be excellent and says that "they are impressive fixtures".
The overall aesthetic goal for these concerts was to create something original and memorable. "It had to be grand and spectacular, but without becoming tacky or pompous", he explained when discussing his creative approach.
Sven thanked the entire Mojo Rental Southeast Europe team for helping make the project possible within such a tight timeframe, and especially his lighting crew chief, Sven Grbec, “Maci”, who perfectly coordinated the preparation of all the Robe equipment.
In addition to these Robe fixtures, several strobes, 2-Lite units and around 30,000 LED wristbands across the two nights were also programmed from Sven’s lighting console, further enhancing the audience’s immersive visual experience.
Image credits: Mario Poje, Jurica Cvitanic and Sven Kucinic
