Ed Warren built Four Tet’s US warehouse shows around a single line of CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorized battens down the centre of the room, scaled from 32 to 138 units depending on the dancefloor.
I have a long straight line of lights down the center of the room – they are the show. The entire show is built around them. I use them to create curves, shapes, movements of light that most people might not have seen before, to complement the music, said Warren.
Working closely with the artist, Warren created flowing geometric configurations that transform the room, altering the sense of space and pulling everyone on the dancefloor into the music.
Same show, three sizes
The length of the line varied with the venue: 65 units at Brooklyn Storehouse, supplied by Tag Live; 32 at Mission Ballroom in Denver, from Brown Note Productions; and 138 at San Francisco’s Portola Festival, from Felix Lighting.
This design is a development from the Alexandra Palace shows we did last year. Kieran (AKA Four Tet) chose these shows and venues because they would suit our design, as each features a long slightly narrow room which can house enough people, said Warren, who programmed the shows on a ChamSys MagicQ MQ500M console.
 |
 |
One of the unexpected positives of this show was that it worked very well in short and long formats. It’s all relative to the dancefloors. If they’re covered, then we have our show. Mission Ballroom had a 28 meter long stick over its dancefloor which was as long as we were permitted. Brooklyn had 61 meters, Portola 138. These were all based off the dancefloor sizes. It’s basically exactly the same show file/programming for each room, continued Warren.
To keep the long line straight, he used a ChamSys MagicQ Remote. “I used it to wander down the line without having to drag my desk everywhere with me”, he remarked.
From a sheet of light to a sine wave
Working with production manager Josh Rahalski, Warren used the sweeping movement of the battens to carve up the space; in one of the most dramatic looks, the overhead line seemed to split the room as it radiated from the centre.
I loved starting with a thin sheet of light right down the center of the room, then slowly tilting it as one slowly increasing in size and speed, as it morphs into a sine wave.
Photos: © Eric Kim (Mission Ballroom)
Instagram
LinkedIn
