The glitz and glamour of Bollywood

With the International Indian Film Academy Awards (also known as the IIFA Awards) the International Indian Film Academy honours both the artistic and technical excellence of professionals involved in Bollywood. Started in 2000, the ceremony is staged in different countries worldwide every year, with the most recent one being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Lighting designer, programmer, operator Harold Fernandez used 3 x grandMA2 full-size consoles on this year’s show.

Fernandez had many reasons to rely on the grandMA2:  “As the industry changes, so do the challenges of lighting and its products. They are both more flexible and complex and an easy way to operate these products is via the grandMA2. One can create so many different viewing options and layout formats with the console. Also the MA 3D visualizer is great and lets you see your design from various views before the real show. The information about the rig and plot from the desk is incredible, and it’s all available on the front layer.”

“The networking capabilities are the most powerful feature”, Fernandez continues. “They are simple to set-up and use and make the system extremely flexible to cater for larger shows with Full-Tracking-Backup and multiuser capabilities. The GUI is completely customisable for any operator, making it very comfortable. Furthermore the system is extremely stable and reliable.”

Fernandez then explained his design goals: “I wanted to create a non-conventional production for the Awards. IIFA trophies were used as a backdrop by creating larger-than-life scale trophies. An LED star cloth behind the IIFA trophies brought an additional layer of dimension to the set. The stage extended 220ft (67m) from left to right and could be seen from a 270 degree angle. We also had a circular platform for the performers. We finalised the technical production 30 days prior to load in.”

A few more numbers illustrate the dimension of the project:  there were 153 rigging points, 900 lighting fixtures, 550 meters of trussing, 7 clusters of flying speakers, 300 sq. meters of floor LED and 325 sq. meters of LED backdrop.

Viraf Sarkari was the producer and director of IIFA and Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.  Beiao Events supplied the equipment. Virtual Vision Pvt. Ltd. planned and executed all the video content and graphics for the show. All lighting for the sub-events like green carpet, venue and IIFA fashion extravaganza were also delivered by Virtual Vision Pvt. Ltd.

Used Equipment:

<link http: www.malighting.com en goto>3 x grandMA2 ful-size