CeeLo Green's Talking to Strangers Features Lighting from Jeff Ravitz and 4Wall LA Entertainment Los Angeles recently teamed with lighting designer Jeff Ravitz, of Intensity Advisors, to provide lighting for CeeLo Green: Talking to Strangers, a new show on Fuse TV. Talking to Strangers features R&B star Green in the role of talk show host, interviewing musical guests while also hosting their performances on set. The first season will include appearances by Lupe Fiasco, Keri Hilson, Train, and more. Ravitz described some of the design challenges, saying, "All interview shows have some built-in demands to make people look their best on-camera. Achieving optimum angles is quite different, so we needed to add a great deal of truss on the Red Studios soundstage to create the best lighting positions. Also, unlike many talk shows, the musical performance area was in the same location as the interview set. We had to do a complete changeover before the bands played. The light plot had to accommodate many different uses on the same stage space." To set the stage for this dual purpose set, Ravitz chose a lighting package from 4Wall LA that included mainstays such as ETC Source Four fixtures and Sensor dimmer packs, as well as LED fixtures such as Philips Color Kinetics ColorBlasts and Martin Pro MAC 301s. Ravitz explained the gear choices: "The director requested a footlight look defining the front edge of the curved stage. I chose Color Kinetics iW Blast TRs to allow for naturally colored, subtle uplight that could also shift from warm to cool, and could be programmed to do some very wild chases for the musical performances." "The ETC equipment worked perfectly for key lighting and other fixed purposes, but the Vari*Lites were our "go to" fixtures for variety, set lighting, and to get us out of trouble when positions changed with no warning. The Mac 301s were another texture for exciting sparkle as well as lighting people and scenery." Talking To Strangers premiered June 22nd on Fuse TV, and will air throughout the summer. Also featured in the lighting rich were Coemar LED Parlites; Philips Vari*Lite VL3000 Spots, VL3500 Spots, and VL3500 Wash units; and two Ultratec Radiance hazers. Control was provided by a High End Systems Road Hog Full Boar console. 
|
