Claypaky Fixtures Score with Gala Night Hockey League Event in Sochi, Russia

	10th Night Hockey League National Amateur Teams Hockey Festival in Sochi, Russia

The final stage of Russia's 10th Night Hockey League National Amateur Teams Hockey Festival kicked off in Sochi in gala fashion with Russian president Vladimir Putin playing in the gala match and addressing the crowd during a dynamic, lavishly-produced game open. A large complement of Claypaky fixtures, featuring Axor Beam 300s, Sharpys, HY B-EYE K25s, Scenius Profiles, Mythos, A.leda B-EYE K20s, and Stormy CC strobes, was used to light the Bolshoi Ice Arena.

Russia's Night Hockey League was founded in 2011 bringing together former ice hockey stars, businessmen, and politicians united by their love of the game.

Konstantin Gerasimov of TDS conceived the gala game open with Aleksey Inkov as lighting designer as well as Aleksey Pavlenko.

"Konstantin devised an interesting solution with a matrix of devices around the stage, which visually increased its area," says Inkov. "Eight trusses on kinetic winches that changed positions during the show added dynamics and filled the space to the right and left of the center-hung video cube." Production company Elkruff's engineering team helped bring these ideas to life with precision.

Inkov was familiar with Claypaky products and their capabilities and felt that by choosing a big roster of Claypaky lights "there were no problems that the fixtures could not solve" for the production. "For every position in the show, there was always the right fixture that maximized the lighting designer's vision. Colors matched up very well, too and this was one of the most important advantages of using one brand's product line."

Inkov selected Claypaky Axcor Beam 300s and Sharpys as the main fixtures for the matrix around the stage. He placed HY B-EYE K25s on winches over the ice to handle the main tasks of the show supplemented by Scenius Profiles, Mythos, B-EYE K20s, and Stormy CC strobes.

"The matrix needed thin beams and fast speed so using the Axcor Beam 300s and Sharpys was a success," he explains. "They worked great with each other. The ice rink is huge, and it was necessary to illuminate the entire arena. High-speed motion effects created the main dynamics for the scene, and color chases on the Beams looked just as effective. Beam kicks are my goal!"

Mounted on the winches, the HY B-EYE K25s "were used in per-pixel fashion for various color macros," Inkov explains. "We also used the famous B-EYE effect when moving the trusses. Their large zoom range solved the problem of dynamic motion effects in addition to the Beams in the matrix."

The B-EYE K20s provided ground cover and effects on the stands. Scenius fixtures enabled him to project branded gobos onto the ice, as well as cut out individual elements of the show's decor. Mythos were tapped for the main intro set, complementing the Beams and delivering full ice coverage of the gobos as well. Mythos were also employed as the main effects devices during the match as goals were scored.

Inkov found the large inventory of Claypaky fixtures to be "absolutely reliable and trouble-free -- the main criteria for a successful show. Claypaky lighting did an excellent job with all the tasks assigned to it. The best reviews we got were all the happy viewers who were so impressed by what they saw."

The production company was Elkruff. The rental company was LSL. The set design was done by TDS Virtual Production.