SHAPESHIFTERs Dazzle with Snoop Dog at iHeart Theatre

	Snoop Dog rocked the iHeart Radio Theatre in Los Angeles with High End System SHAPESHIFTERS

Earlier this month, rap legend Snoop Dog rocked the iHeart Radio Theatre in Los Angeles with a filmed performance that featured some major bling courtesy of High End Systems SHAPESHIFTER C1 fixtures. Lighting designer Jeff Barco who is one of the lighting designers/directors on staff at the iHeart Theatre, and specified the fixtures for Snoop Dog's concert. He comments, "iHeart Theater is an 18-month-old theater installation in the old Jay Leno sound stage at Burbank Studios. When bands roll through, we offer up ground designs to augment their show. Most of our shows are strictly one day gigs, we put in the ground design, we program the show, we do a very short soundcheck, run the show, and then wrap the show -- all in one day."

The house hang uses automated fixtures exclusively, as Barco and the staff wouldn't have time to focus conventionals. "The house rig doesn't change," Barco explains. "Then on a show by show basis, we design the floor fixtures, the scenic design, etc. specifically for the majority of the bands that come in. For Snoop Dog, I chose to use High End Systems SHAPESHIFTERs. The SHAPESHIFTER is a very cool light -- one of those products where everything came together at the right time, as eye candy and video elements are merging onstage. The SHAPESHIFTERs worked perfectly for this particular design, because we needed something to draw the audience and the energy towards the onstage center position. We placed six C-1's in a pyramid formation -- on the upstage center wall and in between our LED array, and utilized multiple modules of the fixture to add sparkle and highlight, and to add definition."

Despite the limited programming time afforded, Barco did not employ SHAPESHIFTERs' macros. He explains, "I programmed in advanced/extended mode, and had access to every single module -- I did that purposely so at the least, I could pick the colors that met within the scheme of each song."

"iHeart is not a big stage," Barco continues, "so we don't have a very wide jib or static shot, therefore, most of our looks have to be converging towards center stage -- or we never end up seeing them. SHAPESHIFTERs worked perfectly for that situation, we put them right at eye level in relation to our center dolly shot. We used the Shifters for contrast and song accents, and they worked brilliantly for effects, because there's so many sources of moving lights in a small area. We didn't move the parent fixture that much because we wanted to keep the fixtures close to the lens axis for quick sweeps across the camera positions."

"For the a lot of our shows, they're the perfect fixtures. The director likes a lot of light and a lot of flair, as does the audience, and the SHAPESHIFTERs worked perfectly for that. They put out a ton of light for LEDs, so they can be effective source fixtures as well as eye candy fixtures. Their range of intensity is very important. We run them at a low level, but they've got so much range we were able to get those huge accents when required."

In closing, Barco says his iHeart gig has been a blessing. "There's a wide range of artists that come through - -it's an amazing gig. I've had the opportunity to really build my chops. I get to work with different artists, and tons of different music genres. I just wish we had a bit more time to program these one offs. "Todays' miracles are tomorrow's expectations," and we give it one hundred percent each show. Again, I consider myself extremely fortunate to work at iHeart Theater, the experience has made me a faster programmer, and much more efficient as a designer."