Robe on Portuguese Idolos

Lighting designer Mário Bastos used a moving light rig comprising 50 Robe ROBIN 600 moving lights for the latest series of Idolos (Pop Idol) in Portugal.

Bastos was both lighting designer and director of photography for the series which is produced by Freemantle Media, and the lights were supplied to the show by Robe's Lisbon-based Portuguese distributors NAN Audiovisual.

The 30 Robin Spot 600s and 20 Robin Wash 600s were positioned on an overhead rig in the Estudios Valentim de Carvalho and used for a variety of tasks, from producing big beamy camera candy looks to highlighting the action onstage and illuminating the set.

Bastos has worked with Freemantle Media for some years, but this is the first time he has used Robe moving lights on Idolos, and also the second opportunity he's had to put the new Robin 600s through their paces. The first was for the Idolos castings, staged at the Troia Conference Centre.

"We needed fixtures with a great output, a good zoom, smooth color mixing and a host of features - and the ROBIN's proved they were perfect for the job," he states, commenting that the light output from the expediently sized fixtures was greater than that of the average 700 unit.

He was already aware of the reliability of the Robe brand, and has used 1200 Series ColorSpot and ColorWashes on several previous TV shows and events. "I have never had a problem with a Robe fixture," he says, adding "And that's really important, especially in a TV environment, where lights are often run for hours without a break."

Idolos lighting was programmed and run by Mario Rui on an Avolites Diamond 4 console. Both Mario's are well known and respected as leading practitioners in Portugal's busy professional TV and production industry.

Bastos says the co-operation and support he has received from NAN is "brilliant", and in particular from sales manager Luis Vidigal and CEO Correia Neves, who were instrumental in setting up the deal to supply the Robe kit to this show, together with executive producer, Vasco Barão.

Vidigal says, "We are very proud that NAN and Robe could be technical partners in the latest production of Idolos -- it's one of the highest profile and most popular TV shows in the country, and it meant a huge amount that the producers and a leading lighting designer like Mario - have so much trust."