Robe for South African Samsung S5 Launch

	Samsung S5 launch in South Africa with Robe.

Lighting designer Renaldo van den Berg and production manager Victor Vermaak from Johannesburg-based design and technical production specialist AV Unlimited created a spectacular lighting scheme utilizing Robe moving lights for the South African leg of the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone launch.

The VIP gala dinner event was staged in a special Super Dome structure built by In2structures and erected adjacent to the Wanderers Cricket Stadium in Illovo, Johannesburg. AV Unlimited was brought on-board to create the technical production design by event producers Mela Events, and the company says Robe moving lights were right at the heart of the lighting concept.

AV Unlimited has worked on several Samsung launches for Mela Events in recent years. However in terms of format, look and feel, this one took a departure from previous events, and instead of being styled around a DJ / party atmosphere, the entertainment theme of the evening was set by an electro-classical band.

Van den Berg used four types of Robe product -- Pointes, LEDWash 600s, LEDBeam 100s, and LEDForce PAR 18s -- 48 of each ... plus some other moving lights.

The evening started with the launch of the phone onstage which included a multimedia presentation played out on a 110m wide projection screen that encircled most of the venue's interior, with a complimentary row of LED panels below it, also going most of the way around the room.

To keep the environment clean, elegant and high-tech and aligned with the oeuvre of the product at the center of the event, the layout of the lighting fixtures -- mostly rigged on six trusses flown off the venue's structural elements -- was vital.

The trusses were black, so the lighting fixtures themselves were well concealed and out of the way with only the actual lightsources visible.

The Pointes were rigged on three different layers above the screen at the back of the stage area, all of them used for rear lighting and high-impact effects shooting right down the length of the auditorium. "They worked fantastically well," Van den Berg enthuses. "The sheer punch of the Pointe for the size of the light is incredible!" He also says he particularly likes the prism effects.

The LEDWash 600s were distributed all over the rig -- over the top and around the sides, washing the stage and audience from all angles. Van den Berg has been using these fixtures in his designs for some time.

An eight camera record was taking place, so the LEDForce PAR 18s were dotted around strategically to fill all the back-of-shot gaps in between the LED panels.

The LEDBeam 100s were on the stage floor and all around the back of the stage, used extensively and very effectively as background filler for the cameras. Some were also used in the pre-registration area to introduce beam work and color on the décor.

Like many, Van den Berg appreciates the smallness of the LEDBeam 100s, and the fact that they can be fitted in almost anywhere and look great wherever.

Van den Berg ran lighting for the evening from a grandMA2 full size console and grandMA onPC as backup, with an MA VPU feeding video content to the LED screen elements.

Additional Robe ColorSpot and ColorWash 2500E ATs were used to light the Dome's exterior and create plenty of visual magic for arriving and departing guests. All the lighting and video equipment was supplied by Gearhouse SA, with AV Unlimited providing the visual and technical concept designs. van den Berg and Vermaak worked alongside a crew of 15 lighting and video technicians.

The stage and set was designed by Gareth Castelyn and built by Just Sets and the audio equipment was supplied by Audio Logic.