ETC Source Four LEDs Make Retirement Colorful

The Necessary Stage's newest comedy, Pioneer (Girls) Generation (PGG), captured the retired life of four 60-somethings who shatter the stereotype of older generations. Lighting designer Stephen Kwek employed ETC Source Four LED Series 2 Lustr luminaires, controlled by an Ion console, to shed light on the energetic pioneers' vivacious and colorful life, helping the audience rethink the image of the aging population in Singapore.

The story, written by Haresh Sharma and directed by Alvin Tan, was set in a luxurious Singapore retirement home. Lighting was used to depict a call center, hospital room, newsroom, a home in a neighboring country, and a garden. Color was essential to the lighting plot, being used to differentiate the locations. That meant that fixtures with good color control were a top priority on Kwek's equipment list.

Kwek also appreciated the ability of the Source Four LED Series 2 luminaires to naturally illuminate the actors, using the simple color controls to dial in the perfect temperature for each of them. "The x7 Color System really brought out the facial skin tones beautifully," he says. "Having the flexibility of color mixing really cut the plot time in half, because we didn't need two or three face-light systems with different colored gels."

The final scene included a pop concert, which Kwek lit effortlessly. "Having color-changing flexibility and brightness definitely helped in that aspect, even with the use of moving heads." All the fixtures were programmed on an Ion console, which reduced programming time considerably. "Color picking was a breeze and recording cues was very easy," says Kwek.