PRG’s Bad Boy turns in a winning performance at American Idol finale
May 29, 2009
Los Angeles, CA—When American Idol crowned singer Kris Allen the season eight winner in a star-studded two night finale on May 19th and 20th, Production Resource Group (PRG) was pleased to once again support lighting designer Kieran Healy. For the FOX television event Healy created a stunning design to showcase the two finalists and musical superstars including Cyndi Lauper, Santana, Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz, Queen Latifah, Rod Stewart, Keith Urban, Kiss and Queen. The 17-camera show required a look that balanced both live and television audiences, and the time from load-in to air was extremely limited.
The two-night finale was shot at the 7,100 seat Nokia Theatre, a part of the L.A. Live complex in downtown Los Angeles. Healy knew that moving the finale from a soundstage to the Nokia would be a challenge due to time constraints and equipment availability, so he turned to PRG. “One of the beauties of working with PRG on this project was that they were able to duplicate the equipment that I had at the soundstage, plus augment it for the finale design,” said Healy. The show loaded in for three days before Healy arrived on-site as he was at the soundstage finishing the last two regular season shows. The production had only five days between the last shows at the soundstage and the first show at the Nokia—not a lot of time to move the lighting and sets and setup at the new venue. Healy commented, “Having PRG get the rig in and ready for programming, without having to move gear from the soundstage, was fantastic.”
Healy—who likes to keep his keylight at a fairly low level, using mostly followspots—creates most of his big looks from his backlights, which this year included PRG Bad Boy™ luminaires. “I am a great fan of heavy backlight,” said Healy. “We used nine Bad Boys. They are a different kind of light than the Syncrolite’s soft-edge wash unit, which had previously been the brightest light in the air. I wanted a hard-edge unit that would stand up to those and the Bad Boys were a perfect choice. The optics on the Bad Boys are absolutely incredible, you can go from a very, very thin shaft of light to an enormous beam. One light can wash the entire stage. So with their superior optics, the idea was to use the Bad Boys to stand out against the Syncrolite washes and then to use all their horsepower with gobos. It was pretty amazing to be able to take a gobo like “Night Sky,” which is just sort of pin pricks of light, and cover the entire stage and still have it read on camera.”
Besides the optics, the field and color system of the Bad Boy got high marks from Healy as well. “The field is absolutely smooth throughout the entire lensing, from a tiny shaft to a huge, zoomed-out beam; which is incredible for television,” he said. “Most other lights will produce a hotspot, which can be difficult to deal with, especially if it hits someone’s face or body. So the Bad Boy’s even field is magnificent. Plus I was able to get some very rich colors from them. It is just an outstanding unit.”
Healy, who has had a long relationship with PRG, said, “They give me fantastic service and at the end of the day, while the equipment has to work well, it is also a people business. PRG, as always, was superb. And I couldn’t have done it without my Lighting Directors—George Harvey and Joshua Hutchings (who also programmed the show), Matt McAdam who controlled the media servers, and Lynn Costa was our Board Operator. PRG’s crack crew was led by Steve Olenicjak and our Local 33 crew was headed by Darran Webb.”
The Emmy Award-winning American Idol is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment. The series is executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.; and Ken Warwick, Executive Producer, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
For more information on PRG, please visit www.prg.com.
About Production Resource Group—Production Resource Group, LLC (PRG) is the world’s leading supplier of entertainment technology solutions, including lighting, audio, video, scenery, and automation systems. PRG serves a wide range of markets, including theatre, concert tours, trade shows, corporate and special events, television and film, and themed environments. PRG provides its services worldwide through more than 17 offices in North America, Europe, and Asia.
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