When lighting designer Neil Austin was looking to light Liolà at the National’s Lyttelton Theatre, he wanted to try something new. Step forward ETC Source Four LED CYC. When lighting designer Neil Austin was looking to light Liolà at the Lyttelton Theatre, he wanted to try something new – something which would provide the same smooth dimming he is used to with traditional tungsten, but providing vibrant, full colour. Even though summer may already feel like long ago, with Liolà , it remains inside the Lyttelton, as Neil brings the deep blues and warm oranges of the summer Sicilian sky to London. In a European exclusive, Liolà became the first show outside of the US to be lit with ETC’s new Source Four LED CYC fixtures, powered by the ETC Source Four LED Lustr+ engine. “The ETC Source Four LED CYC is a game-changer,” says Austin. “At last there’s a high quality, low-energy alternative to the most electricity and gel-hungry section of theatre lighting. There were looks I was able to achieve on the cyclorama for Liolà that would not have been possible with any other method of lighting – not even my beloved tungsten. “Other LED cyc units can do vivid colours, but none can match the extraordinary range of colour and smooth dimming of the Source Four LED CYC. This is the only LED unit capable of matching and surpassing the rigorous demands of theatre lighting designers.” Erik Larsen, market manager for ETC, adds: “The Source Four LED CYC is the perfect tool to give smooth coverage to any projection screen or painted cloth without any visible seams or gaps. Source Four LED’s variable white point and HSIC (Hue-Saturation-Colour-Intensity) settings also provide the designer with more creative opportunities than before. “We worked closely with Neil and the lighting crew at Lyttelton to make sure they got exactly what they needed, and to make sure that Neil got the best out of the CYC attachment. The 15m wide cyclorama was elevated 2.5m above the ground, which meant the fixtures needed to be carefully positioned in order to provide smooth coverage. He used ten on the floor, and ten in the rig – they worked so well that one reviewer wondered if the cyc was in fact lit with computer generated projections.” The Source Four LED CYC adaptor is a convenient and budget-friendly addition to stocks of luminaires, because while most venues have fixtures which can only be used for cycs, the CYC adapter can be removed when a backdrop is not needed. The luminaire can then be used with traditional lens barrels as a profile to light another part of the stage. www.etcconnect.com
