The National Theatre of Scotland (NTS) has recently invested in seven Chroma-Q Color Force 48” / 1.2m LED battens to provide wash lighting effects for its various stage productions, including “Knives in Hens” and “An Appointment with the Wicker Man”.
The Glasgow based theatre received a grant from the Wolfson Foundation to replace its existing lights with energy-efficient LED versions.
Head of Lighting, Paul Claydon and Technical Manager, Niall Black conducted extensive research before inviting four leading LED brands to do a shootout at the Tron Theatre in Glasgow. Also attending the shootout were a number of LDs with whom NTS work.
“As soon as the Color Force battens were switched on, to us they absolutely blew all the other products away, especially in terms of their intensity and quality of light,” said Claydon.
Apart from the 8,000 lumens power of the Color Force, other compelling features are said to have included the smooth washing effect, homogenised lightsource and lack of hotspots.
The Color Force LED batten range has a custom-developed lens system, ensuring smooth and even coverage across large areas, washing up to eight metres. ColorSure RGBA colour and control management technologies are claimed to offer an enhanced colour palette, colour consistency, a high CRI of 92 and theatrical grade dimming – making the fixtures ideal for multiple types of applications, ranging from subtle hues for theatre and opera lighting to vibrant effects for live events.
The first production for the new units was “Knives in Hens”, where they were used to light an upstage cyc made from back projection screen material. They were rigged on floor-based trussing around which the back projection screen was wrapped.
Other productions that have used the Color Force battens have included “The Wheel” at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, and “The Missing” at The Tramway in Glasgow.
The Color Force fixtures were supplied by Chroma-Q’s exclusive UK dealer, A.C. Entertainment Technologies (AC-ET). AC-ET also co-ordinated a flight casing solution for NTS, which was designed by 5 Star cases.
