Robe moving lights were the primary lightsources on the Main Stage at Innibos 2017,
a high profile arts and music festival staged in Mbombela (Nelspruit), South Africa,
presenting Afrikaans music, theatre, literature and visual arts.

The fixtures were part of a striking visual design by Johan Ferreira of BF Production
Services. Johan has lit the event’s main stage for 12 years now – changing his
approach dramatically in terms of technology over that time.

The organisers have upped the production values in the last couple of years, and as
last year’s set design was particularly successful, Johan decided to replicate its most
popular elements for 2017, adding some new and fresh touches. Having taken some
time and an amount of experimentation to evolve a design that had worked so well for
all the main stage action throughout the five-day event the next step was to develop
from that point, he explained.

While the stage might not have appeared to change much in the last couple of years,
there has been a more noticeable shift from previous years in the roof and upstage –
looking at the lighting and video design. This year, there were 151 Robes on the rig,
all supplied by Johannesburg-based MGG Productions, delivering full technical
production and crew for the Main Stage for the third year.

These fixtures were hung on a series of trusses in the roof including three 4-metre
diameter circles hung mid-stage, all staggered in heights from upstage to downstage.
Twelve Robe Spiider wash beams were on the upstage truss; 24 x Spikies were on six
side totems (vertical truss towers) together with 30 x LEDBeam 100s; 24 x LEDWash
1200s and 27 x LEDWash 600s were rigged on the circles and the FOH truss and used
for general washing; 12 x Squares were positioned on two back truss totems and 22 x
CycFX 8s were in the footlights position around the front of the stage thrust.

Lighting was designed to work harmoniously with the video design which comprised
two 12 mm portrait format side screens, each eight metres high and four metres
wide, utilised mainly for IMAG camera feeds.

Added to that, onstage were two stacks of 5mm screen upstage at the sides, which
were alternated with LED panels for contrast. Upstage 66 panels of 5mm screen were
divided into three pillars with both horizontal and vertical runs of LED panels in
between, breaking up the geometry.

Playback content for the side and back video surfaces was produced by Prifactor from
Pretoria and MGG Productions.

The LEDWash 600s and 1200s were used for the bold and colourful base stage
washes, for specials and the main FOH lighting – both versions have been a favourite
of Johan’s for many years and he reckons they still “outperform’ every other wash
light on the market, from the subtle pastel hues to the popping bright saturates, the
concentrated pools of colour to the wide washes, “nothing compares to these units’ he
states.

The little LEDBeam 100 he loves for its small size and big punch and the fact it can be
squeezed in virtually anywhere. He used them on Innibos for piercing side cross-stage
shooters and for creating large aerial looks across the stage and out into the
audience.

The Squares were utilised upstage close to the LED walls on the two back totems,
with six fixtures on each. He loves their “sheer brightness’ and the fact they can be
relentless crowd blinders one moment and gentler eye-candy the next.

The CycFX 8s worked for both audience effects and footlights. As footlights, they were
an important part of the design which had to light a large ensemble cast on some
evenings, with no other options to execute a full-width front look except from the
thrust position. “Having the pan on this fixture is invaluable as I can use them for
multiple functions’.

Spiiders he feels is a “major’ leap forward in LED wash and beam technology. “Robe
first impressed me – versatility wise – with the Pointe which is still a favourite tool’ he
explained, “and now with the Spiider they have an LED “wash’ that is so much more
than just a wash.’

He’s not seen the intense brightness of the Spiider in any other LED fixture of its size
and complexity before. The huge and ultra-smooth zoom travels from an enormous
wash to a tight beam, and then there is the central LED with its incredible eye-
popping flower effect. ‘That’s why I love this fixture,’ Johan declares. “More really is
MORE with this fixture’.

He also enjoyed the Spikies, “impressed’ as ever with the punch from such a compact
little fixture, and a position that stays “accurate and on-point even after some crazy
pan-and-tilt moves’. In quantities, he observes, these give designers great beam-
effects and pixel mapping possibilities.

Robe is his number one moving light choice for all his designs, confirms Johan. At
Innibos, they also deal with extreme weather conditions from exceptionally hot days
to very cool nights, lots of moisture and dust, so it’s an environment where the sturdy
build quality of Robe “really proves itself’.

For full coverage of the challenges overcome and triumphs achieved by the
crew at
Innibos 2017, see the latest print issue of Pro-Systems News.