Auto shows place especially high demands on lighting and none more so than the iconic Detroit Auto Show where huge crowds gather to see world and North American car debuts in all classes. This year some 3000 Elation lighting fixtures were used by LDs and production companies on all the major automakers’ booths including Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Chrysler, Kia and others.
Held January 13-26 at the Cobo Center in Detroit, over 800,000 car enthusiasts gathered to glimpse the future of auto technology with production companies Christie Lites, TLS Productions, Inc., Fantasee and Light Source all playing a huge role in the event.
Christie Lites
Christie Lites placed a total of 1335 Design PAR 575s in the capable hands of lighting designers Chris Medvitz (Nissan and Infiniti), Chris Wojcieszyn (Honda, Acura and Chrysler), Bruce Spillman (Chrysler) and Chris Wasilauskas (Kia). “Both the Nissan and Infiniti exhibits used the Design PARs extensively,” stated Chris Medvitz, principal at design consortium Lightswitch. “They were the workhorse of the rigs, used to light everything from product to displays and exhibit architecture. They are a solid fixture that gives us exactly what we need without the cost, weight and power needs associated with features we don’t need.”
The Design PAR 575 is a 575W opti par moving head fixture with a glass dichroic reflector for even light output and anti-reflective coated lens. It includes a gel frame holder and four lens options. Chris Wasilauskas, LD and Technical Director at Creative Technology, has been a fan of the Design PAR 575 for several years and turned to them to light the Kia booth. “They are a great remote focus unit,” he says. “As someone who has been working on the North American auto shows for close to 20 years now, they are a great alternative to the standard 575W daylight PARs, especially with exhibits that end up with a tight focus window.”
Because many of the auto show exhibits have press events in the booth on the first day and then a changeover at night to get into a public look for the remaining days, it is frequently 3 or 4am before focusing can take place. “That only leaves you 3 hours or so to focus lights on all of the cars,” Chris Wasilauskas says. “To accomplish that with standard 575W daylight PARs is extremely challenging and expensive using big lifts on raised floors in the middle of the night. All of that becomes much easier when you can just focus it all from a console.”
Christie also supplied Platinum Beam 5Rs for use by LD Greg Cohen of UVLD on the Acura and Chrysler press events with more Platinum Beam 5Rs used to light the Honda press event. Elation lighting was also used by LD Joe Maccarthy on the KIA press event and Fantasee Lighting turned to Elation PARs as the primary light on the Smart booth.
TLS Productions, Inc.
Full service sales, rental, and production company, TLS Productions, Inc., who recently located to a new larger facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to accommodate the resurgent auto show market, has provided for the automotive industry for nearly 60 years. At this year’s Detroit Auto Show they provided the lighting, rigging, and audio for the Toyota, Lexus, and Scion booths and relied heavily on nearly 600 Elation Design PAR 575s with lighting design by Arnold Serame.
“The Elation Design PAR 575s are an integral part of what we do at any of the auto shows we are a part of,” states Carl Kedzierski, head of Marketing & New Business Development at TLSP. “They are a must for us due to their ease of use, the endless benefits of their remote focus capabilities, and their high lumen output, which is paramount to the work we do at auto shows such as NAIAS.” TLSP also provided the lighting, rigging, and audio for the Toyota and Lexus press events.
“Cobo Center can be an incredibly challenging environment, not to mention the three holidays that are worked before, during and after to have NAIAS up and running by early January. The entire TLS Productions, Inc. team deserves a nod of recognition, particularly the TLSP shop staff overseen by Shop Manager Adam Weakley and our on-site crew for NAIAS, overseen by Director of Productions Pat Harper,” Carl comments. “This year saw an additional logistical challenge due to one of the worst winters Michigan has seen in nearly 30 years, but in the end the show was a great success and our clients were very pleased.”
Photos: Amir Gamzu, TLS Productions, Inc
Kia photo courtesy of Christie Lites
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