LED screen, drapes and special FX specialist S+H Technical Support supplied a full Pea-light starcloth wrap as specified by designer Patrick Doherty for the new Bigheads TV series, a Primal Media production for ITV, recorded in the George Lucas 2 studio at Elstree in Hertfordshire, UK.
The show, presented by Jason Manford, follows in the footsteps of popular series ‘Its A Knock Out’, a slightly bonkers comedy games show first broadcast in 1966 which ran until the 1990s, and legendary puppet show, Spitting Image, known for its razor sharp wit and political satire.
Bigheads features a number of celebrity ‘big heads’ - ordinary members of the public donning enormous famous and well known ‘heads’ and battling it out in a series of crazy physical games - where psychology, lateral thinking and quick wit can assist in overcoming the challenges which typically involve water, travelators, revolves and other mad paraphernalia. The end goal is to win money and ultimately the possibility of a car!
The vibe is hilarious family entertainment and Patrick wanted a neat and interesting finish to the studio, so decided on the more modern application of a vintage starcloth effect … which proved a perfect solution.
S+H “were brilliant” he comments. The Devon based company has supplied soft goods including starcloths, pea-light drapes and special FX for many of his shows including Strictly Come Dancing for several seasons.
Mark Kenyon was the LD and the series was directed by Richard Van Riet.
For the WE Day 2017 charity fundraiser in the UK, S+H supplied massive quantities of blacks and an extensive pipe-and-drape system to create dressing rooms, break-outs and green rooms plus other backstage areas at Wembley Arena. A crew from S+H installed everything for production manager Natalie Smith.
S+H’s Terry Murtha comments, “We’ve been involved as a supplier for the last few WE Days and are extremely proud to be able to support the movement and its very worthwhile goals”. These included empowering, educating and inspiring people to engage in a diverse range of campaigns, initiatives and global action to raise money that will assist children and young people in securing education and access to better futures.
For the world’s largest and most famous dog show, Crufts 2017, S+H supplied LED starcloth and a custom built LED sign for the main show ring of the event staged by The Kennel Club at the Genting Arena, Birmingham, UK.
The starcloth was specified by Jon Pope of Chichester based Lighting Design Services, the show’s lighting designer since 2009, and was installed along the upstage edge / back of the main ring – making a classic backdrop for cameras, video and other assorted media.
The eye-catching 6.5 metre wide x 2.2 metre deep sign was flown in front of the large starcloth. Made up from approximately 1200 x RGB LEDs with a 40 mm pitch and 8-channel DMX control giving full colour-mixing, chasing and dramatic twinkling effects, all run from the lighting desk, this was first fabricated for the event by S+H in 2012.
It has now become an essential part of the show’s live visuality.
S+H is supplying their Glux 12mm LED screen to the current UK and European tour by maverick rock band 10cc which continues the celebration of 40 years since the release of their seminal “Sheet Music” album in 1974. It was their second album which received worldwide critical acclaim and remained in the UK charts for an incredible six months! It’s generally considered to be one of THE most influential studio albums of the 20th century.
A 4 x 3 metre 10 mm LED screen is used on this leg of the tour and specified by video and visuals designer Ian Holmes of Essex, UK based XIVIX … having used it very successfully on previous tours. The dry hire from S+H is being looked after on the road by 10cc production manager, David Cobby.
The source video – a movie of original band member and ‘godfather of pop video’ Kevin Godley that plays during “Somewhere in Hollywood” - is stored on a MacBook laptop and connected to the screen via a scaler and plays back the video together with 8 channels of audio. In this moody number, Godley sings the lead vocal and appears to be floating above the band!
The tour’s lighting designer is Russell “Tigger” Matthews.
Ian Holmes sourced the LED from S+H for the 2016 section tour after using it on previous projects and because he thinks S+H is helpful and easy to deal with as a supplier, offering excellent service and support.
Says Terry, “It was great to continue our working relationship with Dave and his team and with 10cc. It demonstrated the flexibility and easy tour-ability of the screen”.