High End Systems Studio Spots® and two Wholehog® 3 consoles were used for the filming of Poseidon, the remake of the 1972 blockbuster, which opens in theatres May 12. The film stars Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, and Richard Dreyfuss.
According to programmer Scott Barnes, the Studio Spots were chosen for their compact size and ability to endure the elements, as they could get wet during the filming of a sinking ship. “We used them in the upside down nightclub set,” Barnes explains. “I went with the Studio Spots because I needed the lights to be fairly small and I wanted to do a Gobo Shake (a special effect in Studio Spot) to simulate that the head is jammed or broken. John Seale, the director of photography, loved this feature.”
Barnes used three Studio Spots for the nightclub scenes. The Spots were used for both the establishing shots of the ship’s nightclub before it’s submerged underwater and after for the disaster scenes. The nightclub was originally shot in the VIP bar at Staples Center in Los Angeles. “At this location, we rigged the dance floor with the Studio Spots and additional lighting like PAR cans,” says Barnes. “For the scenes when the ship is upside down, the film crew built an upside down replica of the bar on Stage 15 at Warner Bros. On this set we added truss made out of PVC pipes painted black. They did this so they could bend the truss to look like it was damaged. Then we went in and rigged the lighting and the Studio Spots.”
In addition to the Studio Spots, two Wholehog 3 consoles ran lighting for the entire length of the production. “We had two Wholehog 3 consoles on the entire movie, with the exception of a couple of tiny sets. Mine ran first unit crew, and John Crimmins was our second unit programmer using his Hog 3,” says Barnes. “Besides the small amount of moving lights we had on this show, there were numerous lighting effects needed throughout the movie. Flickering fluorescents, alarm beacons, and fire effects were constantly called for on every set filmed. The Wholehog 3 handles it with ease.”
Barnes also recently used his Wholehog 3 on Dreamgirls, starring Beyonce Knowles and opening in December. His past Wholehog 3 films include The Island, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Van Helsing and Soul Plane.