CPL provided technical production - including live camera feeds / edit, lighting, audio and AV – for the inaugural AGA Festival, working for live communication and event specialists Eclipse Communications.
Staged in the Ondaatje Theatre lecture hall at the prestigious Royal Geographical Society in Kensington, central London, this new concept enabled AGA enthusiasts to embrace and experience activities related to the iconic brand of cast iron cooking ranges. The action included cooking demos, presentations, guest speakers, the history of AGA and numerous other activities.
CPL’s project manager Lee Gruszeckyj worked closely with his counterpart from Eclipse, Dave Bowring and comments, "Being a totally new event, there were plenty of challenges and also a very high expectation of the production which had to be in line with AGA's premium brand image. The one day timeline was tight, but CPL and Eclipse prepared thoroughly in advance, and enjoyed some great teamwork on site that helped produce great looking and sounding results for AGA”.
CPL supplied three of their Sony HXC-100 broadcast cameras – one positioned at the back of the auditorium with two roaming around the floor and stage - filming the various activities, which was cut live and relayed to a number of IMAG screens positioned around the venue.
A PMW500 wireless camera ‘at large’ recorded vox-pops and other impromptu videologue style snippets throughout the day – all lit with battery powered LED softlight panels – which were fast-cut on a mobile edit suite on site to produce a lively, fun mix of the day’s highlights playing out for guests to enjoy when leaving.
The venue’s existing stage was used, the AGA marketing team branded the space and set up a number of AGA s onstage which required creative lighting. CPL made the most of the in-house screen and Barco projector, feeding in the camera ISOs via a fibre system from the CPL vision mixer.
CPL also supplied laptops loaded with PlayBack Pro and PowerPoint used for some of the presentations.
Lighting needed to be kept simple and effective to ensure the get in was rapid and efficient, and so LED was the dominant lightsource.
ETC Source Four Lustrs were installed for key lighting, while six ARRI L5C LED fresnels generally washed the stage and the rear of the discussion area. These were all rigged on Manfrotto pole stands as there is no flying in the theatre.
Clay Paky Mythos profile moving lights were utilized for break-up, texturing and other effects around the room, adding an extra layer of depth and dimension, while Martin MAC Auras provided a colour wash onstage, together with Martin RUSH PAR 2s around the stage and well-placed LED battens to colour the room behind the set and make the walls glow.
All lighting was run from an Avolites Quartz console.
CPL used the lecture theatre’s in-house PA speakers and mic package, and took in a Yamaha QL1 console to monitor and mix all their camera ISO record and TX racks.
Three breakout rooms each had a small d&b E6 sound system from CPL installed for background music which was fed via the QL1 running on a Dante network, and the feed from the main gallery mic – for announcements – was split and also fed out to all three rooms via the sound desk, a set-up designed to be neat and manageable.
Comms were a mix of CPL’s FreeSpeak wireless and wired units, and Sennheiser IEMs were provided for key people like the producer.
The event was highly successful and was a great example of how CPL’s expertise and knowledge combined elements of the available in-house systems with additional specified production to provide a great looking and cost-effective solution.