Lithuanian creative director, Arvydas Buinauskas, has outgrown his previous lighting design studio, AB Light, and is pushing boundaries with STUN Studio creating large-scale production designs in Vilnius. In August, the full-service agency created the stage and lighting for one of Lithuania's most popular artists, Jessica Shy. An artist that Buinauskas has been supporting with unique designs for tours and events for the past five years.
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The collaboration has obviously been fruitful for both, and according to Buinauskas, the trust developed since the early days of Shy's career gave STUN free rein to explore a design for a record-breaking two-day event for an audience of over 100,000 in Vingis Park, Vilnius.
Their past collaboration was just one of the draws that made the project an interesting challenge for Buinauskas, who says, "It was the overall combination of its scale, the team, the artist herself, and the creative process as a whole. One of the most exciting aspects was that we were creating something that had never been done before. In the beginning, we had complete creative freedom, so the process was very exploratory. We experimented with different forms and creative directions, looking for a way to respond to the existing location and, in a sense, visually transform or conceal the Vingis Park stage. We wanted to create a distinct Jessica Shy world, an immersive environment with its own form, atmosphere, and identity. The creative process was quite extensive. We explored a wide range of shapes and solutions, constantly balancing them with the technical possibilities of the venue and production. Over time, the idea evolved naturally and gradually developed into the final concept through close collaboration with the artist, the director, and the entire creative team."
STUN was responsible for developing the overall creative concept for the set and lighting design, as well as shaping the project’s visual direction. The setting was outside, in a large park in Vilnius which already had a stage which the creative team decided to extend to create a spectacle large enough to reach and engage with the record-breaking crowd. According to Buinauskas, content for the three screens, "showed relatively little pre-produced video content. The main focus was on the live image and on using the screens in a way that naturally complemented the set design and enhanced the artist’s presence on stage." Two either side of the stage were purely IMAG. "At the center, we had a transparent LED screen, measuring approximately 14 × 60 meters (LED P3/7 3.9-7.8 mm. For most of the show there was a live camera feed of the artist and elements of the elaborate staging."
The set design was extensive to complement the massive area of the park and give the artist equal stature to the surroundings, Vingis Park, which is over 400 acres of forest, river, trails, an amphitheatre and botanical gardens. STUN worked to create a world within the park that evoked an imaginary building that left room for the audience to fill in the blanks. A space somewhere between an urban landscape and a fairytale castle, but one that brought together eras and architectural styles. The designer says, "We were not aiming to recreate any specific place or other real-world structure. We drew inspiration from a range of architectural references and visual imagery, but the final result was our own original interpretation. The form used in the set may suggest a bridge or an architectural structure, but it is not a direct representation of any particular object. Its fragmented lines, interrupted shapes, and structural details were designed to create a distinctive visual language unique to this project. Because a production of this scale could not be fabricated entirely in-house, we partnered with a specialized production company for the project. All structural elements were manufactured and pre-assembled at their facility well in advance, allowing the on-site installation to be carried out efficiently."
Like any outdoor production of this scale, location and weather were challenges. Buinauskas says, "Strong wind gusts and rain had a major impact on the way the set had to be built, particularly in terms of structural design, stability, and overall safety. Another key challenge was integrating the scenography into the existing stage structure. This involved a long coordination process, from weight distribution and load calculations to a wide range of technical details. In addition, we did not have complete freedom to specify every fixture we might have wanted. As with any large outdoor production, the final package had to balance creative intent with budget, availability, power, rigging capacity, weather resistance, and the practical limitations of the site. Because the show was outdoors, we prioritized high-output LED fixtures, particularly LED battens, linear fixtures, and powerful LED wash units. We needed sources with enough output to remain visually effective in daylight and during the transition into dusk, rather than relying only on fixtures that perform best in darkness or with heavy atmospheric effects. We also used high-intensity beam fixtures to create strong aerial looks that could read from a considerable distance. Those fixtures helped extend the visual scale beyond the physical stage, define the architecture of the site, and create a stronger connection between the stage, the audience area, and the surrounding environment. If the production had been in an indoor arena, the fixture selection would likely have been different. In a controlled environment, we could have relied more heavily on atmosphere, tighter beam control, lower-output sources, and fixtures chosen primarily for texture, color, and detail rather than sheer visibility and environmental performance." However, the stage design contributed to some interesting effects and expansive angles for IMAG. "One thing that worked especially well was the linear LED battens integrated into the structure. They helped define the set geometry and made the design read very clearly, both to the audience and on camera. The more difficult part was creating the aerial looks with narrow-beam moving lights. To get strong, visible beams, you need a consistent level of haze in the air. Outdoors, that can be difficult because the wind disperses it very quickly, so keeping the beam definition consistent across the stage required careful positioning and timing."
The lighting equipment was supplied and managed by lighting production partner, Mosu Service.
Photos By Joana Suslavičiūtė and Linas Žemgulis