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Project Type
Live for Broadcast. The project known as, "Dancing with the Stars," is a live reality dance competition show filmed at Television City in Los Angeles, California. The client is ABC and BBC. The show airs live on Disney Plus and ABC with lighting by Noah Mitz of Full Flood Inc.
Project Name
Design Criteria
The creative team and producers like to push the boundaries each week. Because of that, "Dancing with the Stars" is show that demands variety alongside volume. Each week during the season is defined by a different theme. That theme then drives the song, choreography, and creative choices for up to 16 performances in a single episode. The goal is to create a cohesive episode while still giving each performance a unique identity.
Project Description
"Dancing with the Stars" is a live reality dancing competition show where celebrities and professional latin ballroom dancers are paired to perform choreographed routines that correspond with each week's theme. The couples then compete for scores given to them by a panel of judges in addition to votes from the show's viewing audience. At the end of each episode, once all couples have performed, the couple with the lowest combined score and vote total is eliminated.
Challenges and Solutions
One of our greatest challenges is the true 360° environment that we shoot in. With that comes a number of challenges. One of those challenges that we deal with on almost every dance is placing lighting fixtures in places where we may not have them or where we don’t want to see power and data cables. To overcome this we utilize a significant quantity of battery powered fixtures running on multiple wireless DMX systems. These wireless fixtures not only allow us to deploy fixtures just about anywhere in the studio without seeing cables, but also allow us to deploy those fixtures extremely quickly - often completing entire performance changeovers in under 60 seconds.
Equipment
With a show like "Dancing with the Stars," the rig needs to be dynamic enough in order to fulfill all of the show's creative needs; this includes points, beams, and gobos; in addition to twelve followspots. There are many steady-cam shots in the performances so the team has to consider the look and angle of every corner of the room.
Team
Noah Mitz, Madigan Stehly, Hannah Kerman, Patrick Brazil, Joe Holdman, Matt Benson