Lighting designer Attila Keskin specified and used an Avolites Diamond 4 Elite console to operate a stunning lightshow for the Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity dinner he lit recently, staged in the famous Central Hall of the Natural History Museum. 
Highlights of the evening’s entertainment included live sets from international superstars Jose Carreras, James Brown and Bryan Ferry and an auction which helped raise £2 million for the charity.
 
The high profile event was organised by Banana Split for the Rainbow Trust. As an accredited supplier to Natural History Museum, Fisher Productions supplied the lighting together with moving lights from VLPS. The D4 was supplied direct by Avolites to VLPS. 

The biggest challenge for Keskin was the very short get in and programming time on the actual day of the event – they had just an hour and a half from 6 p.m. till the doors opened!
The overall event theme was ‘gold’, and the lighting took on three different elements, encompassing a complete exterior scheme, several reception areas and the main performance/dining room – all designed by Keskin.

The Main Room

Keskin used 96 Vari*Lites and the Diamond 4 Elite to light the Dinosaur Room, which includes the skeleton of a 26 metre long Diplodocus.
He saw the event this as an ideal opportunity to put the D4 though its paces with a large rig. He’s a keen Avolites fan, having grown up with the brand and having used a Pearl for the last 9 years.
He went in to Avolites for 2 days before the show to familiarise himself with the desk. 
Attila loved the speed of the D4, and also the wealth of playback options. “For a one-off you need maximum flexibility” he explains, “As much of your work will be improvisational and on-the-fly. The D4 allows you to configure lights and create scenes and looks very quickly and easily”.

Exterior

An Avolites Pearl was controlling 18 Studio Due City Colors, six VL2416s, plus four VL2000 spots doing logo projections outside. The City Colors were used to create a spectacular Rainbow effect across the whole building, while the 2416’s were used for more animated colour-work at a higher level on the façade. The trees, steps and a gold Mini and a Ferrari also positioned out front were lit with conventional fixtures.

Reception areas

Another Avo Pearl was in action here. The reception and walk-in areas included a décor lighting scheme throughout the ‘ecology’ corridor down which guests entered. The Pearl controlled 28 MAC 300s plus conventionals, programmed into a lively colour wash sweeping down the tunnel, constructed from opaque glass panelling. Gold painted life models greeted guests as they entered, and the picture was completed with harpist playing serenely at the end.
Water House Way was the main reception area. Keskin lit this with Source Fours programmed into colour and gobo washes to offset the gold theme. The area was replete with a living collage of movement and fun from stilt-walkers, living statues, trumpeters, angels, etc.

Auction

The event also featured an auction held by Jimmy Tarbuck and Christopher Biggins, the highlights of which included Philip Green bidding £500K for a signed shirt worn by one the England World Cup Rugby squad, and Sting – a guest - being bid a large sum to stand up and perform a song - which he did to roars of approval.

The D4 was supplied direct by Avolites to VLPS.

All photos are © Nick Forro