Click pictures to enlarge

Lighting worlds collide at Frankenstein's Wedding... Live in Leeds

On a crisp full moon night in March, Leeds’ Kirkstall Abbey played host to a live televised event – the marriage of scientist Victor Frankenstein to his bride-to-be, Elizabeth.

‘Frankenstein’s Wedding… Live in Leeds’ was a bold and ambitious project, exploring Mary Shelley’s gothic masterpiece through live drama, contemporary music and mass audience participation.

Twelve thousand free tickets were made available to the public to come and watch the live event unfold on stage and via a large video screen.  The whole spectacle was broadcast live on BBC Three.

In a unique take on audience participation, the live audience was invited to attend the event in their best wedding outfits and play a real role as wedding guests.  In the weeks leading up to the event, BBC Learning and Leeds based Phoenix Dance Theatre helped people find their dancing feet through a series of workshops.  This all culminated in a mass celebratory wedding dance routine live on the night.

Lighting and projection were at the heart of making the viewing audience (at home and at the venue) fully immersed in the emotion and horror of this classic tale. But as TV Lighting Director Bernie Davis explains “Having to light something as big as a cathedral without actually hanging anything to the fabric of the building was somewhat of a challenge”.  Kirkstall Abbey is essentially a ruin and so a mixture of preservation orders and safety measures meant that there was to be no tampering with the ancient walls.

To get round this problem Berni reverted to ELP’s trusty par cans. “Whether positioned around the site on turrets, window arches, balconies or just on floor stands , these ‘old school’ units provided a low cost, flexible solution.” Remarks Bernie.

But it wasn’t just the unusual venue which made this live production different from the norm. There were effectively three lighting disciplines being represented on the night. Bernie was in charge of lighting all things ‘Outside Broadcast’ just as he would normally be. But there was also a Director of Photography (Fabian Wagner) covering the film and drama lighting and live event LD Max Conwell operating the board for the Leeds audience in front of house.

So who would want to be lighting Gaffer stuck in the middle of these three demanding creative lighting professionals? Step forward ELP’s Darren Fletcher.

“It was a lot smoother than you might expect” says diplomatic Darren. “I’ve worked extensively in all three lighting areas and I know the lingo of each, so translating from one to the other wasn’t a problem.  ELP Manchester provided a highly experienced six man crew and split our time between servicing the demands of Bernie, Fabian and Max.”

ELP supplied all three lighting elements for this production as follows: 

• A full OB lighting kit including:  Thomas Pixel Pars; Thomas Pixel Lines; Chromaflood 200 / 900; Thomas PAR64 long nose Par Cans; PAR64 Short nose floorcans;  Photon Beard Highlights; and various battery / hand held devices including Pulsar and Sachtler Units.
  
• Film and drama lighting kit including: 650w, 1KW, 2KW, 5Kw Arri Junior Fresnels, Arrisun 4KW MSR PARs, Arri 4KW MSRs, Arri 6KW MSRs, Kinoflo, Half Dino (12 Lamp) Kit, Arrilite 2000 (Blonde) and MR16 birdies
  
• Live stage show digital moving lights including: VL 1000s, Martin Mac 700s and a Martin Atomic 3000 DMX strobe.

“In a way this is the perfect kind of event for ELP” remarks Darren. “It’s a great showcase for what we can deliver across multiple media and live event channels and it fuses all our areas of expertise into one single show”

In addition to Gaffer Darren Fletcher the five man team consisted of Sinbad, John Lockwood, Pete Griffiths, Dan Finigan and Pete Deacon.

The same ELP Manchester lighting team, under the direction of LD Bernie Davis, were also responsible for similar BBC Three productions in the past. Manchester Passion (2006) and Liverpool Nativity (2008) were similar creations which combined live music, drama and audience participation.

The Leeds event was a collaboration between BBC Wales, BBC North and local organisations in Leeds, including Leeds City Council, Welcome to Yorkshire and Marketing Leeds. And it’s this spirit of working together for a common goal which came through in the entire production approach.

The architecture of the Abbey was lit beautifully using LED lighting including Pixel Lines and Chromaflood which in addition to having infinite colour change options also have the benefit of being waterproof, thus making them safe for outdoor use. LEDs also featured heavily in the surreal glass box which became Frankenstein’s laboratory open to the viewing public to peer inside.  Pixel Pars combined with Super Blue Kinoflo fluorescents to create a truly memorable effect. 

The LED look contrasted with the natural HMI lighting used for drama scenes, DOP Fabian Wagner (who’s credits include hit TV dramas like Spooks, Hustle and Ashes to Ashes) created a dark, atmospheric mood with his lighting.

“I wanted to create a cinematic contrast during the intense drama scenes” Says Fabian “And the Gothic imagery which resulted was largely dictated by the amazing venue”

The graveyard scenes were lit with a 12 lamp Half Dino plus 2 x Arri 2Ks bounced off poly boards. Similarly the library scenes were lit with 2 x Arri 2Ks again bounced off 4x4 poly boards. Some additional practical lighting made the drama areas complete. 

The main Abbey building was illuminated by one of ELP’s powerful Arri 6Ks rigged to a Genie cherry picker whilst the courtyard managed with an Arri 4K also from the air. Both were helped by a large full moon which was at its closest orbit in decades on the night of the broadcast.

The Live audience and Wedding guests in the Abby building were treated to some clever projection displays which transformed the ancient walls of the Abbey into ever changing visual cues which helped to augment the plot. For example, just after the murder scene dripping blood was projected across the walls of the Abbey. Other projected visuals included flickering candles, confetti for wedding scenes and tombstone quotations. The two projection suppliers for the event were local firms ‘Seeper’ and ‘Lumen’.

 Max Conwell was selected by Bernie as the best man for the job of looking after the live audience area. “Max has LD’ed for bands like Paul Weller, Morrissey, and Placebo and has also done a fair amount of TV work.  So I knew he would be able to translate all the televised action into the stage show” says Bernie.

Max used his own Chamsys desk to control the movers which he rates very highly for being robust enough for Rock and Roll while flexible enough to work on TV / commercial projects. VL 1000s and Martin Mac 700s made up most of the hardware on stage and provided enough variety for the audience without distracting from the unfolding harrowing plot.

Frankenstein's Wedding is proof that ‘transmedia’ shows can be delivered effectively as long as the right production suppliers are matched with creatives with an appreciation and understanding of each others trade.

Bernie Davis was keen to thank the experienced ELP team. “The venue and the drama introduced many difficulties I would not normally expect to meet, but with the fantastic help and support of Darren and his team we managed to overcome all of them, and ended up with a very memorable result” concludes Bernie.