ELP’s Alpha Beam 700s define The X Factor Bootcamp look

The lighting ‘look’ for the latest series of The X Factor auditions has been dominated by the spectacular intense narrow beam produced by the Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s.

And the ‘beamy’ effect really came into its own during the filming of the Bootcamp stage of the show which took place at Wembley Arena.

“This was undoubtedly the lamp of the series” says Lighting Designer Mark Kenyon. “It all moved up a notch once we got to the Bootcamp stage. The lighting spec got substantially bigger and Wembley Arena looked amazing. The ELP crew helped me create a classic rock and roll look with searing white beams criss-crossing the stage, ceiling and audience. The producers (talkbackTHAMES) did plan to have a live audience on certain boot camp days but due to the unavoidable absence of Cheryl Cole it was all filmed behind closed doors. This couldn’t be helped but it was a shame because I really think visitors to the Arena would have been impressed. The TV shots were still magnificent.

Mark Continues “I used thirty eight Alpha 700s supplied by ELP because they delivered exactly what I required and more. The units are so compact, lightweight, energy efficient and crammed full of features. We had to record up to 50 acts per day and I created a universal look to wash over the whole stage. But if production asked for something specific the Alpha 700s gave me all the flexibility I needed to change things up”

Mark used 30 x Vari-Lite 1000s to key light the stage from the front of house rig and Arri 2K Fresnels to key light from the side of the stage. The all important judges were lit with Source 4s and Mac 500s.

Six- lamp-bars were used to back light the audience seating and single par truss warmers were used to decorate all the metalwork.

Followspots were used during solo performance rounds to add drama and tension. “The Wembley Arena stage seems like a huge distance for fledgling acts to cross especially if they are a solo artist” comments the LD.

Back stage the rehearsal space was blanket lit with 20 x ELP space lights. Illuminating this space allowed production to follow contestants during their warm ups and also to follow them off stage as they finish their performance. A non-stop conveyor belt of The X Factor hopefuls were filmed in a documentary style back stage and as Mark Kenyon explains, “this raw ‘unplugged’ footage was all part of the Bootcamp ‘reality’ feel which the producers were after.

Mark explains “The brief was to create a sense that we were filming a show in the process of being made. For example, if you watch the recent Michael Jackson ‘This Is It’ movie you can see the final show in development, the rehearsals, and the backstage interaction. Similarly, with the The X Factor Bootcamp we tried to create a sense that it was all gaining momentum and leading to the big glitzy studio finals. The Bootcamp lighting spec was greater than the previous auditions but deliberately not as ‘LE’ as the studio shows will be. We are creating a progressive evolving environment for each stage of the The X Factor competition. I think we got it absolutely spot on at Wembley Arena”

Mark was keen to thank his colleagues. Board operator Tom Sutherland controlled the lighting on a Vector ‘Blue’ desk and Joe Sherno was the crew chief in charge of a four man ELP team. Everything that the lighting team delivered passed through the watchful eye of vision supervisor Luke Chantrell who corrected any camera imbalances for this HD production