Mojo Rental Southeast Europe from Croatia were the first company in the Balkans to invest in Robe’s new GigaPointe laser-phosphor source multipurpose luminaire, with a purchase of 24 fixtures. These were delivered – direct from the factory in Czechia – ahead of two shows at Zagreb Arena for Croatian pop artist, Jakov Jozinović.
GigaPointes sat at the heart of a dynamic lighting and stage design by Sven Kučinić from LumiLas. He used 173 other Robe products on the rig for the largest show’s of Jozinović’s career to date.
Due to last-minute changes in the production requirements, the lighting rig for the 360° show was fully reimagined – completely from scratch – just six days ahead of the show. In addition to the GigaPointes, the lighting design featured 32 FORTES, 32 CycFX 8s, 16 PAINTES, 24 LedPOINTES, 32 Spiiders and 32 Tetra2s.
Four Robe BMFL WashBeams were the follow spots, ensconced high up at the back of the audience bleachers. They were manually operated using Robe’s LightMaster side handle kits, with pan and tilt controlled by the operators and all other parameters run from Kučinić’s lighting console.
The rectangular-shaped stage – with thrusts emanating from the two short sides – was positioned in the middle of the arena, and above it was a rectangular-shaped video cube with screens on four sides, dedicated to an IMAG mix.
“It’s always exciting to use a new product,” Kučinić stated, adding that for several years MegaPointes had been a go-to for most of his creative projects. Ten MegaPointes supported the high beam concept. The GigaPointes were positioned on trusses above the long side of the video cube in positions giving the highest (16m) and longest throws, perfect for aerial effects. The MegaPointes were rigged on trusses in corresponding positions along the short side of the video rectangle.
Kučinić even found himself at times moderating the intensity of the GigaPointes, remarking that it is always “good trouble” having a fixture that’s too bright. “They are a solid next-gen all-purpose fixture,” he commented.
In addition to the intensity, he appreciated the interchangeability and the way GigaPointes worked with MegaPointes and the other Robe fixtures. Kučinić enjoyed “the way you can make GigaPointes really emulate laser effects when needed,” adding that, “they are also the only laser source I’ve encountered to date that look like an LED light when in Spot mode – which is impressive engineering.”
He appreciated that the GDTF file for GigaPointes was already made available by Robe, making his pre-vis work much easier. The initial versions of the design were produced months in advance using Capture and based on MegaPointes, as at that stage, no-one could exactly pinpoint the GigaPointe delivery date.
The 32 FORTES were hung just below the video cube on a trussing grid formation. Running gobos and texturing on the stage with these FORTES seamlessly blended with the floor’s video effects. Kučinić used the FORTES to shroud the stage in intense light combined with smoke for a dramatic entrance effect, as Jozinović popped up from the centre on a lift.
Tetra2s framed the edges of the stage as low profile fixtures were essential to preserve sightlines. CycFX 8s mirrored positions on the trusses above stage. Also on the floor were the 24 LedPOINTES, again picked due to their compact size and minimal impact on sightlines. Sixteen PAINTES were his key lighting, rigged – together with the Spiiders – on four trusses further out from the video cube. These were ideal positions for lighting the band and Jozinović, and for the Spiiders to bathe the audience in rich and sumptuous colours.
For him, Spiiders are still a great choice of LED wash. “The colours, zoom, calibration, etc. are currently still unmatched!” he noted.
In addition to lighting the fans, he used Spiiders for additional beam effects, working in conjunction with the GigaPointes. The general aesthetic goal for these shows was to create something original and memorable. “It needed to be grand and spectacular, but not tacky or pompous,” he explained, talking creatively.
Kučinić extended thanks to the whole Mojo Rental Southeast Europe team for helping make this happen in such a pressurised time window, and especially Lighting Crew Chief, Sven Grbec “Maci”, who coordinated and prepared the Robe kit. In addition to Robe lights, additional strobes, 2-Lites, and around 30,000 LED bracelets (over the two nights) were also programmed via Kučinić’s lighting console.
