Robe continues to be a popular choice of moving light for the leading Israeli TV shows, and especially with one of the country’s top lighting designers Ofer Jacobi – who specifies Robe constantly for his busy schedule of productions.
This recently includes the popular “Fly On The Millions” quiz show, recorded in Studio 4 of GG Studios, Neverelan, Jerusalem, the country’s main TV production facility. This show is in its third series and will soon be rolled out in the US via NBC and also in Europe.
Contestants answering questions wrong are spectacularly dumped from the set via a trap door opening beneath their podium! The show is broadcast on prime time Friday night, on Channel 10.
Lighting is being supplied by Danor Rental and the Robe count includes 20 x ROBIN 300E Beams, ten ColorWash 700E ATs, six ColorBeam 2500s and ten ColorSpot 1200E ATs.
Jacobi’s initial starting point involved conferring with the set designer Avi Fahima and the series editor. The editor explained the format and rules of the programme and from that, Jacobi formulated what lighting and effects were needed where and when in the environment.
After that, he chose his fixtures.
The ten ColorSpot 1200E ATs are back-lighting each of the ‘challenging’ contestants – who stand around the main contestant who is in the middle of the set. The fixtures are used for a variety of colours and effects including the elimination moment when the contestant is ‘ejected’ promptly and unceremoniously into a foam filled pit below!
The ColorWash 700s are used for back-lighting the audience.
The 20 ROBIN 300E Beams are placed around the lower level set rings and used for aerials and assorted eye-candy. They are extremely noticeable on camera and add drama to the elimination moments.
The six ColorBeam 2500s are also on the floor behind the contestants. They provide an alternative super-powerful layer of effects, colours and textures.
He also uses a variety of other lightsources for general and ‘white lighting’, but the Robes are the most prominent.
All the moving lights are controlled by operator Yaron Shoosh via a CompuLite Vector Red, which is also running video content out to all the various LED panels. Generic lighting is controlled by a CompuLite Spark 4D.
All the lighting and video cues are triggered via MIDI from the show games machine.
Jacobi has been using Robe on his shows since 2005, and has enthusiastically embraced all the many new technologies that have come online in that time.
The best known and most highly respected TV LD in Israel, he has been in the business 30 years and has honed the craft to a fine art. It’s a tradition that runs in the family following in his father’s footsteps as Jacobi senior was originally a DoP (and then a lighting designer when the term was coined) working in the movies!
Jacobi comments, “Using Robe has definitely made my life easier. I am very happy especially with the new LED ranges”. He’s not using these on ‘Fly’ … but has MMX Spots on’s for the latest ‘Dancing With the Stars’ series.
He likes the whole range of Robe fixtures, small to large, LED to discharge – all of them offering a lightsource for any and all applications and situations.
Fly on The Million – People Photo Caption : L – R : Erez Hadar (Danor) , Ofer Jacobi (LD) Yaron Shoosh (lighting operator) and Eyal Kayzerman (Danor technician).
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