Even for those not smitten by the sight and smell of these gi
gantic engines, there can be no
doubting the very real challenge of successfully illuminatin
g one of these heaving beasts of
yesteryear. With a limited number of fixtures and with some of
the locomotives up to sixty
metres in length, not to mention being a 360
0
canvas to cover, the teams had a real
challenge on their hands.
To guide them on their way were Chris West, Ambersphere
s Training & Support Manager
and Dave Cowan, International Sales Manager for the Architectural & E
ntertainment
Department at Pulsar. A busy day began with an introductory talk f
rom Chris and Dave. The
teams were each allocated a locomotive: this year there were fo
ur steam engines ranging
from the smaller Aerolite and Pannier Tank to the massive streamli
ned forms of Duchess of
Hamilton and Winston Churchill. From the diesel age is the W
estern Fusilier and finally the
1
st
generati
on
Eurostar train. Each team was given a set of lights from Pulsar
and
Ambersphere that comprised a combination of static architectural
LED floodlights, battens
and a PowerPix from Pulsar and moving fixtures from Ambersphere: C
lay Paky K20 Washes
and NandoBeams and MagicDots from Ayrton. There were also a sel
ection of generic lights
and a six-way dimmer pack if they wish
ed
to use them.
After a generous lunch kindly provided by the National Railw
ay Museum, each team was
given a timed tutorial by Chris and Dave, explaining the featur
es of all the fixtures and
showing each one in action. Dave was careful to describe the po
ssibilities of each one.
Then Chris spent the second stage of the tutorial running th
rough the basics of the MA dot2
console and demonstrating how best to use the board to achieve
their planned design.
The rest of the afternoon saw huddled groups of students lo
oking over their allocated
locomotive and then scribbling apace as they came up with a des
ign. At 6pm the museum
closed to the public and the teams began a frenetic couple of
hours putting their ideas into
practise watched over by West, Cowan and their accompanying t
utors.
We are there to
smooth any technical difficulties they may run into,
explains Cowan,
not to make any
design suggestions. It is a real privilege to see how the
students perform. You often see kit
being utilised in a really fresh and innovative fashion as th
ey are not influenced by years of
conventional perspective on what to use where.
I jumped at the chance to be a part of this,
declares West,
and not simply because these
machines present such unique challenge. In a few years some of th
ese students may well
be clients looking to invest in hardware or designing for
productions that use our fixtures.
A few of them have already attended some of the Ambersphere training
we offer. Dave and
I are part of the judging panel; the criteria include how th
e designs have reflected each
locomotive
s history as well as effective use of their lights with cons
ideration of their
audience clearly demonstrated."
The results proved their adherence to the guidelines and enthusi
asm for the competition:
Rose Bruford College used their colour choices to highligh
t the Winston Churchill as the
locomotive that carried the great statesman home to Blenheim after
his funeral in London.
Their gobo was handmade from a drinks can. The University of
South Wales had some
distro issues with lighting the huge length of the Duches
s of Hamilton but used their lights
to delicately emphasise the art deco design of the locomotive.
But proving that teamwork was the all round winner of the d
ay, it was a hybrid group of
students from York College and Stratford who scooped first
prize, using the dot2 to
programme a sequence of different lighting scenes on the Pannier
Tank engine that starred
in the film
The Railway Children
.
Ambersphere Solutions and Pulsar Lights both feel this is a
very worthwhile project to be
involved in,
concludes West,
And using a combination of the fixtures available from both
companies offer the students a real insight into the choices
they will have as designers of
the future."