Last November the ninth annual Channel O Music Video Awards, an event dedicated solely to African artists, took place on Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto. Put together for the seventh year in succession by production company Don’t Look Down and supplier AV Unlimited, it took place in a purpose-built SUPA dome, which housed the biggest LED screen ever in South Africa; and opened its doors to the general public for the first time. Paul Watson reports.

Although he admits it’s always quite an undertaking, Don’t Look Down’s executive producer (and producer for the event and broadcast), Glenn van Loggerenberg, says all key personnel involved in the Channel O MVAs are among the best in South Africa, providing serious peace of mind.

Van Loggerenberg adds that the earned trust of the client, Channel O, has opened the door for many technical innovations and staging concepts.”We have an excellent working relationship with AV Unlimited, as we have collaborated on a number of these events together, and we continue to learn from the mistakes we make,’ he smiles. “Having the good fortune to continue the show year after year really gives us a distinct advantage from the offset; it’d be very different coming into this cold.’
Undoubtedly, as the preparation is evidently substantial. Van Loggerenberg says the best part of 12 months is spent on the show, from choosing the theme, to eventually staging that theme and everything in between!

“This time round, we went to Soweto and put up a massive dome; but the upside of that is that we have worked in the dome before on stadium shows, so I know very well how the physical object work in terms of dimensions and what it’s capable of,’ he explains. “So we structured a show which would allow us to take advantage of its eight massive truss arches, so we could suspend things and also create a lighting design that really exploited the volume of the room. It was quite special.’
To achieve this a vast array of automated lighting fixtures were utilised: 20 Martin MAC 700 Profiles and 14 Martin MAC 700 Washes; 24 Robe Robin 100 LEDs; 12 Vari-Lite VLX LED Washes; 12 Robe 600s; 12 Robe Colourbeam 700s; and 24 High End Studio pix.

In addition 96 LED SRL-6057-L Parcans and 190 Brite Q powerbank LED fixtures were deployed, along with 48 generic ETC Source 4 Profile Zooms. Operation was via a Grand MA 2 console and a Grand MA 2 Fader Wing.
The IN2STRUCTURES SUPA dome featured a single raised main stage at the far end, with a combination of staircases offering undulating access points for the performers and MC. In the centre, there was a free-standing “mini stage’ flanked by two VIP stands and fronting the main stage on the opposite side of the dome stood the spectator grandstand.

“Once you start designing and building the grandstands, if the drawings are off, you’re “dead,’’ Van Loggerenberg insists. “One of the main difficulties we had was where we staged the show and erected the dome, there was actually an incline; if you can picture a horizon floating at 30 degrees, then put a spirit level against it, you can see the triangle that it would make – that’s what we were dealing with. It just meant that all the departments had to take this gradient into account and try not to let it affect the show.’

AV Unlimited provided all AV equipment for the event; company director and technical director for the Channel O VMAs, Guillaume Ducray, says the requirements have certainly changed over the years.
“We still don’t have a huge budget, but the kit list has definitely improved and got larger and larger,’ he says. “This venue in Soweto was three times bigger than the previous venue we were in, and as well as the 1 500 people seated for the show, this one was the first to sell tickets to the public, so we had an additional 2 000-strong standing audience; naturally this meant an increase in security, but thankfully everything went very smoothly on the night.’

And it had to run smoothly, being 100% live, of course. Though remarkably, this added pressure doesn’t seem to faze either Ducray or Van Loggerenberg; they’re quite relaxed about it all, in fact.
“Look, sometimes there will be an issue with the power, or the audio, or something – the thing is, the audience is occasionally none the wiser, even if you’re running at 70 or 80%,’ Van Loggerenberg explains. “It’s that last differential of 20 to 30 extra percent where the magic happens – the bits you’ve painstakingly plotted and staged, that transforms the script into a real event. Really, the live thing is actually a lot of fun!’
Before speccing and then providing the kit, Ducray makes sure he sits down with his team and brainstorms.

“Everything is put down on paper first, then we work out what gear we need,’ he explains. “It is a process – a six-month process, in fact, but we look at everything from the look and feel, right through to the health and safety drawings – that’s all done by AV Unlimited: Marius Marais and the Sound Stylists’ team designed the audio; Joshua Cutts is a key person in Glenn’s team, following the lead of DLD Creative Director Anton Cloete and associate creative director Tebogo Mogola. Garrith Castelyn is in charge of the stage and room layouts and consolidates all the information. The site manager, Sven Hansen, is also completely key of course.’
Van Loggerenberg demands synchronisation between what’s appearing on the stage and what’s happening with all the technology in the room, as well as a consistent treatment across music direction by Zwai Bala, sound design by Something Kinda Funky, program graphics by Clearwater, performance graphics by Motion Cult and lighting by Visual Frontier.

“We take the tracks in advance and we will produce audio-activated graphic visualisations; these are then loaded as individual clips onto our Coolux video server with their audio, so that when the show is rolling, the screen and the audio are working together at a frequency level,’ he reveals. “We take those clips and load them onto the server, so they can be triggered by the lighting desk; then we work with the lighting director to create each of the scenes.’
Evidently a lot of time is spent in advance, preparing raw materials and when the venue is set up and the lighting rig is live, work is carried out through the night leading up to the show playing and replaying the clips and re-programming, to ensure it’s all in sync.

“Once we have that, those elements are simply a command on the TV director’s script,’ Van Loggerenberg adds. “By the time we get to show night, my preference is always to have a live hand on the desk, but for it to run almost automatically.’
The full video control setup consisted of two Coolux Server LTs and a Coolux Media Manager STD, and the centrepiece of the set was undeniably the giant 16m x 9m LED wall, the largest ever to be deployed into an indoor structure in South Africa.
“I contracted in Megaview to bring in the LED wall, and it provided a fantastic, huge backdrop,’ enthuses Ducray. “It worked so well, and because the stage floor had a high gloss finish to it, we were able to create a “double’ LED effect as it created a mirror image; it was like having two LED walls, really.’

Ducray opted for a Coda audio system. Feeding sound to the main grandstand were sizeable line arrays, comprising of 12 Coda LA12s (six per side), with three Coda SC8 subs sat L/R respectively; these were powered by two RC40 Coda amp racks. There were also four hangs of four Coda LA8 and two Coda LA8 subs each side of the stage; these arrays were strategically placed up high and focused directly on the audience to avoid reflections and obstacles imposed by the structure. For front fill eight JBL SRX and eight Nexo S2 were deployed.
At FOH, a left, right and sub feed was sent into two XTA units, which distributed the feeds: an XTA 448 fed the LA12s and LA8s as well as the fills; and an XTA 224 fed the SC8ss, LA8 subs and the S2s.

“We were creating continuous narratives throughout the show; everything was linked: the lighting design was tied to the video design, which was tied to the music, which was tied to the artists who were getting the prizes from Channel O,’ Van Loggerenberg concludes.

“The bottom line is that you simply cannot afford to be troubleshooting technical gear and discover that the kit is incapable of what you thought it was. That’s why I always favour AV Unlimited; I can concentrate on the creative elements because I know the kit will be working absolutely perfectly. It would take a long time to build the same level of trust with another AV supplier, so we are very happy with our partnership.’

By Paul Watson