Rogier van der Heide, former TEDxAmsterdam speaker and Chief Design Officer of Philips Design for Lighting, did the lighting design for this year’s event, solely with LEDs. Not only a world premiere and very sustainable, but also a great way to show the magic of LED lighting.
The sounds of Bach fill the Stadsschouwburg when Rogier van der Heide enters the stage. He is dressed in black, cloaked in clouds of fog and pushes a large theater luminaire, carried by a tripod on wheels.
Picture: Jan Jaap-Heine
The Holy Grail
In theater lighting, it is important that spotlights can be covered with a so-called gobo, that controls the shape of the emitted light. A large LED spotlight is different, because it consist of many small emitters, distorting the pattern of the gobo, or mask. The LED spotlight Rogier shows can use a gobo, and is therefore called “The Holy Grail.” It proves that LED can offer solutions for theater lighting, because “innovation has to be meaningful.”
Tableau vivant?
At the same time, Rembrandt’s “The Nightwatch” is projected on a large screen behind him. “The Nightwatch” has been subject to several lighting decors over the course of history, but since October 2011, it is subtly lit by LED lighting only. Rogier explains how the lighting of “The Nightwatch” is an example of networked innovation, where Philips partnered up with the Rijksmuseum to co-create new solutions.
Suddenly, two figures from the Nightwatch step out of the projection, Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenberg. They are lit in light too bright to show the colors of their suits. Gradually, the light changes and they look Rembrandt-esque. Their presence on stage is used to show the different modes of lighting, enabled by the LEDs – and proves the quality of light for a theater experience. Rogier shows us the process of collaborating with the museum, where Philips put in technological expertise, and the Rijksmuseum shared their knowledge on presentation. This could only happen together, “because innovation does not happen in a vacuum!”
Black Eyed Surprise
The Stadsschouwburg is pitch black again, and suddenly a video of the Black Eyed Peas starts to play. At the same time, a girl enters the stage. She wears the famous dress integrated with electro-luminescent lighting Fergie wore at the Billboard Awards in May this year. Her face remains invisible, the dress for sure, does not. She takes Frank and Willem off the stage, back to Rembrandt’s time.
Twenty percent!
The last message of his talk tells us that today’s event is fully lit with LEDs, and demands only 20% of the regular electricity requirements. The fly-bars are even lowered down to the stage to show everyone how they look — and leave the crowd in the dark again…
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