Every Saturday evening, millions of TV viewers are glued to the screen for the hit programme “Stars on Ice” broadcast on the First Channel of Russian Television. It is a light-hearted and modern programme with many stars from sport and show business (the theatre, cinema and music) in Russia taking part and trying their luck at the most intrepid live performances. Stars on Ice was by far the most popular television show in Russia in the whole of 2006.
As is clear from the response by public and critics, this show is interesting not only for the challenges faced by the contestants, but also the great beauty of the TV sets and the lighting effects. Clay Paky is present with its moving bodies both in the studio, where the presenter is with the guests, and on the ice where the shows are performed. The material was supplied by Doka, the Clay Paky distributor for the whole of Russia which is specialized in marketing highly professional lighting products.
This show has attracted the attention of the main Russian trade journals: Light Design, one of the main publications in the lighting sector, which is distributed in 80 large cities in Russia, published a long article on the show.
Mr Juri Krasilnicov, Lighting Director of the show says, “Shows on ice are a very well known genre for us. However, the massive presence of sets on the ice and the typically television requirements meant that we had a completely new job on our hands. At the end of the day, I can say that“Stars on Ice” was one of the richest and most complex projects I have ever worked on. We spent a huge amount of time adapting each situation to the best, mediating the demands of the set with those of television. We very often changed the assortment of the lights and it was not until we were on the home straight that we made this choice. It was a hard choice, but the best one we could make”.
Juri Krasilnicov explains why the projectors were changed: “Almost all the problems were caused by the conformation of the skating rink. At first, we chose the Vari-Lite 3000 for the dynamic lighting; but against the white of the ice, where even the slightest nuances are seen, many of the effects of the VL were lacking expression.
This took us by surprise and made us look for the best that the market could offer. We found our solution in Clay Paky’sAlpha Spot HPE 1200 Paky, which are really great projectors, ideal for working on ice: they have many effects and I could create very interesting images, such as the effect of water and waves. The technical innovations in these products helped us completely revolutionize the concept ofLight Design on ice.”