INTRODUCTION John Featherstone and his daughter Hailey Featherstone, both of US-based visual design studio Lightswitch, have imagined the stunning lighting design for legendary film composer Hans Zimmer’s current “The Next Level” world tour. Hailey is out on the road as lighting director, together with 225 x Robe moving lights and 13 x RoboSpot Systems, among other lights. Robe was a go-to choice for John and Hailey, picked for the consistency and quality of the products that are helping achieve the desired creative results. John’s journey with Hans Zimmer started five years ago, and he relishes the opportunity and creative scope of working with such a masterful artist on his live shows. THE BRIEF For this tour, Hans Zimmer wanted to shift the musical direction away from being orchestral-based, which is often associated with his iconic film scores, and back to his roots in the German electronic punk and synth underground scenes, which required a completely different show but one that was ultimately still relatable as a Hans live performance. Fundamental to the brief was to create lighting that supported the music and enhanced the unique ‘Hans Zimmer live experience’ for all audiences. This was a highly collaborative process, involving Hans himself, art director Derek McLane, screen video producer Tom Bairstow, MD Steven Doar and FOH engineer Colin Pink. The complex stage and performance environment required layers of depth, detail, drama and dynamics from illumination that integrated seamlessly with the multiple other visual and sonic components in play. iFORTE LTX – MODERN & BRIGHT WORKHORSES Position Rigged on three trusses – rear, front and advanced – giving horizontal coverage across these three eyeline perspective points. Challenge A ‘canon’ style fixture was needed to emulate what in the past they might have achieved with MegaPointes.All the lights needed to be acting and moving on a singular plane for the first half of the show, and iFORTE LTXs helped create this slick sheet-of-light look. Key benefits Excellent colour renderingBrightnessUsed extensively for specials and big moments throughout the concertUsed intelligently and expediently to create drama and eye-candy Quotes and references John: “We wanted a light that was evocative of what we were doing before, but with a really big, beautiful beam and a good zoom.”Hailey: “The iFORTE LTXs are workhorses. We needed a versatile, punchy and theatrical light.” iFORTE - Potent IP65-rated long throw fixture Position Rigged at the sides in the stage left and right roof side trusses.Around the downstage area. Challenge To do plenty of ‘heavy lifting’.Needed to provide viable side light positions.Essential in building the softer and more theatrical looks for specific moments in the music. Key benefits Again, the spec was for a fixture with a highly usable and full zoom range.Together with the iFORTE LTXs and the ESPRITE LTLs, the zoom function is used extensively to shape and define the stage. Quotes and references John: “Hans’ music is very emotive and expressive, whatever the style he is playing, there is this massive dynamic range that needs accenting appropriately and iFORTES were instrumental in that.” iFORTE LTX FS (Follow Spot) - Ultimate high output, all-environment LED Wash Beam Position Eight on the front truss, two on the downstage edges of the two upstage side trusses and two on the upstage section of the two outer over-stage pods … plus one upstage centre high up on the ‘Mothergrid’.Operators in stage wings. Challenge For accurate follow spotting of artists and key musicians and guests. Key benefits Massively flexible.No work at height required.Operators are running the iris and dimmer channels with all other parameters controlled via the lighting console, including a global master dimmer. Excellent LTX CRI and quality of light for this specialised purpose. Quotes “Gave us all the control and safe streamlined operation that we needed.” iESPRITE LTL – compact, light, IP rated wash Beam style luminaire Position In four over stage pod trusses – two rows of 9 per pod. Challenge Many and multiple functions with the automated pods, effectively forming the backbone of the lighting rig. Key Benefits Bright.Excellent zoom.Multifunctional. Quotes “We absolutely love their intensity and adaptability, and they have this MegaPointe-like beam that morphs brilliantly into more theatrical, zoomed-out gobo looks … without losing any brightness. A really impressive fixture!” Tetra2 Position Lining the edge of each level of the stage set. Challenge Played an essential role in expanding the depth and different levels of the stage. Key benefits Provided stunning ‘sheet of light’ and ‘light curtain’ looks.Created large ‘spatial’ effects in the venues and were a very viable and practical way to expand the reach of the stage. CONCLUSION The challenges of lighting an evening with Hans Zimmer are keeping it looking constantly fresh, interesting, and surprising – the same goals that have made evolving this show so enjoyable for John and Hailey. It is a long show that touches multiple musical genres with great dynamic range, complete with an intermission, and video content does not run for each number, so pacing the lighting and visual effects is a big part of the magic formula. This must stay parallel with Zimmer as he builds out the space musically with a flow of mini sinfoniettas collaged from symphony-length pieces. “The energy levels ebb and flow,” elucidated John, “We tend to leave plenty up our sleeve for the second half.” The screen is also used sparingly, almost like a scenic animation … so the whole arc of the show is well-paced and carefully curated, leading up to a big rock finale.