Sky Sports created a unique film called The Ballad of the Duelling Drivers that told the story of the intense battle between two Formula One racing car drivers, Lewis Hamilton, from the UK and Nico Rosberg from Germany. This was to mark the end of 2014’s F1 season.
Lighting director Richard Bowles chose Clay Paky Mythos and Alpha Beam 700 fixtures to deliver stunning effects and sharp beams of light throughout. Bowles made use of three Mythos and eight Alpha Beam 700 fixtures from Richard Martin Lighting for the film, which was created and directed by Sky Sports F1’s Alex Rodger, performed by talented composer and pianist Tokio Myers and narrated by actor Peter Guinness.
The film was recorded at Sky’s West London studios with Bowles positioning the Alpha Beam 700s on the floor of Sky Studio 5.
“My original brief was to recreate a look with a mixture of strong beams of light and large format tungsten lights against a strong black background,’ explains Bowles. “This had been done in a smaller studio with Clay Paky Sharpy Wash 330s. However, in this studio I wanted to do something different and as I’d seen the Mythos at PLASA 2014 I was very keen to try it out.’
To give strong, big beams of light, Bowles used the Alpha Beam 700s, which have been his favourite since its inception.
The Mythos fixtures were rigged in the air above one of the projector screens, and a combination of gobo and animation effects were used to give a subtle yet dynamic look in the air. “Their power is so incredible I had to dim them down to just 20% in order to balance with the rest of the lights and projectors.’
