Ayrton Cobra illuminates the Valletta sky for the Golden Bee Awards at Malta’s Mediterranean Film Festival
The Mediterrane Film Festival, hosted for the second consecutive year in Malta from 22nd – 30th June, culminated with the sparkling Golden Bee Award Ceremony hosted by David Walliams at the spectacular Fort Manoel, Gżira. Over a dozen awards were presented to international actors, directors and cinematographers across a variety of categories. The Awards were interspersed with performances from artists including Mercury Prize winner, Heather Small, Britain’s Got Talent singer Calum Scott, Maltese opera singer Joseph Calleja and the Golden Bee Awards Orchestra.
BAFTA-winning and Academy Award-nominated writer-director Mike Leigh was awarded the Career Achievement Award, and Maltese production coordinator Rita Galea was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The evening was rounded off with a speech from the President of Malta, Myriam Spiteri Debono, who emphasised the importance of the Maltese film industry to the country’s economy.
Raphaël Demonthy, lighting designer and managing director at Sunrise Studios GmbH of Berlin, was responsible for the complete lighting design and realisation of the Ceremony on site, from the moment the glamorous VIP guests arrived on the red carpet, through the reception area to the show itself, and even the backdrop of the Valletta skyline.
Signature to his visual design was a row of 30 Ayrton Cobra laser-sourced fixtures which he positioned upstage at floor level to form a long line behind the 50m x 10m semi-transparent LED backdrop. “This gave the wall both frame and depth,” explains Demonthy. “We were able to extend the stage looks by creating a wall of beams that could keep up with the different ‘colour worlds’ created on stage. The Cobra is known for its unique beam look of course, and that is exactly what we want to achieve.”
At specific moments, as the Valletta skyline took centre stage as a backdrop on the other side of the harbour, Demonthy used the Cobra fixtures at their widest zoom setting, adding frost and prism effects to create camera flares for a nice underline below the vignette.
“We are really happy with the way the Cobra cut through the night sky, even over the distances we had to cover,” concludes Demonthy. “If you work on outdoor productions you know that normal spot or beams lights don’t really punch through, especially if the weather conditions are not optimal for the beams of light. But Cobra is much more focused and punchy, giving you a better solution from the outset.”
Demonthy’s team for the Golden Bee Awards consisted of spot caller Didi Timmer, keylight operator Fabian Schmidt, showlight operator Marc Marlo Schelesnow, media server operator Sebastian Huwig, media server farmer Christian van Deenen, and picture engineer David Kulla.
The Ayrton Cobra fixtures were supplied for the event by Motion Rental of Germany through the lighting and technical provider, Nexos Lighting & Video, Malta. Production/logistics coordination was by 7Twentyeight Ltd together with Mad About Video Ltd, both from Malta. Production and set design was by Florian Wieder. The production company was Lodge of Levity.
Photos: © SunriseStudiosGmbH
Text: Julie Harper
