High End Systems SHAPESHIFTERs Help Ring in 2015Released last year, High End Systems' SHAPESHIFTER luminaires brought many exciting and beautiful moments to productions throughout 2014. On New Year's Eve 2015, the company says numerous lighting designers and shows relied on SHAPESHIFTER to bring the magic to their parties. Some of the events that used SHAPESHIFTER on New Year's Eve include the ARIA Dreamscape Party (ARIA Resort & Casino Las Vegas, with lighting designer Vickie Claiborne), ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (Times Square New York City, lighting designer Mike Grabowski of LDG with programmer Ryan Philips and lighting directors Wolfram Ott and Dan Rouseau), Iggy Azalea at Drais Nightclub (Las Vegas, lighting designer Brian Jenkins), The Roots at The Brooklyn Bowl (Las Vegas, lighting designer Max Blackman), MTV's New Year's Eve 2015 (Times Square, lighting designer Mike Grabowski with lighting director Brooks Toran), VH1 Big Morning Buzz Live (lighting designer Tom Kenny with lighting directors John Salzman and Mike Grabowski), Nickelodeon's TeenNick Top 10 New Year's Eve Special (lighting designer Mike Grabowski with lighting director Jerry Grant), Gov't Mule at The Beacon Theatre (New York, lighting designer Chris Ragan, board op John Colligan), 'The Weekend' Drais Nightclub (Las Vegas, lighting designer Sooner Routhier), and The Flaming Lips at The Warfield Theater (San Francisco, lighting designer Michael Arch). Grabowski explained how the SHAPESHIFTERs were employed at the various venues he and LDG worked with on New Year's Eve. "For VH1 Big Buzz Live, we used four C1s as ground units to support our performances. They are always looking for something new and dynamic, especially for background elements to help reinforce the visuals. For Nickelodeon's Teen Nick Top 10 Special, we needed a few 'Swiss army knife' lights ... and the six C1's delivered. When we needed some subtle motion for a ballad or a pounding bright light for blinders during a pop sing, they were great." "For MTV's New Year's Eve 2015," Grabowski continues, "we used six SHAPESHIFTER C1s to add 'presence' in Times Square, as two of the world feed cameras utilize wide and helicopter shots in order to capture the excitement. The SHAPESHIFTERs added a unique element of being pretty on camera, as well as being bright to punch through on massive wide shots." Grabowski used a total of 18 SHAPESHIFTERs on ABC's Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve -- a dozen C1 fixtures and six W1's. He explains, "These units helped solve a longstanding problem. On the outside platform, we have an array of LEDs on the railings, but underneath, from waist down, was always empty. Because police barriers have moved people back further from the platforms in the past few years, we were always seeing empty street. The C1's became a great option since they have a BIG face, but are remarkably thin -- which helped us maximize precious real estate. Additionally, they have great 'face appeal,' with a lot of the remarks mentioning how they have a similar appearance to the Ball in Times Square. Additionally, we surrounded our platform with the C1 and W1 -- again to add beamage on the wide shots. The multi-faceted beam made it much easier to catch a camera and add pretty flares, even on shots that are a few hundred feet away. Plus, at midnight, they really cut through the confetti!" Claiborne, who used two dozen SHAPESHIFTER C1's at the ARIA Dreamscape party, commented, "My favorite internal effects are definitely the movement and the intensity effects. Creating these effects without using the built in effects channels would be very time consuming, so I'm thankful for the effects channels. With a fixture like this that is capable of so many looks, you really do have to use the internal effects macros to get the most out of it you can without spending days creating groups and effects on the console. What I like most about the SHAPESHIFTER is how unique it looks, especially with the highlighter on and an intensity effect running over the modules. It's distinctive without being overly large, and even though I didn't use them as a wash fixture, I like that they can be used as a wash fixture with a variable zoom. That makes the SHAPESHIFTER more than just an effect light -- and that can make a difference when the budget means choosing practical over effect lighting." See High End Systems at PLASA Focus: Orlando, February 17 - 18. 
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