UWE Fashion Show 2008
For the third year running SXS were invited to arrange the production of their annual graduate fashion show.
This Year's Brief
SXS were asked to create a large exhibition area to display artwork produced by many of the students. The show portion of the venue was to feature a long catwalk, video, drapery, lighting and sound. The two areas were to be kept distinctly separate.
The exhibition area was created from a total of 48 white flats placed side by side to create a rectangular exhibition space. The students used the flattage to hang their artwork from.
Lighting and Production
The lighting for this area was suspended from above the exhibition area so as to maintain the clean minimalistic look the students were looking for.
The whole space was lit with an elegant white flood to accentuate the pieces. For neatness a single power supply was dropped down from the lighting rig for the cluster of eclectic lamps in the centre of the space.
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catwalk and Catwalk
The show area featured a long white catwalk. White gathered drapes created a stylish backdrop which doubled as a divider for the backcatwalk area.
LED uplighters lit the centre of the backdrop where the models entered the catwalk. This allowed our lighting designer to create a different look for each designer with colourchanging and strobing effects for the most up-tempo collections.
The catwalk was lit using parcans suspended from a truss rig that spanned the length of the catwalk. Our lighting designer used dimmers to create drama during the show.
As the models stepped onto the catwalk the back of the catwalk was dimly lit. As they proceeded the lights at the back became brighter until finally the whole catwalk lit up as they took their first steps down the runway.
The lights were dimmed out in the reverse order as the last model left the stage.
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A live feed linked the camera to the plasma screens suspended from the lighting rig.
In total four 42 inch plasmas were used along the lengths and a further 50 inch plasma was used at the end of the catwalk to ensure that all guests had a good view of the show. A further monitor was placed backcatwalk so that the students could monitor what was happening onstage.
The Production
Each designer had choreographed their shows to specific music. Our sound engineer used a 5K rig for this purpose and made sure that the music was correctly timed for each collection.
The same system was used at the beginning and end of the show to make announcements and to thank all those who had contributed to the success of the day as well the year as a whole.
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Production Manager: Cathy Shay
/ Johnny Palmer
Sound Designer: Alex Thompson
Video Operative: James Hardy
Lighting Operation: Nick Thomas
