Television LD Gianni Mastropietro Talks Set Design and Martin Lighting

Gianni Mastropietro, one of Italy’s most important television lighting designers, has designed lighting for major Italian TV shows on the Mediaset Network and others for years. He shares with us his insight and experience.

“The secret of a working set design lies in close cooperation between the set designer and lighting designer,” he states. “When designing sets you have to consider the effect of lighting and the presence of luminaires on the stage. I work only with scenographers who give the correct importance to lighting in evaluating their designs so our cooperation starts at very first steps of the show”.

For years Gianni Mastropietro has chosen Martin lights for his projects. “I’m fond of Martin, especially of the MAC 2000 series,” he states. “Those moving heads are powerful, bright, versatile and reliable. I try to have as many Martins as possible in my designs, both for technical reasons – ease of programming, uniform light output and similar effects - and for personal choice. I know the fixtures and their potential. I know how to get the best from them and in which situation the MACs are able to support my lighting designs.”

Like an orchestra director with his musicians, a lighting designer should have an excellent rapport with the luminaires at his disposal. Gianni Mastropietro is an expert in all Martin moving heads. “My favorite is the MAC 2000 Performance. It’s versatile, it’s a spot that features a deep zoom and a mechanical framing system that allows the beam to be opened or closed. Its output is uniform and bright and thanks to the animation gobo wheel it allows me to create new effects. I don’t like the use of traditional gobo projection in full focus, but I prefer their use out of focus in a more creative way. The result is a continuous combination with other effects, with light and shadow, chromatic contrasts and animations.”

Gianni Mastropietro has recently used Martin lighting in his designs for three of Italy’s most popular TV shows.

“La Corrida” (the Bullfight)
Light plays a central role in bringing the often funny studio atmosphere to life in “La Corrida,” a weekly program of amateurs and would-be musicians and one of the most popular Saturday night TV shows in Italy. The set design is purposely neutral white in order to allow light to create effects, give rhythm to the show, animate scenes and thus create an atmosphere capable of adding value to a player’s performance. Scene sequences are the result of a chromatic choice where dynamics and effects are studied to make the show funny. Play of light and shadow, intensity and color change from some 100 MAC 2000 Performances and 20 MAC 2000 Washes characterize the various spaces of the set as well as the different scenes - player performances, ballet and orchestra songs.

Lighting Designer: Gianni Mastropietro
Set Designer: Stefania Conti
Director of Photography: Giancarlo Cilo
Service: Noleggio Impianti Televisivi e Teatrali srl – Roma

“…E io pago” (… and I pay)
In the small theatrical space of the Salone Margherita in Rome Martin MAC TW1s, MAC 2000 Performances and MAC 2000 Profiles give light to the rapidly changing scenes of the variety show Bagaglino. The sheer variety of acts - music, prose, ballet - requires dynamism and versatility from the lighting, but particularly in this small theatre where set design is limited by space, intelligent light displays its usefulness by giving personality to the space, creating a dynamic and variable scene from a static and neutral set design. The MAC TW1s are used to light people on the stage.

Lighting Designer: Gianni Mastropietro
Director of Photography: Giancarlo Cilo
Service: Di & Di Lighting & Trucks srl – Roma

“Buon Pomeriggio” (Good Afternoon)
The set of Maurizio Costanzo’s daily show has been designed with two fundamental elements in mind: the talk-show’s format and the broadcast’s timeframe. Both aspects drove the choice to sober and quite static set designs. Together with set designer Mario Catalano, Gianni Mastropietro created a lighting design based on color and intensity changes for this afternoon show. To accomplish this, structures and backgrounds were chosen in a neutral color. If the theme of the episode is particularly sensitive or heartfelt, the lighting is lowered to give the perception of a smaller stage and the conversation in confidence between close friends. This technique is well known to directors of photography but Gianni Mastropietro goes one step further, calibrating the lighting fixtures’ color temperature so that colors are always transmitted in a realistic way.

Lighting Designer: Gianni Mastropietro
Set Designer: Mario Catalano
Service: Gianchi srl – Roma