The Art of South African Beauty
March 23, 2004
When Kurt du Preez of Upstage Lighting was asked to light the latest Miss South Africa/Miss Teen South Africa beauty contest at the Sun City Superbowl, it turned out to be a kind of homecoming for him.
“Sun City is my old stomping ground; the place where I first found my feet in the industry,” Kurt commented. “I started off here 15 years ago, lighting the extravaganzas and shows such as Miss World in the Superbowl. I learned the tricks of the trade from their senior technicians and their associated companies, such as Gearhouse.”
For Miss South Africa/Miss Teen South Africa, the Sun City crew worked with Kurt’s crew as one unit. “As I had incorporated some of Sun City’s gear and worked with them to rig the whole show, I also used their guys on follow-spots.“
Considering that the budget wasn’t extravagant, Kurt had a remarkable palette of lights at his disposal, 50 moving light fixtures in total, including 12 MAC 2000 Wash and12 MAC 2000 Profiles. The Martin fixtures were supplied through Martin’s South African distributor, Electrosonic.
The set resembled the interior of a spacecraft surrounded by galaxies of stars. The rest of the magic was Kurt’s responsibility. “One has to be aware that although the show has an audience, it is ultimately a TV show. Fortunately, my background in TV lighting means that I can deliver the best result to the viewers. The versatile color temperature settings on the MAC 2000 Wash made it a breeze. The continuous grading of the color-correction wheel is everything you need for precise TV lighting. The Wash also rendered my parcans obsolete – they gave me all the lighting I needed.“
Kurt, whose recent gigs include Idols and Skouspel, is a hands-on kind of guy who not only programmed the show but also ran it. “The producers were going for an MTV feel – very busy, very fast.” For Upstage Lighting’s kingpin, this was no problem: “The real challenge lay in squeezing the biggest look out of a modest budget.” Anyone who saw the show televised can testify that Kurt achieved his goal.