He added, “For me as the lighting designer, the ARRI SkyPanel and in particular the S120-C with an intensifier and 30Deg Honeycomb provides a beautiful base source for news desk and panel hosting situations. It is broad and soft with a lovely wrap yet at the same time is defined and easily contained. The light emitted from the SkyPanel with the intensifier also carries further which means I can hang them further out, unlike traditional fluorescent sources which appear to drop off faster and need be placed close in. Using all three models of SkyPanel as my soft sources for base, upstage kicker, and fill it was a natural fit to then use the matching ARRI L7-C for key lights and L5-C for backlights.”

Whilst the initial show commissioned was SBS World News, with the studio operating at a consistent 5500K color temperature to match the monitors and screens built into the set, Lewis, the Barbizon team, and SBS production are also looking forward to exploring the possibilities of utilizing the full color gamut mixing capabilities of the ARRI L-Series for future shows. He explained, “When there is a show that’s booked into the studio where color in backlights is appropriate this new setup will be ideal. The pole operated option SBS have chosen is also key in this studio given that turnaround times between studio bookings and on-air commitments is very short. The studio also runs as a two-operator automated system, so all changes are able to be performed by the technical director without assistance.”