Making-of "Share the Passion"

What was your goal in producing the video?
 
With the advent of LED technology, we intended to create a 100% LED lit showreel. The team at ARRI Creative Solutions within ARRI Media inspired me with their showreel. We knew that one of our customers used 300 SkyPanels on one stage creating a dome of light for a feature film.
 
However, we were not allowed to use these details for marketing purposes. While chatting with our creative colleagues, the idea of a showreel with tons of SkyPanels plus details in a behind-the-scenes video was born.
 
Why did you decide on a dance video?
 
Rico, our creative director, provided five interesting concepts. The artistry of two dancers interacting within a cube of light caught our attention the most. As mentioned before, a large setup of SkyPanels, which is a technical challenge, should demonstrate the potential of our products – and we thought it’s the most interesting concept for all the lighting people out there.
 
What were your requirements?
 
Three points: Top quality. Four weeks for prep, rigging, and shooting followed by a maximum of an additional three weeks until the launch of the showreel at a special key customer event and afterwards going online. And finally, getting one of the best desk operators from the movie industry to express the full potential of the SkyPanel cube.
 
What was the major challenge with this project?
 
I guess the three requirements illustrate the major challenges. These parameters that I provided to the team didn’t make their life easy in those weeks right before Christmas.
 
Was there anything that surprised you?
 
Even though I have a lighting background, I’m new to the film, broadcast, and commercial industry.
I was actually surprised about the great level of passion and professionalism that I saw on set, and all of this under extreme pressure! It was structured creativity.
 
Which was your best moment on set?
 
The music perfectly kicked in while the rings of light were ramping up and unveiling the cube around the male dancer. Goose bumps!
 
It’s also part of the video – watch second 29!

What is your current job and function?
 
I am a Lighting Console Programmer for the motion picture industry. I primarily work on large feature films but have occasionally programed for other events as well.
 
How long have you been working in this position?
 
I’ve been in the business for twenty-six years. I’ve been behind a console for the last twenty years.
 
Did you work together with ARRI before?
 
The cube rig was the first time I ever did a job just for ARRI.
 
What were your requirements?
 
ARRI wanted to demonstrate the range of the SkyPanel by showing off its ability to project soft cinematic colors that would mostly be used on television and film sets and then seamlessly transition into more of a party color or concert style lighting. The main requirement was to be able to program looks on the fly and to be able to do this quickly.
 
What features of the ARRI SkyPanels have been important to you for this video?
 
The SkyPanel features keep growing, and I think that is one of the most important aspects of the light. There are always new features around the corner. My favorite feature has always been the ability to set a specific color temperature and then easily crossover to the full spectrum of the RGBW LEDs. This was groundbreaking when I first saw it on the L7-C. Now, everyone is copying what ARRI started. DoPs and gaffers love the various ways that the fixture can be controlled.
 
What have been the major advantages of using the SkyPanels?
 
The most obvious advantage of the SkyPanel is its versatility. We crewmembers discuss this a lot. I even had conversations with ARRI people when I was in Munich about why the SkyPanel is so popular. The popularity and overwhelming demand for the SkyPanel was not something that many could have predicted. I believe I heard that the initial thought was that filmmakers would want to use this light around camera. So many thought that there would only be a need for around twenty or less on a shoot. The fact is this light takes the place of so many other lights we used to use in the business. Key light, fill light, back light, top light, ambience, and effect light. The list goes on and on. All of these used to be done with conventional lighting, like tungsten fixtures and fluorescents. The SkyPanel does it all. Not only that, it gives something that DoPs had never had before. It gives them color control on the fly.
 
Back in 2003, I did a movie called LEMONY SNICKET. We had one rig with over 1500 space lights hanging in it. It required thousands of dimmers and numerous generators to make that rig work. It was hot and we were constantly changing out burnt out lamps. There were only two things I could do with those lights, I could dim them or save individual bulbs. That’s it. These rigs will never happen again. SkyPanels have taken over for large overhead ambient light. I’m finishing up AVENGERS 3 and 4 right now, and we’ve had rigs with nearly 300 SkyPanels overhead. This is the reason why SkyPanels are in such demand. Yes, they are great for key light around camera, or a nice fill light, but the massive overhead ambient light was never thought of when these lights first came around. When I first saw the SkyPanel, I knew it was the end of an era in motion picture lighting and the beginning of another.
 
Was there anything that was only possible to shoot or realize with the help of the SkyPanels?
 
I have to go back to the seamless transition between Kelvin control and party colors. There are plenty of lights that give you one or the other, but to really see something different, the SkyPanel is the only choice.
 
What was the major challenge in this project?
 
Time. I did not have a lot of time to prep this with the actual rig. Mostly because I was in Atlanta prepping AVENGERS while the rig was going in, and then I flew to Munich just a couple of days before filming began.
 
Was there anything that surprised you?
 
During the early planning stages of this shoot, I had seen the previews and plans for the rig. I saw how many SkyPanels were in the rig, but it wasn’t until I stood in front of the actual finished product that I was surprised. Surprised at how amazing it looked and how unbelievably bright they were.
 
Which was your best moment on set?
 
The multi-colored mosaic look was surprisingly very simple but also the most hypnotic. It was elegant but fun.

What is your current job and function?
 
I graduated from the cinematography program at the American Film Institute in 1998. Since then, I have been working as a cinematographer shooting primarily commercials around the globe.
 
How long have you been working in this position?
 
My first job was as a prop assistant in Austria. After my studies in still photography and photo design in Berlin, Germany. I realized very fast that being a part of the camera department is the way to go for me. I gained my first experience as a camera trainee at the Panavision facility in London and at a public television station in Hamburg, Germany. Later, working as a loader for several years, taught me to organize the camera truck and communicate with the rental houses and labs.
 
In Oslo, Norway, I offered my services as a focus puller and first assistant cameraman to the local film community before I finally was accepted at the AFI in West Hollywood and moved to the States. There, I worked as a freelance Wescam technician on various large-scale feature films and focus puller on independent films.
 
A director I met on a shoot in New York asked me if I would like to shoot his next music videos back in Germany. This gave me the opportunity to mainly work in Europe again. After a time of commuting, I decided to move back and I started to shoot commercials – since then, this is my passion.
 
Did you work together with ARRI before?
 
ARRI was always a big part of my journey. Not just using the ARRI equipment but also collaborating with the ARRI Rental facilities. They always have an open ear for my feedback and I am able to try certain configurations or test new gear before productions.
My dream came true when ARRI approached me to shoot their new lighting showreel. The release of the LED fixtures like the ARRI SkyPanels changed everything in my department. After shooting more and more with digital cameras, the revolution happens with the lighting gear. If you use LED lighting fixtures once you are hooked. No way to go back.
 
What was your goal in shooting the video?
 
We wanted to show what the ARRI SkyPanels and L-Series Fresnels are capable of. Building a cube out of the units had not been done before and gave us the possibility to light the dancers first in a more conventional cinematic way but then focus on the SkyPanels as an effect lighting source as the story proceeds. We showed the entire range from the presets like tungsten and daylight via cosmetic and more monochromatic color settings to wild effect colors on the Hog console.
 
What features of the ARRI SkyPanels have been important to you for this video?
 
In this project, it was mandatory that all lighting units react consistently, reliably, in unison, and with no time delay. Due to the tight schedule and the kind of precise rigging, it was not possible to change units. We used more than 250 units and we didn’t have a single one drop out.
 
What have been the major advantages of using the SkyPanels?
 
The SkyPanels are very, very strong and they output the cleanest colors you can imagine with no color shift at all. You can dial in any gel by number and the construction, handling, and durability is just outstanding.
I mean, the latest LED generation is just perfect: adjusting Kelvin and offset in no time via your phone, dimming capability, low power usage, no heat, lightweight, no cutting gels, and the built in lighting effects are the main advantages for me. Relighting a scene is done much faster nowadays. Between setups, it became easy to look at different lighting settings or adjust the lighting cues of a certain scene without disturbing the flow of the set.
 
Was there anything that was only possible to shoot or realize with the help of the SkyPanels?
 
This is an example of another project, but I used various SkyPanels on a commercial, which we shot in a field of sunflowers just outside Bucharest in Romania. We shot a scene at sunset and dusk.
The gaffer adjusted the units constantly and matched it to the overall color temperature. This would have been a bigger task without ARRI LED lighting fixtures and we wouldn’t have got so many takes out of it.
 
What was the major challenge with this project?
 
The biggest challenge of this shoot was to meet the tight schedule. Rigging and actually building the lighting cube took more than a week. The units we used came just out of the factory in Stephanskirchen. After everything was unpacked, rigged safely, wired, and powered up, the programing took place. Thanks to a pre-visualization and a fantastic crew we managed without delay. We shot for two days. After day one, we had already gone through pretty much all the planned shots so we were able to use day two to just have fun and play with the settings. Scott Barnes on the Hog, the director duo Kaiserreitz, and myself just got crazy.
 
We captured tons of cool styles, colors, and movements but unfortunately in the showreel we could only accommodate a small variety of these lighting effects – and trust me, we had a hard time picking the final scenes for the video.
 
The choreography of the two dancers wasn’t finished prior to shoot, because the dancers wanted to be inspired by the cube. So, we had to be very spontaneous; tweaking lights on the go. Sometimes, I told Oliver Müller, my gaffer, to change certain parameters and when Oli finished on the walkie-talkie, Scott Barnes our lighting designer had already completed the change. There was absolutely no waiting for any sort of relighting. It’s just fantastic to have a lighting designer like Scott Barnes on set.
 
Was there anything that surprised you?
 
I use the SkyPanels on every shoot but what still surprises me every time is just how strong they are in intensity. You can even use them on sunny day exteriors as a fill-light.
 
What was your best moment on set?
 
My best moment on set was when we stepped into the SkyPanel room the first time. The rigging was finished and the dancefloor was laid out. Scott Barnes showed us what just random settings on the console could do.
Finally, he pumped up the signal and I needed my sunglasses. My jaw dropped! It was so bright.
 
To see that every unit acts like a unique, programmable pixel in a three-dimensional-grid is just mind blowing for a DoP.

What is your current job and function?
 
I am a gaffer and lighting director.
I’m currently shooting a Danish feature film on the Canary Islands and I am the gaffer on this job! I planned, together with DoP Lars Reinhold (Denmark), all the lighting floorplans for every location and scene.
 
How long have you been working in this position?
 
I have worked as a gaffer and lighting director since 1998.
 
Did you work together with ARRI before?
 
Yes, I worked with ARRI and ARRI Media before.
 
What were the requirements?
 
I think in my case there were no "requirements". Usually, if the DoP and the production want to work with you because they think you’re the ideal gaffer for that particular project, the assignment is yours.
 
What features of the ARRI SkyPanels have been important to you for this video?
 
What turned me on immediately with this video project was the name ARRI. I had already learned a lot about the ARRI SkyPanel previously and I continued to love this gear more and more, so I was overwhelmed by the idea of working with: "more than 300 SkyPanels!"
 
With the SkyPanel you can do really everything. It’s a powerful lamp, so imagine 300 of them together. You can use nearly any Rosco or Lee gel and control it via computer. For the video, we used firmware 2.5, which was already amazing and now every update since gives you more awesome possibilities.
 
What have been the major advantages of using the SkyPanels?
 
Well, it’s a light, including all its additional gear, you don’t want to miss on any set.
 
Just in case I’m working with a DoP who doesn’t know SkyPanels well, I always have some on the truck to be able to introduce them and convince others to use them; I sometimes also show the video "Share the Passion". But, especially on this project, there was and is no other light able to do what the SkyPanel did, in the same way.
 
What was the major challenge with this project?
 
From my modest point of view, I would like to say that doing this project for ARRI was already a challenge. We (My Best Boy and I) thought about every detail from the very beginning and it was clear to us that it had to look more than perfect and be safe.
 
This was not so easy, for example, we needed to get 300 Matthews clamps which were all the same size (size changes a little bit due to age). Fixing the SkyPanels to the cube truss in completely straight lines became a pain-staking job that required great patience. It took days to get it all even and straight. The challenge was actually to make it look so good. We like challenges and this one was the last but the best one of that year.
 
Was there anything that surprised you?
 
Not really, I was quite sure about the result.
 
Which was your best moment on set?
 
Once during the pre-light testing, I was standing in the middle of the finished cube in low light levels and suddenly Scott Barnes pumped it up to 100% on the dimmer. Unbelievable!
 
The other moment was during the first day of shooting when the action started and the music and light started to move! Wow, that gave me goose bumps.

What‘s your current job and function?
 
As Head of Marketing Business Unit Lighting at ARRI I have the pleasure to lead a great team of creative people. We are creating and implementing the communication, marketing strategy, and marketing activities for all of ARRI Lighting. This includes everything from the overall roadmap to specific product or image campaigns that result in activities such as tradeshows & events, video content, press coverage, online communication, merchandise and much more.
 
How long have you been working in this position?
 
I started with ARRI in April 2010, founding the marketing department for the Business Unit Lighting and building up a team dedicated to all lighting marketing needs.
 
What was your goal in producing the video?
 
We do have a couple of very nice product videos and How To Videos but with this Share the Passion film we wanted to create something cool and fun to look at. We wanted to create something from us, as ARRI Lighting, to all the lighting people out there using our gear. The video is not supposed to promote one single product; it is being used as an image video and to share ARRI’s creative approach with everyone in the lighting industry.
 
Why did you decide on a dance video?
 
We wanted to show what you can achieve with our SkyPanels and your added creativity and passion. Both the dancers and our lights stand for creativity and both the lights and the dancers can create unique moments for the audience. The lights are playing with and supporting the dancers and the other way around and so in combination they create a unique vibe.
 
What were your requirements?
 
SkyPanels had to be used in a classic lighting setup and also in the most creative way possible. We wanted to show a classic film lighting look with a black and white motif such as in the beginning of the video and then wanted to go "crazy" towards the end with lots of colors and a lighting show, which you can see in the dance part of the video.
 
What was the major challenge with this project?
 
The major challenge was time. We had a very tight schedule; hiring crew, getting equipment in November, and for ARRI Media to finalize the storyboard in order to get the shooting done right before Christmas so that post-production could take place in the first two weeks of January.
 
Which was your best moment on set?
 
Standing in the final SkyPanel box and see the light show running together with the music, this gave me goose bumps ;-)

What is your current job and function?
 
I am the Creative Director of ARRI Media’s Creative Solutions Department.
 
How long have you been working in this position?
 
I’ve been working in this position since 2013. I started at ARRI Commercial as an Inferno/Flame Artist, and then became an Art Director and VFX Supervisor for Commercials.
Now, I’m not operating any more, it’s more about concepts and creative leadership.
 
How did the idea for a dance show reel come about?
 
Well, I wrote a lot of ideas for ARRI Lighting.
The one with the dancers and the light show was my last idea in this presentation. It had less storytelling, but more magnitude in regard to production value and number of light sources. The style was more like a music video. Entertaining with a hint of easiness. We didn’t want to use the SkyPanels just for lighting – the idea was to create a light cube design with it.
ARRI Lighting liked the idea from the moment I presented it.
 
What was your goal in shooting the video?
 
We aimed to create an entertaining commercial that has a transformation from classical beauty light into animated club light – all done with one type of lighting technology – ARRI’s LED technology.
We wanted to highlight the work of the gaffers and lighting technicians and to show that everything is possible. The decision of working with dancers gives this show reel a modern twist in the end.
The advertising instruments were two commercials: one in a typical commercial-style, the other as a behind the scenes video.
We had the chance to put every kind of special interest detail in the behind the scenes. This video is made for the DoPs and Gaffers, because it contains more technical information and showed well-known people in interview situations and also how enormous the logistics and the set design was.
 
What were the requirements?
 
The deadline was very tight and the logistics right before Christmas 2016 were hard.
For the international casting, it was difficult to find dancers that were able to work together in this timeslot.
 
What features of the ARRI SkyPanels have been important to you for this video?
 
Setting different colors in soft nuances and cosmetic colors as well as saturated colors. An important point was the ability to program a light show sequence with the possibility of repeating the same light show precisely to make the interactions with the dancers match.
 
Was there anything that was only possible to shoot or realize with the help of the SkyPanels?
 
Definitely. The front of the fixture looks good and allows for a great grid design. It has the ability to build nice looking walls that are not just light sources; they also look pretty, have no flicker, and have precise colors.
 
What was the major challenge with this project?
 
I suppose time. Within six weeks from the draft concept till the shooting.
That means creating story boards and shooting boards, bringing up the cast, the crew, the logistics, hiring the DoP, assistant directors (Micha Kaiser) and musicians, making the score, building the set, shooting, editing and online with retouching, color grading even HDR mastering…
 
Was there anything that surprised you?
 
The strength and reliability of the SkyPanels. We shot a lot of takes in 120fps to have nice slow-mos of the fast action. So, we kept the same lightshow but increased the light strength.
 
Which was your best moment on set?
 
There were two.
The first highlight moment was seeing that beautiful set exactly like we designed it in 3D, with all the lights working well and fluidly.
The second highlight, to be honest, was the wrap! Seeing the clients happy and the dancers well.