ARRI News September 2009 - ARRI Media

32 Lighting
LED PERFoRMANCE oN STAGE
ARRI LED technology enters theatre lighting applications
BLM Series lights Münchner Kammerspiele
The first theatre project based on ARRI BLM25
modules (Background Lighting Module 25W)
was realised by lighting designer Max Keller
at the Münchner Kammerspiele, Munich’s
city theatre. Keller first tested the colour mixing
RGB BLM modules shortly after the first BLM
installation at the rbb TV channel studio in
2007 (see ARRI News 2007-04).
Although Keller wanted to create saturated
colors he also desired the possibility of
creating tuneable white light. “White light
created from only RGB LEDs never gives a
good enough white, since there simply is not
enough spectral information in the light,”
Keller says.
To meet the need for high quality white
light ARRI designed a new variant of BLM
with 3200K and 5600K LEDs. These new
modules were used alongside their RGB
counterparts in a combined installation to
MAX KELLER
Max Keller is heading the lighting department
at the Münchner Kammerspiele
since 1978. Also he puts the
‘scene’ into its best light in many other
theatres around the world. He teaches
at theatre universities, academies and
colleges and has published books and
numerous articles in related magazines.
www.maxkeller.org
create a variable color temperature white
and color mixing light source.
Keller then came up with his concept of a
flying horizon. He and his team created a
9 meter long by 1 meter tall by 0.5 meter
wide motorised bar containing 72 BLM25
modules, comprised of 36 RGB and 36
3200K/5600K versions. The bar has a
conical shape and a painted white inside
for intensifying the light output. At the front
of this construction a so-called opera foil,
a special kind of a rear projection screen,
comes into action and gives a very even
and smooth looking light distribution. “With
this setup it is no longer possible to identify
the individual LED positions by their hot-spots
and it is a very pleasant soft light source for
the audience,” Keller remarks.
The first play where this installation was
used is called “3 FARBEN: BLAU, WEISS, ROT”
after the series of feature films by moviemaker
Krzysztof Kieslowski and his writer
Krzysztof Piesiewicz. “We used the LED
bar for introducing the 3 acts and to give a
special effect to the end of the play,” Keller
describes of the lighting design.
For controlling the LED modules, Max Keller
uses a NTX DMX console from Transtechnik
For its specialised series of theatre
products ARRI lighting is recognised
worldwide as the professional
solution when it comes
to Fresnel style daylight
and tungsten fixtures for
theatre applications. With
the new LED product
series BLM 25 and PAX,
ARRI continues to grow successfully
in the theatre lighting market.
with a wireless DMX unit to provide enough
leeway for the motorised LED bar. The
system is powered by standard PowerDMX
(24VDC/DMX512) power supplies.
Above: The 9m long by 1m tall LED bar equipped with
72 BLM25, 36 RGB and 36 3200K/5600K versions.