It is becoming difficult to turn on the TV on a Saturday night and not be treated to a dazzling display of that virtuoso moving light, the Clay Paky Sharpy. Flexible, bright, power and size friendly, their use is limited only by the imagination of the lighting designer.
However, the darling of the talent show has another string to its bow as Rob Myer, the Managing Director of Light Fantastic Production Services explains: “We have been providing lighting, audio , video and staging services to a wide range of private and corporate events across the UK and Europe since 2005. Our clients demand a high level of finish and are always looking to create a new visual aesthetic for each event.
As long time users of Clay Paky products, we’ve recently bought Sharpys from Ambersphere Solutions to broaden our rental stock and these have proved extremely popular. A large part of our work is in hotel ballrooms or conference centres where height, power supply and rigging opportunities can be very limited. This is where the Sharpys are an invaluable part of the toolkit. The small form factor and low power consumption means we can create a really large and grand feel easily in this type of venue”.
Light Fantastic’s work is not just confined to the restrictions of the awkward indoor gig; their stock has to be flexible enough to cover a huge variety of locations. “We recently provided the technical production for an outdoor event in Trafalgar Square with a very limited budget. The mighty Sharpy beams and a touch of haze gave a much more dramatic effect than traditional moving lights for a very limited outlay.”
The affordability factor may come as something of a surprise to some but Myer cites it as one of the most attractive features of the Clay Paky range: “The Alpha Spot 700 HPEs have been the workhorse of our lighting stock for some time and the flexibility they give us is great. Along with the Sharpys, the long term return they bring shouldn’t be underestimated – our clients value the quality of the kit, the hire cost is comparable with similar units from other manufacturers which, frankly, don’t carry quite the same kudos – or give us the infinite possibilities of the Clay Paky luminaires.’
‘Ambersphere have been able to provide us with white coloured versions of both the Alpha Spot 700s and the Sharpys to use in environments where the traditional stage black is completely incongruous – art galleries, historic buildings and the like. These have proved to be much in demand at locations where aesthetics are key and guests are very close to the lighting hardware. We’ve chosen to stock these as a unique selling point – it’s something that not many people offer.”
Light Fantastic Production Services will be knocking on the door of Ambersphere Solutions again very soon as Myer concludes: “Looking to the future, we aim to add both Alpha Beam 700s and the new Alpha Spot QWO 800s to our inventory. I have no doubt that Clay Paky products will be integral to our hire stock for a long time to come.”