Clay Paky lights illuminate the thirteenth series of Le Iene, the irreverent, unconventional Italian TV programme conceived by Neri Parenti, which takes its name from the Italian title of Quentin Tarantino’s famous film Reservoir Dogs. Its iconography, the programme logo and the way the correspondents dress (strictly in black jackets with white ties) are also inspired by the movie.
The most striking feature of the studio with its deliberately minimalist “sleek” scenery is the background: a curtain of light made up of several intersecting shaped light beams.
The Director of Photography Franco Buso explains: “We used forty Clay Paky Alpha Profile 1200s to project rectangles of light on the back wall and build up a set consisting of interwoven light beams.”
The effect is perfect: most viewers who see the programme on their TV screens are convinced it is a stage curtain, and cannot understand how it can be so bright and have such unusual shapes. “In particular they cannot work out how it becomes coloured during the dance numbers,” Franco added.
Buso, who boasts professional experience in all kinds of areas, told us he used a 6000 K white light made up of a large number of ETCs: “We illuminated the studio with a light similar to that used in fashion shows. It brings out the complexions of the stars and increases the contrast with the black suits, thus giving rise to the programme’s characteristic image.”
Alpha Beam 300s and Alpha Spot HPE 575s were used for the dance numbers and breaks, about which Franco says: “It was not easy to make the graphic effects visible against such a bright white wash, but I have to say the Clay Paky lights did an excellent job. The Alpha Beams in particular are extraordinary. They are extremely bright, quick and versatile… a true innovation in TV lighting”.