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AVNetwork
Technology
AVNetwork Staff

Lannisters, Starks, and Lights: How the Games of Thrones Tour Shines Bright

The Game of Thrones Tour costume segment shines bright with Elation solutions.

The Game of Thrones Studio Tour in Northern Ireland is being brought to life with over 1000 Elation lights supporting its epic storytelling. The new global attraction, located at one of the original filming locations at Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, invites fans to step behind the scenes and discover the making of the celebrated series.

Game of Thrones achieved record-setting ratings over 73 episodes and eight seasons, and established itself as one of the most iconic shows in television history. Opened in 2022 in partnership with Warner Bros, Game of Thrones Studio Tour is a 110,000-square-foot interactive indoor experience that allows fans to explore the original sets, costumes, props and weapons used in the series.

[Let There Be Light(ing)]

Brian Reilly, MD of PSI Production, one of Ireland's largest technical production and installation companies, coordinated the project, supplying and installing rigging, lighting, and special effects. 

Marcel Wijnberger, who served as PSI’s onsite project manager, helped manage various aspects of the project, working closely with LD John Gallagher, the set design team at MinaLima, AV and systems integrators, and the client.

(Image credit: Elation)

The important task of lighting design was managed by John Gallagher of Lumiere Productions, one of Ireland’s foremost designers who liaised with exhibition designers, suppliers and other stakeholders to support the storytelling and ensure a cohesive and visually captivating atmosphere for the attraction. The designer also managed planning and supervision of lighting focus and programming.

According to Gallagher, proper exhibition lighting that highlighted the rich detail in the sets, costumes, and props, along with theatrical lighting that often emulated a film look, was required. It was also important to the studio tour designers, owners, and partners that all displays worked well on camera.

[How to Achieve Studio-Quality Lighting in your Home Office]

A plethora of different lighting fixtures was used on the project including nearly 1100 lights from Elation Professional: 341 Color 5 Profile, 658 SixPar 200, 48 Paladin Panel, 29 Paladin Brick, 14 Fuze Par Z120 IP, and 6 Fuze Par Z175. The sale of the units to PSI took place through Elation’s exclusive distribution partner in the U.K., Entedi, who offered product support and arranged for demo equipment. 

Gallagher said that reliability, consistency, and subtle color rendition was important in all fixtures. “The look of the show required extensive use of subtle variations in white and variations of color temperatures, as well as occasional more saturated tones,” he said. “The Elation color engines allowed us to achieve this very successfully.”

(Image credit: Elation)

The two workhorse fixtures on the project, the Color 5 Profile and SixPar 200, are both used throughout. The Color 5 Profiles fulfill a variety of roles, including tight focus on display objects such as costumes/mannequins, and signage, while also providing gobo projection and beams. The designer says that the SixPar 200s provide a cost-effective option for area lighting, backlighting, and lighting through set windows in tight spaces, and are also utilized as house lights.

“The barndoors were an advantage,” he said of the SixPar fixtures, “often just to mask the source/reduce spill, and we used the diffusion filters extensively to provide options for beam angles and ‘stretch’ the light directionally.”

[Over 300 Lights Bring Energy to The Venue at Thunder Valley]

The Paladin floodlights provide “a neat and effective option for lighting backdrops, scenic backings and painted cloths,” while the Fuze Pars are used for set lighting.

“With several hundred Elation lighting fixtures on the project, I was very impressed with both the consistent quality and reliability of the units across the range,” Gallagher concluded.

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