Janowitz chooses Ayrton Mistral-S for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams posted: 22/02/2021
Marc Janowitz, of e26 design, chose 30 Mistral-S - Ayrton's highly compact, lightweight and powerful LED spot fixtures - as key features of his lighting design for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams. The 8-week virtual residency' was live-streamed weekly from New York's historic Beacon Theatre throughout October and November 2020.
In an unusual twist, since no audience was present, the filming took place on stage in a reverse set-up, with the musicians facing the back wall and the auditorium acting as a backdrop. The jam sessions were aimed specifically at the home audience, for which we wanted to create an intimate connection that felt like we brought a series of music sessions into the viewers' own home, explains Janowitz. The reverse angle gave us something more like a studio environment into which Mistral fitted beautifully - it was very much in keeping with the look we were trying to create.
Janowitz needed a fixture that was light enough to mount on rolling C-stands and small enough to integrate into the performance area, yet full of features and with a great output: Mistral was small enough - and pretty enough - to tuck into all the nooks and crannies between the artists, and gave all the output - and the looks - that I needed, he says.
Eighteen Mistrals on C-stands were sited on stage to form a total wrap-around' that defined the space and gave a bespoke look to the own room' performances. We could locate them perfectly in the small spaces between the musicians and instruments from where we used them mainly as backlight and sidelight, as eye candy, and to create beautiful flares behind the performers, says Janowitz. They were particularly useful in the reverse set-up to fill the void on camera over the artists' shoulders.
The Mistral gave a natural lens flare which is very camera-friendly, and they appeared in virtually every shot. Mistral's precise movement allowed me to make small, live adjustments to its position to guarantee that flare in-camera from every perspective.
Mistral's small size and versatility also suited the film and television-style lighting of the live performances. The power-draw is so low we could put the Mistrals anywhere and simply loop them together very quickly. Being LED sourced, we were also able to set up the perfect refresh rate for the cameras.
With different looks to generate for 20+ songs each week over the 8-week residency, with no repetition, Janowitz made full use of Mistral's gobo and colour palettes. Mistral has a wide gobo selection which opened up a lot of freedom - I had all the textures I needed, he says. It wasn't so much about tight beam architecture as the aerial textures I achieved by shooting through the stage set and the band. I could get really morphy' with the gobos and the colour, particularly in the stage-level fixtures which I then mimicked in the Mistrals overhead.
Although Janowitz originally purposed Mistral as key in creating the near-stage' picture, he soon incorporated 12 more Mistral fixtures overhead on the Beacon Theatre's two-ton' pipe to act as high backlight. I knew they would be great at 12ft but realised they were also great at 30ft! From here I was able to use one or two on each musician as a consistent place for the camera to return to between songs. It also meant my nearside, reverse and close overhead lighting were all from the same fixture type, which homogenised how I was able to use colour, texture and intensity and gave a beautiful balance.
Janowitz was also delighted with Mistral's 6.7 - 53 zoom ratio: That's a really great feature. It was narrow enough to light the musicians from overhead without any spill, yet wide enough to light them fully at stage level - without any heat issues - even when placed in close proximity to the artists. That's no mean feat in such a tightly packed stage and demonstrates exceptional versatility.
Trey Anastasio's Beacon Jams marks Janowitz's first use of Mistral and he was impressed. Mistral is a great light to keep in my tool box: it's small and nimble, full of features, with wide dispersion, texture and intensity. Paul Hoffman and Mikey Cummings of Pulse Lighting (lighting supplier for The Beacon Jams) recommended I try out Mistral on many occasions - it really fills the gap in the market for a small bodied, full-featured, punchy fixture. It also looks attractive. As both production and lighting designer, the over-all look of the stage is important, and Mistral is definitely something I welcomed on the set and in the stage design. Those sleek curves and that distinctly French design go a long way! Having used Mistral, I'm keen to check out its bigger Ayrton cousins to see how they scale up.
All proceeds from The Beacon Jams went to Phish's The WaterWheel Foundation and its new Divided Sky Fund which was set up by Anastasio to help those affected by addiction and alcoholism, and help further plans to open a treatment centre in Vermont.
About Ayrton:
AYRTON is specialized in developing intelligent LED light products for Entertainment and Architectural applications.
Based south of Paris, France, the AYRTON Headquarters and Research & Development centre combine and organize the highest competence in engineering, software, electronics and optics, with the aim to create highly innovative fixtures.
AYRTON fixtures are created to answer any demanding installation and criteria, and are distributed through devoted and exclusive worldwide teams. AYRTON uses reliable, flexible and avant-garde technologies linked to innovative design, to provide AYRTON customers with a wide range of pioneer lighting solutions for installation in Stages, TV Studios, Sh
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/01/2026
28 01 2026 - Media release Screen Australia refreshes Market & Audience approach...
28/01/2026
Boston Conservatory Orchestra Premieres a New Piano Concerto by Peter and Leonar...
27/01/2026
Click for Japanese version
Tokyo, Japan - January 27, 2026 - Akamai Technolo...
27/01/2026
L-R: Jonathan Cuchacovich, Sonia Kennebeck, Alan Fischer, Daeil Kim, Andrew Sta...
27/01/2026
Today, Spotify is proud to support our partner Backline, an industry-leading men...
27/01/2026
With nearly 29 million monthly listeners and clear momentum on Spotify, Net n Ve...
27/01/2026
January 14, 2026
We are proud to share that 25 Ontario, First Gulf's commercial project located just two minutes from our head office, has been recognized ...
27/01/2026
January 22, 2026
First Gulf is excited to share that a full-building lease has been secured at 625 Bronte Rd in Oakville, part of Bronte Station Business Park,...
27/01/2026
January 23, 2026
First Gulf continues to demonstrate its commitment to high-performance, sustainable real estate with 351 King Street East achieving BOMA BEST ...
27/01/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
27/01/2026
Nielsen will continue to drive growth and provide local audience measurement
in...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Amagi Media Labs Limited, the only cloud-native SaaS provider offering end-to-end solutions across live production, content preparation, distribution, and monet...
27/01/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. today unveiled its V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP distribution. Designed ...
27/01/2026
The Paul E. Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Massachusetts has chosen Ikegami cameras for incorporation into its broadcast-quality television production facili...
27/01/2026
SipRadius, specialists in secure, low latency media transport, will show the pro AV community its end-to-end solution for high quality content distribution and ...
27/01/2026
Hiltron will highlight the fruits of its 45-plus years of experience in satellite communications system integration and product development at the annual GovSat...
27/01/2026
Klvr will demonstrate how its Charger Pro solution is delivering cost reduction and performance benefits for live entertainment and pro AV markets at ISE 2026 (...
27/01/2026
Amino, a global media technology leader in enterprise video and digital signage, today announced that its Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2026 booth (4N700) wil...
27/01/2026
ANI, India's leading news agency and a major content provider across the Asia Pacific region, today announced a significant expansion of its long standing p...
27/01/2026
Independent analysis confirms faster encoding, lower CPU usage, and improved perceptual quality compared to CBR and CRF
VisualOn, a leader in multimedia playba...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
27/01/2026
New agreement for uninterrupted UHF connectivity for Australian Defence Force through 2033, With Options Extending to 2041
Luxembourg, January 13, 2026 - Satel...
27/01/2026
Tuesday 27 January 2026
SNL UK creative team expands as Pauli Lovejoy, Annie Ha...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
When It Feels Real, Is It Still a Lie? The Art of Sarah' ...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
That Night premiering on Netflix March 13
Entertainment
27 January 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
DOWNLOAD THE KEY ART
DOWNLO...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Revealed the Future of Mexican Stories Coming in 2026
Entertainment
27 January 2026
GlobalMexico
Link copied to clipboard
Among t...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
Four New Japan Titles Announced for 2026: Viral Hit', On...
27/01/2026
Back to All News
What's Next on Netflix from Japan: Expanding the Possibili...
27/01/2026
AI, graphics and virtual software power new production capabilities...
27/01/2026
RT Supporting the Arts is delighted to support a dynamic programme of cultural events taking place across Ireland this February. From visual art, film, music, ...
26/01/2026
Music videos play a huge part in how fans connect with their favorite songs, but...
26/01/2026
NAIDOC launches 2026 theme 50 Years of Deadly , marks major milestone
25 January, 2026
Media releases
The National NAIDOC Committee has today unveiled its...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
26/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Pinterest
Bluesky
Email...
Janowitz chooses Ayrton Mistral-S for Trey Anastasio's The Beacon Jams posted: 22/02/2021 
