Lighting the Tallest Building in Africa for Xbox launch posted: 30/11/2020
The lighting, crew and technical production were delivered by event technical specialists MSTARR working for event producers Penquin.
The tallest building in Africa - The Leonardo, a 234-metre mixed-use property development in Sandton, Johannesburg - was lit up for the South African launch of the new Microsoft Xbox Series X console - standing out against the night sky highlighted in green by Robe BMFL moving lights, with the Xbox logo emblazoned onto the top of floors of the tower. Amassed media, press and VIPs watched the spectacle unfold from the rooftop balcony of the nearby Radisson Blu Hotel on Rivonia Road, a vantage point offering the best views, with the event also clearly visible from all around the Sandton CBD and beyond. It brought plenty of positive energy and vibes to the city amidst a challenging year.
The launch lighting scheme was designed by Greg Angelo and MSTARR's Gareth Chambers who chose Robe's powerful BMFL fixture because it was the ONLY fixture that could do the job and blast enough light across the 550-metre throw distance.
In one of the most inspiring stories to emerge from the SA lockdown, MSTARR Productions has recently been taken over by Gareth and his business partners - sound enthusiast, Zweli Ngcobo and company CFO Landy Yeatman - and undergone complete restructuring ready for a new era of enterprise. This was their first major high-profile brand experience event.
To illuminate The Leonardo thoroughly and spectacularly, 18 x Robe BMFLs - six BMFL WashBeams and 12 x BMFL Blades - were installed in three different locations.
Gaining the required permissions to do this involved getting the agreement of three separate buildings and their management and security companies - the Benmore Shopping Centre roof parking, the Sandton Gautrain station parking lot, and the Radisson Hotel which also had fixtures positioned on its actual roof.
Two BMFL WashBeams and four BMFL Blades were deployed in each location, an operation that included manually carrying the kit up staircases in some cases to reach to the respective rooftop positions. Each set of luminaires was controlled locally by a grandMA Dot2 console.
Three of the BMFL Blades were fitted with custom Xbox gobos for projecting a crisp, clear image onto the building, with local power utilized at the Radisson and the fixtures in the two parking lots running off generators.
The set up was completed the day before the event and was also tested that evening.
On the night, the 30 or so socially distanced VIP guests first joined a reception at the Leonardo Hotel, and at dusk were shuttled just up the road to the Radisson and taken to the balcony which revealed stunning views of The Leonardo illuminated in green and overlaid with the logos.
The Leonardo's permanent LED architectural lighting scheme was also turned green for the event.
I was delighted with the BMFLs, enthused Gareth they did exactly what we wanted and needed, and they were the only lights in South Africa that could have done the job! He has in fact used BMFLs for similar long throw applications before and to cover even longer distances up to 850 metres, so he was confident the lights were up to it!
The challenge on this project - apart from the physical effort of getting the fixtures in place - was the weather. Bang in the middle of the rainy season, downpours in SA during this time can be erratic and when they happen it's always a biblical deluge rather than a polite sprinkling! Happily, it held off on the event night and the previous setup evening!
The client was delighted with the results, the VIPs were suitably impressed, and Xbox X Series sales have gone through the roof in SA ... so the launch has had the desired effect and looked amazing in the process!
The Leonardo - which includes apartments, office and commercial spaces, ground floor shops, a hotel and more - was completed in 2019 and by 36 feet became the tallest building in Africa, topping out the 223-metre-high Carlton Centre in downtown Johannesburg, which had held the title since 1973!
Gareth, Zweli and Landy - experienced event and live industry professionals each with around 20 years' experience - see a bright future ahead for MSTARR.
While they were not planning to take over the company before Covid brought events to a standstill, they saw an opportunity for both MSTARR Productions and its well-respected sister company MSTARR Events Solutions run by Carla Human, Monique Bester and Thato Ngcobo to offer full in-house technical services as well as complete event management with flair and imagination.
The winter saw a complete repositioning of MSTARR ready for emergence from the Covid period. While the SA events industry has been very quiet since March, some green shoots of hope are appearing and its hoped that smaller and more creative Covid-compliant events will start to happen.
Europe Stories
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
06/10/2025
France T l visions, France's leading broadcaster, has received the 2025 EBU ...
16/09/2025
Leading space solutions company will use optical ground stations to deliver faster, more secure data from space
Luxembourg, September 15, 2025 - SES, a leading...
15/09/2025
Global K-Pop sensation aespa is redefining what it means to be rich with the r...
15/09/2025
Every day, millions of people around the world turn to Spotify to enjoy the audi...
15/09/2025
After months of intensive planning and implementation, Brembo SGL Carbon Ceramic...
15/09/2025
Unique sports content orchestration platform builds momentum among SES's cus...
15/09/2025
-- Opens door to growth in renewable energy New Delhi, India - 15th September -- Global business and industry leaders from around the world are joining technol...
13/09/2025
Harmonic's Software-Based XOS Advanced Media Processor Provides Unparalleled Efficiency and Unlocks New Business Models SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 13, 2025 -...
12/09/2025
For fans, we know how important it is to stay plugged into music culture and dis...
12/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden and Shipley, United Kingdom, September 12, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability and analytics for service quality and customer expe...
12/09/2025
Feature-length retrospective from Studio Crook to air in 2026
Sir David Jason returns to the nation's favourite comedy channel, U&GOLD, for Open All Hours:...
12/09/2025
Friday 12 September 2025
The Boomtown Rats, Nyah Grace, Soweto Kinch, Royal Ballet and Madness also announced to perform at the ceremony on Tuesday
Sky today ...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Unveils Ultra-Light Bolero Mini Wireless Intercom BeltpackAt IBC2025 in Amsterdam, Riedel Communications unveiled Bolero M...
12/09/2025
Wuppertal September 12, 2025
Riedel Communications Acquires hi human interfaceRiedel Communications today announced the acquisition of hi human interface fro...
12/09/2025
CORE+ virtually removes distortion, setting a new standard for church sound and giving worship teams the clarity and confidence they need.
Read the full artic...
12/09/2025
The Late Late Show is back with a bang after the summer break, and Patrick Kielt...
12/09/2025
The World Athletics Championships, Ireland v France in the Women's Rugby World Cup quarter-final, the Irish Champions Festival, and two Sports Direct Men...
12/09/2025
The Records Show starts Sunday at 6.30pm on RT One and RT Player.
Katie Hanno...
11/09/2025
RADAR, Spotify's program for emerging talent, recently hit a major milestone...
11/09/2025
Link ping, Sweden, September 11, 2025 - Agama, the expert in video observability & analytics for service quality and customer experience, announced today the la...
11/09/2025
Under the USD 89.6 Million award, SES Space & Defense will provide global commer...
11/09/2025
Leading Balkan DTH provider adds capacity to consolidate its m:Sat TV platform at 23.5 degrees East and serve more customers across the region
Luxembourg, 11 S...
11/09/2025
UKTV's free streaming service U launches on Sky Q
Free streaming service U has launched on Sky Q in the UK, UKTV and Sky confirm today, expanding the footp...
11/09/2025
From the discreet 2061 lavaliers to 4099 and 4011 mics, the setup delivered clean, natural sound in one of the most challenging broadcast environments.
Read th...
11/09/2025
From rugged build quality to natural, detailed sound, the verdict is clear: big performance can come in a very small package.
Read the full review here!...
11/09/2025
Tonight on Prime Time
RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
Tonight RT Prime Time...
11/09/2025
RT Statement: 2026 Eurovision Song Contest
At the General Assembly of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in July, a number of EBU members raised concerns ...
10/09/2025
Lossless on Spotify Premium is here.
Lossless audio has been one of the most a...
10/09/2025
The Television Will Be Revolutionised Sep 10, 2025
Written by Sunit Kotecha, Director of Delivery and Operations, YouView
2025 marks a century since the f...
10/09/2025
First of Spains F110 frigates get future-ready with Rohde & Schwarz communicatio...
10/09/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Supports DOCSIS and Fiber, Enabling Midco to Deliver Reliable Multi-Gigabit Connectivity to Subscribers SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 10,...
10/09/2025
RT brings three days of live radio, live entertainment, live news, live weather, personal appearances, and more
Join RT Radio 1: Morning Ireland, The Oliver ...
09/09/2025
Since 2020, Spotify's RADAR program has been a launchpad for emerging talent...
09/09/2025
In 2020, Spotify launched RADAR with a clear mission: to identify, nurture, and ...
09/09/2025
If you're on BookTok, you know the drill. You scroll, you tap, and suddenly your To Be Read list is overflowing with trending must-reads. Not unlike Spoti...
09/09/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
09/09/2025
Harmonic's VOS360 Ad SaaS Enables Personalized Ad Delivery and Seamless Integration with the Ad Tech Ecosystem SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 9, 2025 - Harmonic ...
09/09/2025
St. Luke's Episcopal Church in New Jersey needed audio that truly connects and they found the answer.
Read the full case study here!...
09/09/2025
From AI-driven sound design to adaptable systems and uncompromising audio quality, the discussion highlights how innovation is shaping the future of performance...
09/09/2025
The conversation covers DPA's natural, uncolored sound, how to choose the right mic for any application and the company's latest innovations including C...
09/09/2025
From the origins of CORE to the latest CORE+ upgrade, the article explores how DPA minimizes distortion, expands dynamic range and ensures clarity at every SPL ...
09/09/2025
September 9 2025, 07:22 (PDT) Dolby Revolutionizes Entertainment on Four Wheels...
09/09/2025
The Autumn Schedule has begun on RT Raidi na Gaeltachta, with a feast of music, entertainment, news and current affairs programmes as well as an interesting s...
08/09/2025
The company continues to focus on its own training programs. Recently, 20 new ap...
08/09/2025
How an MVP-first approach helps you move faster, stay flexible, and deliver smarter.
Too often, media technology projects aim to solve everything at once ma...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Resolution of Murdoch Family Trust Matter New York, NY and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Comp...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA - September 8, 2025 - Fox Corporation ( FOX or the Co...
08/09/2025
Fox Corporation Announces Pricing of Secondary Offering of Class B Common Stock New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA, September 8, 2025 Fox Corporation ( FOX ...
Lighting the Tallest Building in Africa for Xbox launch posted: 30/11/2020 
