
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
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
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...
05/05/2026
Experts from the world of academia, tech, business, politics and media convened for a Thomson Talks at the Cambridge Disinformation Summit in April. It's th...
05/05/2026
Another year, and more proof that Asia continues to shape some of the world's most exciting new sounds. This year's RADAR artists draw from deep local r...
05/05/2026
The Austin City Limits Music Fest 2026 lineup just dropped, and this year, Spoti...
05/05/2026
New drum machine book campaign incoming
Bjooks have announced that during Superbooth 2026, they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign to fund the product...
05/05/2026
Flagship all-in-one production bundle updated
The latest version of Native Instruments' flagship virtual instrument and plug-in bundle has just been ann...
05/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to host RF Testing Innovations Forum 2026, helping design engine...
05/05/2026
The company grew by 7.6% in net revenue and 16.3% in EBITDA, achieving a 33% inc...
05/05/2026
FOX Sports, FOX One and Indeed Launch Nationwide Search for FOX One Chief World...
04/05/2026
just:play pro 2026 and just:live pro 2026 are available to download!
More Details:At NAB 2026, ToolsOnAir showcased just:play pro 2026 and just:live pro 2026, ...
04/05/2026
just:in mac pro 2026 - The Next Level of Professional Recording on macOS
More Details:The headline innovation in just:in mac pro 2026 is the new Auto format si...
04/05/2026
Last week, guests gathered in New York City for On Air, In Style: An Evening with Spotify-a night of conversation, culture, and connection celebrating the inter...
04/05/2026
New music & post-production features added
Avid's latest DAW update delivers an array of helpful features aimed at both music and post-production users,...
03/05/2026
Polysynth now features Mutable Instruments' macro oscillators
Melbourne Instruments have just released a free firmware update that brings the engine beh...
02/05/2026
Versatile re-amping tool announced
Warm Audio are best known for their recreations of sought-after vintage studio gear, but their latest release brings a ne...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
Florals for spring? Groundbreaking. But a playlist that tells you which The Devi...
01/05/2026
One of the world's biggest popstars is headed to El Cl sico. Later this mont...
01/05/2026
Limited-edition model celebrates 15th anniversary
Heritage Audio's range of monitor controllers has just gained a new member, the Baby RAM Black Edition...
01/05/2026
Dumble recreation now available as UAD plug-in
Along with their renowned processing plug-ins, Universal Audio have been steadily introducing emulations of c...
01/05/2026
The first Quantum console purchase made by the company was a Quantum 338 in September 2020. Since then, the company has leveraged Quantum power to steadily expa...
01/05/2026
Friday 1 May 2026
Hannah Waddingham and Ncuti Gatwa to host the series final tw...
01/05/2026
Friday 1 May 2026
Got plans? Cancel them. Sky Sports Big Weekend is coming
Sky Sports is preparing for a bumper weekend of live action, including Manchester ...
01/05/2026
Friday 1 May 2026
Sky Sports to broadcast all matches from World Sevens Football London edition
Sky Sports will be the exclusive UK broadcaster of the women...
01/05/2026
RT Sport awarded first pick free-to-air on Wednesday nights
Champions League and Super Cup finals
Highlights on Wednesday nights
RT today (Thursday 30 Apri...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
30/04/2026
Music is evolving, and so are the ways you discover and connect with artists. In...
30/04/2026
Between April 22-29, the first inaugural Stockholm Music Week brought together thought leaders and partners across industries including music, tech, government,...
30/04/2026
Iconic large-format console upgraded
API's iconic Vision console has just been treated to an overhaul that aims to meet the demands of today's profe...
30/04/2026
Comes complete with miking accessories
The LCT 440 Pure has proven to be a popular member of Lewitt's mic line-up, offering impressive technical perform...
30/04/2026
24 October 2026 at The Octagon, Sheffield
Now in its eighth year, SynthFest UK is the largest event of its kind in the UK, bringing together the top keyboar...
30/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz equips new Terminal 3 at Frankfurt Airport with security scanner...
30/04/2026
Rohde & Schwarz expands broadband amplifier portfolio with new power classes up ...
30/04/2026
Jennifer Ehle (Contagion, Zero Dark Thirty) and Alex Hassell (Rivals, Wasteman, ...
30/04/2026
Behind the Broadcast: The Sound of Elite Golf Golf is gaining popularity; the 2025 Ryder Cup achieved record-breaking viewing figures in the UK specifically, wi...
30/04/2026
Com a evolu o de novos standards de broadcast em todo o mundo e o OTT streaming buscando a posi o de lideran a no consumo de m dia, tanto os codecs de v deo q...
30/04/2026
Com a evolu o de novos standards de broadcast em todo o mundo e o OTT streaming buscando a posi o de lideran a no consumo de m dia, tanto os codecs de v deo q...
30/04/2026
All-New AI-Powered Network Intelligence Solution, Resilient Remote OLTs and Back-Office Integration Platform Power Smarter, More Efficient Fiber Networks SAN JO...
30/04/2026
Two worlds, one show The tour unfolds in two distinct halves. The first is a sol...
30/04/2026
Rian na Fola airs on RT One and RT Player on Monday May 4
Rian na Fola is a o...
29/04/2026
Combines EQ and harmonic distortion
Techivation's latest release is a simple EQ designed to offer quick control over a source's overall tonal balanc...
29/04/2026
Two new MPE controllers announced
Expressive E caused quite a stir when they released the Osmose, making the sort of expression that was once reserved for p...
29/04/2026
New modules & enhanced machine-learning
The latest version of iZotope's flagship restoration suite is now available, and now offers over 50 tools design...
29/04/2026
Voting opens at 4pm today
RT 's Today show have announced the eight finalists for their TV Home Cook competition. Amateur cooks from Cork, Dublin, Galway ...
29/04/2026
29 Apr 2026
VEON and Kyivstar Fulfill Commitment to Invest USD 1 Billion in Ukr...
29/04/2026
Rhod Gilbert, Harriet Kemsley, Kae Kurd, Sara Pascoe and Vicki Pattison to take part in brand new series on free streaming service U
Free streaming service U i...
29/04/2026
Wednesday 29 April 2026
Katie Price: Nothing to Hide, a Sky Original documentar...