Robe lit up the final show of The Monumental Tour

For the project of the Chateau de Pierrefonds more than one hundred moving lights were used Steal, among which were MegaPointes models, Fortes, Esprites, miniPoints, Spiiders and Tetra2s.

The Monumental Tour is an innovative visual and musical performance, devised by the French DJ and music producer Michael Canitrot and the signature AV-Extended, which took place at the end of last year in the Chateau de Pierrefonds in the French region of Oise, northeast of Paris.

Carried out in collaboration with the French cooperative bank Credit Mutuel and other sponsors, more than a hundred moving lights Steal supported the spectacle of mapped projections, specially conceived for this scenario in which the closing show of this 'great tour' was held.

With references to the history of the imposing castle, originally built in the twelfth century and extensively rebuilt in the mid-nineteenth century at the behest of Emperor Napoleon III; an immersive and very rhythmic electronic musical experience was built.

The Monumental Tour has been a journey that has combined streaming musical performances and collaborations with epic monumental venues., iconic and outstanding from all over France. Started in summer at Phare des Baleines (Whale Lighthouse), on the island of Ré.

Since I was a child, Michael Canitrot loved visiting castles and museums and describes The Monumental Tour as “the meeting of my two passions: electronic music and heritage/history”, adding that being able to play his music in exceptional and unexpected places has “fed my inspiration”.

For the final show of 2021, the technical managers of the project, Martin Javouret and Adrien Demengel, asked Mikael Trochu (Mika), autonomous lighting designer based in Paris, who was in charge of illuminating the façade of the castle. The event was recorded for later broadcast and was enjoyed live by a specially invited audience..

Mika was thrilled to be working with Robe moving lights on her first Monumental show – including MegaPoints, Fortes, Esprites, miniPoints, Spiiders and Tetra2s-, all provided by paris-based rental and production company MDL Event, technical partner of the event.

The main role of lighting was to complement and work alongside the detailed and enigmatic projections coordinated by Jérémie Bellot, by AV-Extended, which covered an extension of 60 meters wide on the front façade of the castle and extended to 50 meters high to the tops of walls and turrets.

The challenge was to ensure that the lighting was elegant., that harmonized with the music and helped the narrative of the work, with lights and projections sculpted to perfection in the contours of the castle, respecting its majestic architecture.

Each Monumental show is made up of what Michael describes as the “Artistic DNA” of the tour and is designed specifically for the place, with abstract references and interpretations, both visual and musical, related to the history and relevance of the building.

the 42 MegaPoints were chosen by Michael himself, who is heavily involved in all aspects of the Monumental project as creative director and music creator. Connoisseur of the technique, likes to use technology to help share their art.

“Robe's whole range is amazing”, says Michael. “There are so many possibilities that feed our ideas and enthusiasm to discover these monuments and represent them from a new and very contemporary perspective.”.

The MegaPointes have also been the most striking of all the luminaires, placed individually around the various battlements of the castle at different heights, and peeking out of the windows of the three main towers of the front façade. Having lights on several levels brought a sense of depth and dimension to the overall visual image..

The power and visibility of the MegaPoints were vital to the moments of 'beams in the sky' (lightning in the sky) on the set, and even on a dark night without smoke, broke through in the dark.

They were also chosen for their small size.. The assembly was a long and laborious manual transport to the different areas of the castle by the CDM Event team., which placed each unit individually in its position around the huge building. To do this, had the collaboration of the team that maintains and manages this historical monument.

Sixteen Robe Spiider wash beams were deployed in various locations of the castle to illuminate and highlight stone elements and walled areas.

Eight Fortes were installed in a circular structure on the ground inside the large courtyard of the castle, which represented a new metaphorical tower of rays of light. Provided lighting and camera effects for the video director Anthony Ghnassia will integrate them into the mixture, which included fantastic drone footage from the Skydrone France. These luminaires projected gobos, textures and colors around the courtyard, that was illuminated with Led.

The eight miniPoints and four other Spiiders were used to highlight the architecture and highlight the artifacts and details of the castle chapel., where they worked brilliantly with the white stone and statues.

Michael Canitrot's DJ booth was set up in front of the castle's front door, with the designated public area just across the other side. Immediately behind the artist were four Esprites for background lighting and fabulous animations of silhouettes and gobos.. All this with a very attractive appearance in the camera.

Immediately in front of the installation were two Tetra2 lines that formed a path to the DJ booth – another depth effect.- which also produced some spectacular camera looks, especially for drones and wide shots.

One advantage of using all these Robe appliances was the low power consumption.. Power was available at various points in the castle, but in general it was limited, so it was a carefully calculated balance.

The commissioning took place over two full days, plus the day of the show, with a night -very cold- programming with all equipment on site, preceded by three days of pre-image heating in the MDL Event studio using L8 3D visualization software.

Lighting was programmed in a light console MA Lighting grandMA2 placed in the back of a truck parked in the public viewing area. Lighting and projection was executed according to the timecode of the music track for the show of 45 minutes.

Other articles on AV-Extended, Chateau de Pierrefonds, MA Lighting, Steal, Robe Lighting, Skydrone France