Darren Langer Adds Wow Factor to WOW - Women of Wrestling with Chauvet Professional
September 18, 2024
It’s no wonder that the wildly popular WOW - Women Of Wrestling TV series’ acronym is also those three simple letters: W O W. This branding theme is there for all to see in the current season of the series, as the two Ws, from this powerfully evocative expression are spelled out in light by 64 CHAUVET Professional COLORado PXL Curve 12 motorised battens supplied by Felix Lighting.
The stunning flourish is part of a dynamic lighting design by five-time Emmy Award winner Darren Langer, working with LD Felix Peralta and drafter Chris Fernandez.
“This was our first season with the series,” said Langer of LA-based DCLIGHTING. “Our client, co-founder and co-owner David McLane, was an inspiration for us in this project. David and his business partner, WOW co-owner and co-founder, Jeanie Buss, wanted their new season of WOW to have a more theatrical ‘wow factor’.”
“Our design team collaborating with the production designer James Connelly, embraced the ‘W’ and the ‘O’ in the series name with lighting and truss,” said Langer. “The ‘W’ gave us an instant inspiration to utilise the amazing PXL Curves in a linear fashion as a screen surround. The curves were a perfect solution. We line the PXL Curves in a linear fashion on the onstage and offstage cords of the ‘W’ with a couple of straggling fixtures On SL And SR in the wings to cover the cross shots.”
Langer and his team have also included 12 Color Strike M motorised strobe-washes in the Women Of Wrestling ring. “My company, DCL, has owned Strike Ms for quite some time and they are one of our go-to fixtures for a versatile eye candy and strobing,” he said. “We used them here, placing Strike Ms directly upstage centre to showcase the backgrounds of all the wrestler entrances, which gives us a wealth of different looks. A big challenge on this project is giving each entrance for the 50 plus WOW Superheroes (80 when you include tag team combinations) their own unique monumental look, every one of them time coded with screens, music tracks and multiple camera angles shooting nearly 360 degrees.”
Drawing on their skill, creative inspiration, and a flexible rig, Langer and his team are able to ensure that each entrance is thrilling in its own unique way with distinctive colour schemes and effects. It is an impressive achievement, one that is sure to make fans of this much-talked-about series say: “WOW!”