"Live from Cincinnati" 
Federal Express uplinks from airport facility

Audience of 150 interacting with VP & CEO moderators of FedX . The heat of an early Sept.
afternoon prevented the loading dock doors from being closed so we decided to go with a daylight balance.

So just how big is the interior of a building measuring 400 x 120 with 37 ft. ceilings? Well, a football field would easily fit inside, complete with goal posts! I did not know this was the scope of the job when I got the call from Federal Express of Memphis. They were looking for a gaffer to do a live uplinked show to be broadcast from Cincinnati. Four times a year, Fed Ex chooses a hub site for a live broadcast to share information and latest technology, while at the same time showcasing facilities to satellite offices around the country. Previous locations for the 2000 series were in Dallas and Los Angeles.

8 - 6K Spacelights - half blued providing ambient 100fc base for crowd in bleachers 
and two roving moderators. 4K Fresnel (hidden behind 4x4 flag upper right) key source.

At the site survey, I discovered this was not going to be a routine job. Once I saw the actual dimensions of the building and received a general idea from the LD what he wanted, I realized the enormity of the task before me. Unfortunately two weeks later through a date change we lost the LD, and from there on I was principally in charge of the lighting design and execution.

The shoot required an ambient 100fc base for the audience in the bleachers and two roving moderators. I also took on a local producing role, and made arrangements for bleachers to hold 150 employees, set furniture, pa system, carpet and props, as well as hiring crew and bidding out the massive equipment order to rental houses.

Overview from north end of building. 2.5K Pars & Fresnels illuminating interior walls.

The lighting order consisted of eight 6K space lights, two 4K HMI's, fourteen 2.5K HMI's, eight 1.2K HMI's, two generators (a 500 and a 1200), and a 12 ton & 5 ton truck to hold all of the grip & electrical gear. We had one pre-light day to get lights flown, the electric rigged and the lights positioned. Since the Fed Ex facility swings into action at 7:30pm, all of our floor lighting had to be moved out of the way to allow for the personnel and forklifts to work during the night.

Overview from south of set area. 4K Par hitting 8x8 framed grid cloth for a soft diffused backlight.

The next morning everything was repositioned, and by 11:30am, we were putting the last little tweaks on lighting during rehearsal. Although, the warehouse setting was austere in nature, I wanted to help hold viewer's interest in the set. Using "Fed Ex" purple (Rosco #49), we added splashes of color to back walls, equipment, and infrastructure.

The show went live at 1:00pm and was over by 2:30pm. Surprisingly we were shaking hands in the parking lot at 5:45pm, as I had figured at least a 3-4 hour wrap.

Looking back at the whole experience, I enjoyed the challenge of aesthetically lighting such a large and Spartan venue. Good rapport with my client contacts during preproduction, and a seasoned crew contributed greatly in everything going smoothly.

Client: Federal Express
Job: "AGF/GGO - Live from Cincinnati"
Lighting Gaffer : Mark Stucker 
Key Electric/Genie Op: Dale Emminger
Key Grip: Tony Engleman
Electric: Andrew
Grip: Phil Donahoe