Sky Studios use GEMtile LED fixtures for cost-effective large area soft light
At Power Gems, we want people to think about the jobs where lots of units are required, but not all features are needed – particularly for long-running shows, where it justifies bringing in something different.
The savings from using a basic LED tile with high-quality white light, such as the GEMtile, would pay for the fixtures themselves on a show shooting over a few months.
The industry is taking note. Recently, many hundreds of GEMtile units (below) were used on Sky’s forensic drama, Wolfe, shot on location in the North West of England.
The team at Tatton Estate, just outside Manchester, transformed an old barn used for storing potatoes to accommodate the production. The Potato Barn studio, like many historic buildings, has restrictions on the height and weight of lighting rigs. Many modern replacements for 600mm x 600mm/2ft-by-2ft fluorescent fixtures would be too heavy and risk damaging the ceiling.
Not so with the GEMtile, a super-efficient lightweight LED tile weighing in at a trim 7kg (15.4 lbs).
Gaffer, Paul Murphy says: “The first time I used the GEMtile, on Wolfe for Sky 1, they took the stress out of location lighting. The rigging guys found them quick to set up and easy to use. They are hassle-free. I’m a fan and have used them for other productions.”
You can see photos from another TV series being filmed in the UK.
The GEMtile can do other jobs besides providing low-cost wide-area soft light, which creates realistic indoor conditions. That doesn’t just mean accurate colour rendering (min CRI 95) and a colour temperature range of 2700 – 6500K. You can also use the GEMtile without it being physically fitted into the ceiling.
In other words, it is not just a like-for-like replacement of a 2 ft-by-2 ft/600mm by 600mm tile – it’s a step-change improvement.
And no comparable product is available for broadcast-quality lighting while filming on location at higher power.
Pound-for-pound in weight, you can’t find a more affordable high-quality LED tile.We’re shipping hundreds of units each month, and it’s no exaggeration to say the GEMtile should be in every rental fleet. Not that we’re encouraging impulse buys – but the sooner you get GEMtile the faster you’ll see a return on your investment.
