14.10.2024 | Justin Munana’s Dynamic Performance Environment Design for Chris Brown 11:11 Tour Features Elation

Justin Munana, aka Collie, of design house Nimblist employed an abundance of Elation ARTISTE MONET LED framing profile luminaires for Chris Brown's recently concluded 11:11 tour. One hundred thirty-eight fixtures were distributed across the rig to ensure a consistent wash over the entire set, contributing to the elaborate and visually striking production. Fuse Technical Group provided lighting and video.

The tour followed Brown's November 2023 release of 11:11, which topped the Top R&B Albums chart. Beginning in Detroit on June 5 and concluding in Los Angeles on August 6, the tour featured a complex production, with Justin overseeing the performance environment design.

Evolving, dynamic world
The theatrical production features several intricate elements, such as lifts and elevators to move performers and set pieces, a rotating B stage, kinetic LED screens, flying elements, pyrotechnics, lasers, and special effects. Running such a complex show was a massive team effort in coordination and execution. Justin worked closely with the entire team, especially creative director Josh Smith, content creator Mat Fuller, lighting director Sandy Paul, programmers Manny Conde and Keegan Sly, and FX programmer Joey Herring.

Having worked with Brown since the 2011 F.A.M.E. tour, Justin's concept for 11:11 was to create an evolving, dynamic world for Brown and his 16 dancers, matching the four-act structure of the show, themed around the elements: fire, water, air, and earth.

Lighting needs
Justin highlighted two essential lighting needs: illuminating the dynamic performance space and ensuring the choreography of Brown and the dancers was well-lit. "Chris always wants the dancers to be visible but often prefers not to have a bright white spotlight on him," Justin stated. "He wants to be a part of the dance line and move in and out of that."

Regarding a central lighting fixture, the designer wanted uniformity and opted for many single lighting models, choosing the ARTISTE MONET. "I wanted to fill the entire space with a single brush," he said, adding that the Monet name resonated with him due to his appreciation for the artist and Impressionism, which is something he says he does as a lighting and show designer. "Beyond that, the fixture had what we needed and proved to be the right partner for the job."

Central role
While Justin had used the ARTISTE MONET before, this was the first time they played such a central role in his design. The fixtures were positioned on towers and trusses across the rig, except for the front truss, and even emerged from behind moving LED screens to prevent any black holes on stage.

The 45,000-lumen ARTISTE MONET features an innovative SpectraColor color mixing system that combines CMY color mixing with RGB flags and variable CTO to produce colors that are often challenging for LED luminaires to achieve. For each of the show's four acts, Justin used the SpectraColor system to create matching color schemes-warm tones for fire, blues and greens for water, steely whites for air, and earthy shades for earth. "There was never a time where I couldn't get the tone of color I was looking for," he said.

In the set's final song, "Grass Ain't Greener," Justin embraced a color often avoided in lighting design. "Green is usually something you're told not to use, but I had the opportunity to layer green upon green with the lasers, Monets, and other lights," creating what he said was one of his favorite looks in the show.

With numerous shifting angles to manage, especially challenges posed by the moving LED screens, Justin had to carefully light around them while shading the areas where the screens were. The ARTISTE MONET's unlimited indexing and continuous rotation framing system proved invaluable for navigating the tight spaces and ensuring he didn't illuminate anything unintentionally.

Lighting director Sandy Paul, added, "The Monet's were great and really did help carry the whole show. Having as many as we did, we had incredible air coverage in any configuration of video walls. The fixtures were all very consistent throughout the tour and produced some great photos."

PROTEUS BRUTUS
In addition to the MONET's, among other lighting gear, the rig included seven Elation PROTEUS BRUTUS, powerful 75,000-lumen LED Wash FX lights. These lights were primarily used as backlighting for Brown via a follow-spot tracking system. The fixtures were also employed as large cut lights from over elevators and lifts.

"I did love the BRUTUS's," Sandy commented. "They are powerful and we got great color out of them. They were mostly used as specials and follow spots but even only having seven of them they were able to cover a lot of bases."

Although the intricate nature of the 11:11 show posed several challenges for the production team, those challenges were overcome with innovative solutions that produced a crowd-pleasing show. The 11:11 tour was a resounding success for the R&B superstar and sold out virtually every stop of the 26-city trek.

Photos 1-3: Steve Jennings
Photo 4: Sandy Paul