ARRI SkyPanels light up the Jiangsu TV 2022 New Year’s Eve Gala in China

At the turn of the year in China, the country’s major provincial TV stations compete for audience ranking at their New Year's Eve televised celebrations. These are variety shows that attract immense viewership across China and feature popular celebrities and artists. Six channels competed this year in the New Year's Eve Gala. Jiangsu TV’s broadcast won the top audience rating of the evening.

Jiangsu TV’s 2022 New Year’s Eve Gala was held at the Macao Cotai Arena on the Cotai Strip in Macau, China. The show was broadcasted globally this year for the fifth time. Jiangsu TV has been recognized over the years for its beautiful stage designs and astute application of innovative technology. This year, high-end technology was essential for the setup. State-of-the-art camera and lighting equipment was utilized including four sets of ARRI’s Stabilized Remote Head, the SHR-3, which helped to capture various perspectives. The lighting crew wanted to push the limits on using film lights and selected 80 ARRI SkyPanel S360-C professional flat panel lights for this massive undertaking.

This year’s production team, Including Chief Producer Wang Xi, Chief Directors Jiang Fangming and Tang Yan, Director Li Qingwen, and Lighting Director Dong Jiang, has cooperated many times for previous New Year’s Eve Galas. They can be called the “Golden Team” of the Chinese show industry.

The application of film lights in variety shows ensures not only the quality of the lighting for HD/4K program production but also makes full use of modern intelligent LED lighting functions. It can present different lighting effects, highlight the program’s atmosphere, and influence the artistic composition of the event. Lighting Director Dong has made such attempts many times in previous shows, combining film lights and stage lights to create colorful stage effects on show sets. Such creative applications can be seen not only in China but also in many large concerts, singing programs, and sporting events worldwide. Recent examples include the American country pop group Dan + Shay at the 61st Grammy Awards and the East Asian Basketball Super League held at the Macau Stadium in 2019.

Wang Xi, Chief Producer of the 2022 New Year Concert, Vice Director of Jiangsu TV, and Director of the program center, said: “This year, we will continue the theme ‘use struggle to light up happiness.’ At the same time, we have significantly increased the number of historical figures and everyday people in our storytelling. For the first time, eight tribute chapters have been designed. Different chapters select characters from various industries as representatives, and their individual struggles are interwoven with the progress of time. The show focuses on the spirit of artistic works through chapter design, content design, and presentation design, and pays tribute to the ‘most beautiful strugglers’ in various fields.”

The lighting design of the New Year’s Eve Gala revolved around the visual centerpiece of the so-called “planet”—a large half-circle that was suspended above the middle of the arena. The lighting team, led by Lighting Director Dong Jiang, built this hemispherical canopy structure above the main stage and created a dazzling orb that mimicked a sea of stars. The axis of the canopy was provided with a light pole inlaid with strobe lights and by programming the fixtures, bright light floods the sky, creating a sparkling display of light, like shining diamonds. Additionally, 32 digitally controlled, straight-lighting trusses around the canopy and eight lifting light poles around the stage allowed for different forms to be presented through different combinations and transformations.