The popular Dutch TV quiz show De Grote Gezondheidsquiz is broadcast on The Netherlands’ SBS6 channel and produced by Medialane. It sees celebrities go head-to-head in a battle of health-related knowledge as they answer questions from the host, with dramatic lighting effects ramping up the fun – the specially designed set is lit by warm, rich colors and sharp white contestant spotlights.

Production and lighting design company DETS Creative was tasked with delivering the studio set and lighting solution, choosing to use Vari-Lite VL5LED WASH, VL800 EVENTWASH, and VL2600 SERIES luminaires. DETS Creative has enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the Studio Baarn TV studio, and they were asked to deliver full set design and development, including lighting, video, and décor as well as all technical drawings and technical preparations. DETS Creative collaborated with Studio Baarn and LEDXPro to source the range of Vari-Lite fixtures.

Due to the high-profile broadcast and studio size, the team used more than 132 Vari-Lite fixtures, with the VL5LED dominating the rig.

“We specified the VL5LED for many reasons – we love its appearance and how great it looks on the high shot on camera, and it did an amazing job of filling all shots on set,” explains Tom Tijssen from DETS Creative. “We were also able to manage the output behind the host to be enough to give a little beam, but also not too much to make the camera take flare, using the LED blade. The VL5LED worked very well to create an amazing environment, achieving some fantastic looks that worked very well on low percentage and in front and behind the camera view.”

The design of the studio segmented the set into two areas for the audiences, the two team pulpits with four players per side, one host and one co-host. This required the team to create dynamic focuses of light, dependent on who was speaking and audience reaction. Tijssen and his team augmented the VL5LED with a VL800 EVENTWASH as a wash fixture, “to give an extra touch to the various objects in the set as well as to light up the printed materials. We only used the white light with a small additional touch of the colors. Besides that, we used the VL800 EVENTWASH as the backlight for the audience because it is a good output LED wash,” he says.

The VL2600 WASH luminaires were rigged as front light, and the VL2600 SPOT fixtures were used as back light to make a sharp hard white edge on the shoulders of the players, as well as the host. “The VL2600 WASH offers a great Fresnel lens and nice CTO,” adds Tijssen.