“Design is my thing. Lights are just lights.” says TV lighting director Oli Richards. “Which is why people don’t tend to ask me about their fixtures! But I really enjoyed using the MAC One!” 

Twenty of Martin’s smallest MAC moving heads, the new MAC One, were recently supplied by Version 2 lights to renowned TV lighting designer Oli Richards for use on The Jonathan Ross Show.  

The new compact, lightweight fixtures were suggested to Oli by Nick Edwards at Version 2. 

“In my designs I love to use lots of one thing.” Oli explains. “The MAC One is perfect for that. Small, designed to be used in multiples, and importantly budget friendly to use in quantity.” 

At just 4.4kg, the MAC One is extremely compact and highly versatile. A Beam/Wash, with Fresnel lens, custom 120W, 2500 lm light engine, and impressive light quality, the MAC One is everything you’d expect of a MAC Series fixture, with the benefit of allowing more fixtures to be used in a show without compromising weight or space limitations. 

“The look I wanted for this particular show was essentially a back wall full of small moving head mini-par cans. Controllable moving head par cans." he says. “Bands sometimes specify a colour palette to work with, but on this occasion I just wanted a tungsten look.” 

Having worked with director Chris Howe regularly, Oli knows his preference for “very cinematic looks with random flares, happy accidents”. 

Having trained as a photographer, Oli describes himself as a technical designer where his focus is very much the overall look and says “I surround myself with the best programmers, techs and crew.”  

And alongside its flexibility and quality of output of the MAC One, Oli is a fan of its physical aesthetic.  

“I think I will always use them in shot,” he says. “I tend to avoid large-faced pixel-enabled fixtures, they are not for me. But with the MAC One I loved the simplicity and beauty of the lamp itself as a sculpture on set, and together with fresnel lens which looked great on camera, I’ll definitely be using again.” 

Martin Professional is exclusively distributed in the UK by Sound Technology Ltd. For more information please visit www.soundtech.co.uk/professional-lighting/martin/