The projections were part of London Lights a pyrotechnic and lighting extravaganza designed to catch the spirit of London as the year rolled over and reinforce the city's bid for the 2012 Olympics. The event took place along the Thames, encompassing the South Bank between Jubilee and Westminster Bridges, including landmarks like the London Eye and Big Ben. Over 135,000 people on the streets, plus TV audiences of several million enjoyed it live.
E//T//C's Ross Ashton decided to change the projection format slightly for this event, covering the full surface of the building with eight PIGI 6Kw projectors. (In the past, they've used 6 for the images, with two for accompanying text). The projectors were sited 150m away on the edge of Jubilee Gardens, in a curtain-sider truck in a four top/ four bottom arrangement, complete with 40cm lenses. Each machine produced a 50 x 50 metre image - and these were overlaid for optimum brightness.
Artwork for over 120 slides - including a 60 second countdown - was designed by JMW's Matt Leech, with E//T//C undertaking all the camera obscura work to do the perspective correction and fit them to the building. The images are designed to reflect the feel of contemporary London. The get-in took place on 28 December, and two rehearsal nights were then bfollowed by the show. Karen Monid, using a PIGI OnlyCue system, programmed projections for the 10-minute display and E//T//C's chief engineer was Andy Murrell.
Ashton commented: "It was a great privilege to be working with JMW on this landmark event. Everyone combined imaginative energies and talents to create a unique work for a special moment in time."
Creative director of the London Lights midnight show was Dan Colborne and the project director was JMW's Jeremy Garbett. It also featured breathtaking fire effects and pyrotechnics - detonated from a series of barges and off the London Eye - by French aficionados Group F, and the illumination of the Eye itself by LD Durham Marenghi. The show was production managed for JMW by Robert Alge and Lindsay Barrowclough.
The show was preceded by a two minute silence for all those affected by the devastating Asian tsunami.
The famous midnight chimes of Big Ben were amplified by Delta Sound via seven V-Dosc and two dv-dosc cabinet line arrays hung on a series of Summit Steel SmarTmasts positioned between Westminster and Jubilee Bridges. The sound scheme was designed by Paul Keating and Jim Lambert of Delta Sound and was also used to amplify the music and announcements before the fireworks, lighting and projection show taking place on the river, the London Eye, Big Ben and specific areas of the South Bank.
Delta specified SmarTmasts because they were the most versatile solution to meet the logistical challenges of the site - which included no access for heavy plant. SmarTmasts are self-contained and self-erecting utilizing a 'sheer leg' system.
The SmarTmast's small footprint enabled them to be sighted on paths in the parks dotted along the Embankment, rather than on the grass. Each of the 800Kgs arrays was rigged at slightly different heights - around ten meters - once flown from the Masts. Lighting suppliers were Stage Electrics and PRG and crowd stewarding was by Show and Event Security.
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
