Flemish rental company EML supplied sound, lighting and rigging equipment for the event which was production managed by Alain Van Isacker. The stage was a Stageco structure and the show's technical aspects - including the staircase - was conceived by Hans Willems of Stageco. The staircase was constructed by French company Devineau, with the truss tower and all the load bearing mechanical elements supplied by Stageco
The highly versatile K2 system - which EML purchased last year and debuted on the Clouseau show in Antwerp (see the January issue of The EML team created a 360 degree arena for 2000 guests, with 16 elegant lighting towers arranged around the perimeter, each rigged with 20 Arena Visions concealed behind large frames of Lee frost filter. In the centre of the space they constructed an 18 metre diameter circular stage and in the middle of this was a 16 metre high by five metre diameter cylinder tower, the bottom half of which hid a spiral staircase inside from the audience's view. The cylinder 'sleeve' mechanism was attached to four CM Varistar BGV-C1 vari-speed chain hoists, converted for use with the Kinesys system. They were double-reeved to give a 1000kg SWL and were rigged below stage in the base of the self-contained tower structure. During the show, 45 models walked onto stage, circled the cylinder and then walked into it via a pair of automatic doors. As the 15 minute show concluded, the last model walked up to the tower and touched it, giving the cue for the cylinder to lift 13 metres in the air using K2, revealing the staircase - fully laden with all 45 models - for a spectacular ending. The motors were running at 20 metres a minute for the move, well below their maximum of 30. The tower's total height by the end of the move was 29 visible metres - with a further two metres secreted under the stage, with approximately 10 metres of headroom still left above in the Grand Palais' lofty ceiling. It made for a dramatic, heart-stopping finale to a phenomenal show. This was a very simple move to programme using K2 explains De Puysseleir, adding that he loves the system for it's logical, tactile 'hands-on' control, "I am also a lighting operator and it feels very similar to running a lighting console" he declares. The innovative K2 system can control any lifting or moving device. Its ability to work with the actual moving items is central to its programming philosophy. Any item - in this case the staircase shroud - whether it is flown, tracked or revolved, can be dealt with in terms of its own movement - rather than that of the supporting devices. This flexibility hugely simplifies the communication between designer and programmer. A request like "tilt another five degrees" is programmed logically and practically as exactly that - rather than a clumsy, long-winded command sequence such as "this hoist up, this hoist down, etc". K2 provides 3D viewers so movement of objects can be monitored and programmed from any angle. The operator can move around anywhere and on any plane within their 3D world, flying their viewpoint camera in and around the objects, zooming in and out as needed. Programming motion is equally straightforward with a graphical 3D interface providing intuitive and easy to use controls. (Chris Henry)
