The fan-shaped screen was located behind the stage covering the back seating tiers, and reached right up to the full height of the top of the venue. Its total surface area was an impressive 2,160sq.m.
Fondazione Arena di Verona is a Roman amphitheatre dating back to 30 AD. The task of designing, supplying and installing the projection screen into this performance space was trusted to rigging and trussing rental company Decima Italia from Padova.
One of the many challenges they faced was ensuring that the installation had minimal impact on the natural architecture. The screen also had to be positioned millimetre-perfectly, so the dramatic projections designed by Enzio Antonelli for the show fitted precisely to the surface.
It also had to be able to withstand wind speed of up to 80 Km/hr, and this is why Decima Italia's project managers Fabio Marachi and Osanna Rossetto chose Milos M290 trussing for the job.
The screen support was constructed in 22 trapezoidal segments of trussing which were secured to the tiers behind the stage. When complete, the screen stretched 70m in length along the top edge of the venue, and each vertical support was approximately 20m in height, from the bottom of the arena to the top of the amphitheatre. Two smaller 'filler' support elements were placed in the centre, above the stage entrance.
Crucial to the installation and to meet the wind-speed and other health and safety requirements was a series of floor anchors. These were made from vertical metal supports which were secured but not fixed to the floor because of historical site restrictions and the requirement to complete the installation with minimal impact. The trussing runs were ratcheted to these.
At the top of the venue, once the screens were fitted, the trusses were secured in place by tensioned belts to existing fixing points, and also along the up/down runs to points on the seating tiers underneath.
The 22 support segments were all slightly different in dimensions and angles - incorporating 88 Milos angle blocks, some custom made for the project to ensure that exactly the required angles could be achieved. The supports were fitted with 160 adjustable steel supporting bases to help create an even top surface whilst dealing with the irregular natural surfaces of the amphitheatre.
Once in position, the trussing supports were then fitted with the white PVC projection fabric which had a 25% perforated surface. A series of aluminium tubes were inserted along perimeter pockets in each piece of fabric and the surface was tensioned with over 500 self-locking belts.
The Decima Italia crew of 40 completed the installation in six hours. The Placido Domingo 40th anniversary gala performance was part of the 87th Verona Opera Festival. He first sang at the arena in summer 1969 with Turandot and Don Carlo.
(Jim Evans)
