Vertigo, working for production company West Design, show producer Lucy Smail and production manager Andy Cheesman, transformed the front of the building into Hogwarts School of Wizardry & Witchcraft for the evening of 4 November.
With a seven-day get in, the event required over 22 tonnes of equipment, 12 tonnes of which was hung off the side of the building - representing a huge logistical and practical challenge for Vertigo. Work began on 29 October, when project manager Paddy Burnside and his team of riggers supervised a 60 tonne crane to lift over 10 tonnes of pre-built RMD (prefabricated Rapid Metal Decking) superstructure onto the roof of the Odeon.
The superstructure’s purpose was to support two sections of truss framework - the lower main roof - measuring 22m wide by 8.5m deep, and the tower section - 8m wide by 31 metres high. The tower section of superstructure was anchored to its own two top floors using six M20 studding rods, drilled through the floors for maximum stability. The next four days were spent installing the truss and attaching the set to it. The trussing statistics were equally impressive - with a total of 190m of 52cm Thomas Supertruss and 200m of Thomas Superlite used. The 52cm formed the main framework, while the Superlite was used to brace the set against the wind loading - of up to 12 tonnes horizontal force.
Once superstructure and trussing structures were erected, the set flats were attached to the trussing. Built by Alternative Element, the steel framed flats had ply faces and were clamped to the trussing with aluminium half couplers. They were craned into position and fixed by Vertigo riggers. Vertigo also rigged the Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone world première sign and two 7m pennants each side of the Odeon’s balcony to represent the four Houses of Hogwarts.
West Design commissioned Visual Elements and Spirit Design to light the facade of the cinema and, in turn, Fourth Phase were approached to supply the lighting equipment. As the cinema’s fascia decorations had been painted with UV paint, Fourth Phase provided 30 MAC 600s, together with eight each of Studio Due’s City Colors and City Beams, used alongside a substantial quantity of conventional lighting to create a striking backdrop for the film’s première. The event was a resounding success and attracted the world’s media and a celebrity audience.
