Working closely with show producers Magnetic Events, and soundscape producer Karen Monid, E/T/C's Ross Ashton interpreted an original storyboard by Magnetic's Robin Morley to create a 15-minute collage of images based on aquatic themes, interwoven with water-related elements from the City's past and present, with "the swimmer" at its core.
The show, titled A Poem To Sunderland, took an abstract, non-narrative format and the projections were beamed onto the side of the futuristic cylindrical building (designed by The Red Box Design Group) located adjacent to the City's Stadium of Light football ground.
E/T/C London supplied six PIGI 6kW projectors, all fitted with double rotating scrollers, and installed on a special projection platform constructed 165m away from the Aquatic Centre. Four projectors were soft-edged together to compose the main projection, with the other two utilised for special effects. The side windows of the Aquatic Centre were whited out to give a more uniform surface for the projections.
The two PIGI's used for effects had their rotation centres offset to create a more dynamic completion of the picture on the building, allowing specific images like giant cogs to move partially onto and off of the main canvas.
The soundtrack was played back from a four-track A-DAT machine, to which the lighting - designed by Neil Colebeck - was synched. Ashton and his team also worked very closely with the pyro crew from The World Famous.
The projection show programming was co-ordinated by Karen Monid and Erlwin de Gans via an E/T/C OnlyCue system. E/T/C's crew was completed by PIGI technician Cy Dodimead. Lighting and PA equipment was supplied by Newcastle-based Nite Lites, and the projection show was followed by Hydromania, a water dance performance piece by Avanti Display, which was backed by further projections.
(Jim Evans)
