Large format projection specialists E\T\C used 8 PIGI 6 KW projectors and scrollers, shooting from four different directions onto four different angled planes of a dramatic shrinking perspective stage set for the Dutch Musical Awards Gala.
World First
The images from each machine were soft-edged together to create an impressive single high-impact picture. It’s thought to be a world-first for this many images to be combined using the ‘feathering’ technique in the genre of large format projection.
The event – broadcast live on national TV - was staged at the New Luxor Theatre in Rotterdam. It honoured the best of Dutch Musical Theatre – an entertainment genre at which the Netherlands excels.
The event’s technical production was co-ordinated by De Meern based Sightline, and production managed by Erwin Rintjema for producer Joop Van Der Ende and The Musical Awards Foundation.
Mathematical Imagination
Some intense site measurements and virtual mathematics were involved in calculating the required perspective correction for the images, explains E\T\C’s Ross Ashton, who says, “These were definitely the most complicated line-up grids we have ever had to produce”. This was even more challenging as set designer Bart Clement’s enigmatic creation was only a virtual environment until built for the first time on site.
Each projected image had to be corrected differently and on three dimensions to fit exactly onto four differently aligned elements - floor, walls, ceiling and proscenium portal - of the set.
Projectors were hung in the ceiling pointing downwards, on the sides shooting across stage and out front, shooting across each other onto the massive false proscenium portal - which in itself comprised three different planes of distortion.
They utilised an assortment of lenses. The two PIGIs covering the ceiling used the ultra wide angle Barco .9’s, the two doing the walls used Barco 1.2’s and the two doing the proscenium were fitted with Reichmann 40 cm lenses. The two doing the side panels were tipped at 70 degrees and mounted on special side panels.
Big is Beautiful
The Belgium-based scenic and visual designer Bart Clements had first used E\T\C and large format projection on another show in Holland last year. When his design started evolving for the 2005 Musical Awards, he realised again that film was the best media solution for achieving his creative objectives, and so he came straight back to E\T\C. “I really like working with E\T\C” he says “They are highly professional and also always willing to work with new ideas and suggestions. They see everything as a great challenge even when it’s difficult”.
Clement created over 80 original scenic treatments for the stage set – using Maya, a 3D design/rendering software. These were whittled down to 39 pieces of actual artwork.
Due to the nature of the design process, the decision to go with projection was made late on, so the E\T\C team and Clement had to realise the project very quickly, involving some intense CAD sessions and frenetic Email exchanges and phone calls.
Clement handed the finished artwork files over to E\T\C’s CAD specialists James Probert and Wyatt Enever who worked with ETC’s Paul Highfield on the perspective correction, producing the PIGI scrolling artwork and working out the projector maskings. “The projectors moved positions several different times during this stage” elucidated Ashton “And believe me, it was a lot easier to move them in CAD than it would have been in situ!” He adds that on site the get in time was so tight that there was absolutely no room for “even a millimetre of error” in the line up or perspective correction”.
Luckily once the projectors were rigged, loaded with the scrollers and fired up, only minimal adjustments were needed. Everyone had done their homework extremely thoroughly!
Fully Flexible PIGI Environments
Clements chose PIGI projection “Quite straightforwardly for two main reason” he states, “I needed to recreate many different strong scenes, atmospheres and times very fast, with lots of depth and with minimal props – from New York to Baroque to Africa in two hours. Also because PIGI projection looks equally good on camera as it does live” .
The Awards Gala was attended by dozens of celebrities and VIPs as well as one thousand members of the public in addition to its massive TV audience of over a million.
ETC’s crew chief for the event was Andy Murrell. The PIGIs were programmed by Karen Monid using PIGI’s OnlyCue software.
Clement worked closely with lighting designer Henk Jan van Beek to produce the show’s final looks and scenes for each performance section. Lighting equipment was supplied by Flashlight Rental, video including an eye-catching LED staircase and sliding door stage entrance at the top of it came from JVR Audiovisual. Frontline Rigging Consults did all the rigging and StageCo Holland supplied the stage, with the scenery and set built by Stagebrothers.
Sound
Sound designer Jeroen Ten Brink was working on his third Musical Awards
Gala, with the brief of getting the best TV sound with maximum gain in the house, for which he used a Martin Audio W8LM line array – the smallest line array elements currently available from Martin. “It’s the nicest sounding and the easiest to handle line array system” he says. He likes the flexibility to change the sound within the different cabinets among other things about the Martin system..
With all performance’s sung in native Dutch, the language and the vocals were of prime importance, and Ten Brink used as much analogue kit as possible, preferring the natural warmth an nuances of the sound to that of digital.
He divided the mid section of the flown 12 cabinet centre cluster into 6 outputs for maximum flexibility and easy correction, and they also ran a left and right ground stack.
Two Midas Heritage 2000s were used to mix FOH – one dealing with up to 40 radio mics mixed by his colleague Karel Wilgenhof, and Ten Brink utilising the other for the full band and orchestra that were ensconced behind the peel-back side panels of the set.
The radio mic team of nine had some extremely fast and complex changeovers between performances, mic’ing up over 160 performers by the end of the show, using approximately 30 Countryman E6 head set mics and 10 hand helds.
Monitors were a mix of Martin Audio wedges and Shure IEMs. Some of Martin’s special low profile Perspex Eurovision ‘set’ wedge monitors found their way to the gig - hot from Kiev, and these were set offstage on boxes around the front lip.
Monitor consoles were two Midas H3000s – mimicking the FOH set up, one was used for band/orchestra and one for radio mics, run by Wibo Vermeulen and Jan Ten Brock/Igor Milosavlegevic. Sound equipment was supplied by Ampco Pro Rent. | Click on the pictures for the large version |
