Large format projection specialists E\T\C added Somerset House to the list of famous London landmarks to receive its unique creative stamp, when Ross Ashton was commissioned to design and create a projection show by Dunhill for presentation to the Russian Economic Forum.
The event saw 12.5 minutes of massive, breathtaking projections filling the entire Courthold Institute end of Somerset House’s famous courtyard as part of the show set to a specially picked sound track. E\T\C were initially approached by Event Lighting from Bermondsey to undertake the project which needed a lot of artwork produced in an incredibly short 10 day lead time.
The show was an enjoyed by 350 guests after dinner, located in a translucent fronted marquee in the middle of the courtyard. The guest list included business men, film directors, actors, musicians, designers and writers both Russian and English. ‘We wanted to create an informal atmosphere for creative thinkers to exchange ideas.’ said Lieran Stubbings who organised the event for the Russian Economic Forum.
“The chance to projecting onto such a massive and majestic surface was not to be missed” enthused Ross Ashton, adding “Being given carte blanche in the creative process was also a brilliant way to work”.
Taking the theme of Dunhill’s ‘Red Squares’, Ashton evolved the show that encompassing a great diversity of imaginative concepts from the lyrical to the hallucinogenic. He worked in tandem with Paul Chatfield to produce the media.
Ashton made much use of masking techniques to realise the many effects, visual magic and transitions that were integral to his complex show.
Over 60 metres of film were loaded onto the six PIGI 6Kw projectors utilised in the show. The projectors – all with double rotating scrollers – were hand-carried up several flights of stairs in pieces and then reassembled on the roof of the Seamen’s Hall in a specially constructed weatherised platform installed for the event. Three doubled-up images were produced, each covering 25 square metres of the building fascia.
Xtreme Programming
The show was programmed by Karen Monid using PIGI OnlyCue software … and the programming schedule included two days of pre-programming at E\T\C’s new facility in Essex. This enabled them to turn up to site with 90% of it ready to roll “A huge advantage in terms of the available on-site programming time.” confirms Ashton.
Monid pushed the OnlyCue software to its limits, taking advantage of the flexibility of being able to create customised effects curves for the PIGI’s various motors – controlling the scrollers, rotation, dimmer, etc. “I precisely plotted the pace of the movement, engineered very subtle crossfades and worked very closely to the sound track” she explains, “It was essential to Ross’s show design to have tight synchronisation, great fluidity and the feeling of continual motion”.
E\T\C’s show crew were Sam MacLaren and Michael Barry and the installation team was led by Phil Pieridis with Phil Supple and Adam Masters. Sound equipment was supplied by Griff Hewis from Sound By Design.
‘We were very pleased with the results. The effect was fantastic and the images very impressive.’ said Lieran Stubbings. | Click on the pictures for the large version |
