E\T\C’s Ross Ashton designed a stunning large format projection show for Malta’s “Welcome Europe” event, the biggest of the recent celebrations to commemorate 10 new member states joining the EU. Ashton’s 15 minute work transformed the historic landmark of Malta’s Fort St Angelo in Valetta Harbour into a dramatic canvass of colour, movement and visual interaction. It was witnessed live by up to 120,000 people on the streets of Valetta –approx. a third of Malta’s population - and 1.2 billion TV viewers as the show was broadcast live and syndicated worldwide by EBU (European Broadcasting Union).
The projection project involved 11 E\T\C PIGI 6 KW projectors with double rotating DDRA scrollers, and several technical firsts for E\T\C. These included projecting onto the water from the cliffs high above the Fort, radio data linking three of the projectors back to the control point 200 metres across the harbour and overlaying the images projected from the 8 machines beaming onto the Fort for maximum brightness. This was instead of the traditional soft-edging method to form the image. Ashton was commissioned to produce the show by Ruben Caruana of Sign-It, who was also production co-ordinator for the event. Sign It is one of the members of the Malta Welcome Europe Consortium consisting of four different companies, each with representatives who joined forces to ensure that Malta’s event was the most spectacular. It was Ashton’s third event in Malta, following the launch of Malta Freeport container dock in 1999 and the Malta Millennium celebrations in 2000. He spent three months researching and compiling the material to be integrated into the popular projection show, which was storyboarded by the Welcome Malta Consortium.
The show featured a brief précis of Malta’s history, giant images of Malta’s ‘people of the moment’ including Eurovision Song Contest hopefuls Julie & Ludwig, and included the national flags of all 25 EU member states. The projection artwork was created from a combination of photographs, archive material and specially originated images. The result was over 100 images, 33 metres of film in each projector, and a show containing over 600 cues. Good forward planning and good film-mounting practise was the key. This was programmed by Karen Monid using PIGI’s OnlyCue control platform and triggered by timecode from the audio track. The incredibly tight timescale – a Monday get in for a Friday show – saw Monid engaging in 2 days pre-programming before they left the UK.
The eight projectors beaming onto the fort were located at the Old Customs House on the quayside opposite, about 150 metres away. The fort projection coverage was divided into two halves, with four machines covering each half, The PIGI’s were using special 150 cm Barco long throw lenses. Effects included scrolling cross-fades, achieved by dropping one image out, moving to the next image and then moving the other back into the picture. The water projections were produced from three PIGIs perched on scaffolding towers, high up on the cliffs above the Fort, flooding down into the harbour waters. The throngs of spectators lining the cliff side roads and buildings overlooking the harbour had a great view of these, but the most commanding view was from the Upper Barrakka - stunning ornamental gardens at the summit of the hill overlooking the Fort. This was where Malta’s President and Prime Minister hosted the VIP party. Artwork for the water projections included cascading yellow Euro-stars on their blue background.
The three water projectors were data linked to the control system by WIFI, which was squirted across the harbour to a wireless access point, fed into a converter and sent as RS 422 to the daisy-chained projectors. The projection show was followed by a light, pyro and laser show created by German light artist Gert Hof, performed to elements of Roger Waters’ opera “Ça Ira”. This utilised 90 7Kw Space Cannons, arranged in two levels around the Fort. The Fort walls were illuminated by 30 Griven Kolorado 2.5K architectural fixtures. Lighting operator was Jens Probst using a WholeHog II. Lighting equipment was supplied by Procon Rental & Projects GmbH from Germany. Hof’s lighting scheme also included the participation of 25 Maltese fishing boats, each bearing an illuminated EU flag, which sailed into the harbour and formed a circle at the finale of the show. Lasers were supplied by Laser Fabrik from Cologne, and consisted of 4 large frame Spectra Physics 25 Watt units and 2 custom built 40 Watt YAGs with DSP Lasergraph control. Five were positioned on the Fort, with the fifth at the control area, creating animations onto the Fort. Lasers were programmed and controlled by Daniel Brune.
The pyro was also supplied by a German company – Flash Art – overseen by Daniel Schwarts and Holger Behrens. It was located on two boats and four barges in the harbour and completed the visual picture of a truly memorable evening. Sound – a variety of different systems - was supplied by several Maltese companies, all co-ordinated by Silvio Sherri from local audio house Nexos. A total of five main stages (and numerous smaller ones) were in full swing around the harbour on the night, all with separate sound systems. When it came to the main show, all systems became linked via an FM radio frequency and were controlled as one large PA dotted around different parts of the harbour … rather than having one locally based PA close to the control area. The show was operated by Ian Psaila using an Allen & Heath ML3000 console. Welcome Europe Malta was a massive success, and the whole country is looking to the future with great positivity. Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi commented that they were delighted to have internationally renowned artists like Ross Ashton and Gert Hof working with them on the event, and that the idea all along was to “Create a really historical event for Malta”. At the end of a long night of partying and revelling for the Island, there was no doubt that they had achieved their goal. | Click on the pictures for the large version |
