Page 116 - Protec PR Book Volume 2

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TECH PROFILE
As part of the complex City of Lights installation, eclipse worked with Lighting Designer, Tupac Martir to bring the designs to life. Trenching below the beach, eclipse laid kilometres of power cables and built specialised rigs to support all the equipment. The installation called for over 300 fixtures including Claypaky B-EYEs, Alpha Washs, Sharpys and Martin by Harman MAC Viper Profiles and Auras.
As one of the bigger zones of the festival,
“It was a Herculean task,” recalled Tom Warneke, eclipse’s Project Manager. He continued: “The team worked tirelessly to flesh out a bespoke solution across the site to fit the multiple installations.”
For an added flare of different lighting effects, Laser FX installed a selection of lasers around the venue, such as the RGB lasers used in conjunction with mirrors and water to create beautiful displays on the pathways, as well as the lasers used to map various cubed structures in different colours. Olly Yates, Laser FX technician commented: “We had limited time to rig each laser due to the bad weather. Thanks to the eventual break in the wind, and our team’s persistence, we were able to get each laser up and running.”
Over in the Happiness zone, Stage FX were called in to provide a number of its Universal Effects Bubble Machines, which required over 200 litres of bubble fluid for the 10 days. “eclipse’s response to challenging weather situations is second to none,” commented Warneke. “It has been a challenging season in terms of demanding weather, but we have demonstrated that we’re well prepared for
such things by getting our shows back up and running to 100% as efficiently and safely as possible. Despite thunderstorms, tight timescales, last minute changes and equipment damage,
the festival ran smoothly with thanks to the monumental efforts made by many people. It was a testing few weeks with a gratifying outcome!” concluded Warneke.
MANAGING THE MAIN STAGE
Based on its success in the inaugural year, Protec was again engaged to provide a comprehensive and fully integrated technology package – including rigging, and an array of backline from drum kits to keyboards – under the Project Management of James Lakin.
Working for FLASH on the Main Stage, Lakin’s team faced considerable challenges, not only in reinforcing such a wide performance package, but in mitigating factors outside its control, notably the weather.
Main Stage lighting was specified by FLASH International and was based largely around Claypaky Prima Mythos, A.leda K20 B-EYE / A.leda K10 B-EYE and Prima Super Sharpy – all controlled by MA Lighting grandMA2 Full Size and grandMA 2 Lite desks.
The only changes from the original spec were that the Claypaky Scenius Profile, originally assigned for front fillers, were redeployed as the stage floor package, while five Martin by Harman Atomic 3000 Strobes were added to provide extra punch.
The company also provided a projection screen that filled the back of the stage, run in tandem with a pair of Christie Roadster HD 20K-J DLP projectors to deliver graphic content from logos, titles, sponsored video loops and information on what happening throughout the festival – as well as the Pokémon Orchestra, playing in sync to a video.
Protec’s audio department also fielded an L-Acoustics KARA, a decision justified by James Lakin, who stated: “Although it was a small audience area it still required very good audio quality.”
Also backing the decision to use KARA was head of audio design, Ed Ross. “Although the weight loading capacity was fairly low we still potentially needed to throw the sound a fair way for the bigger acts if it got busy on the beach,” he explained.
Protec provided a full monitor system and festival stage patch system going to a DiGiCo SD5 for monitors and a DiGiCo SD10 for FOH.
“Because of the wide range of acts, we had a vast array of microphones on site and consequently lots of stage multicore cabling to allow flexible change overs,” he added.
Overall, 21 different artists appeared on the Main Stage during the Festival, each performing twice a day – making a total of 42 performances over the period. These ranged from a 56-piece orchestra to local jazz and pop bands.
Just as the other suppliers on the event, the weather provided another unexpected challenge for Protec. “There were so many wet days during the set-up and the night before the opening we
ME