Page 66 - Protec PR Book Volume 2

Protec Creates Impressive IDEX 2017 Opening Ceremony
As events go, there is
probably no other theatrical
production in the world that
can boast the kind of special
effects, choreography with
military personnel and assets,
and scenic staging sets that
all get thrown into a 250m x
60m performance stage that
is built from ground upon a car
park that is arranged into an
action packed and engaging show for alive audience as IDEX 2017, the region’s only exhibition and conference dedicated to unmanned systems and technologies held in Abu Dhabi.
The show had a mix of local heritage performances, local and international military parades, and the main part of the show which was a battle enactment of a fictitious scenario where an elite military group representing the Land Forces, Special Forces, Navy and Air Force liberate “a war torn nation in the mountains” from militia control. The enactment featured air drops, low passing jet fly-bys, helicopters and naval support, fire fights, fast moving pursuits involving tanks, and armoured vehicles in challenging surroundings, a fully working and custom built train and submarine as well as full movie grade special effects (including high grade vehicle hits,land fireballs and debris explosions, rock falls, bullet hits,water explosions, etc.), culminating in the “successful liberation of the mountain village.” It was a technology demonstration worth the dedicated staging set that Protec built up for the show, which left audiences and special guests struck in awe on all five days this show was run.
This year’s live military demonstration attended by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai; His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces; Crown Princes of all the emirates; defence ministers and senior military officers from 57nations, head of delegates and other senior officials, comprised of a breath-taking, all-action display that highlighted the capabilities of many divisions of the UAE Armed Forces.
IDEX, the main event organiser in conjunction with ADNEC and the UAE Armed Forces, used Protec to design, produce, direct, and build the entire temporary venue for a show that was complicated and challenging. Eddie Andradé, the show’s creative director explains, “This show involves jets and helicopter fly pasts that have to be timed to the precise second to match up with the action sequences on the staging area performed by armoured vehicles, infantry, special effects that include large pyro explosions on land and on the mountains, water explosions, vehicle explosions, etc.” He continues, “This involves intense coordination between the show caller, stunt director and choreographer, special effects crew, stage managers, video, audio, cameras, the Navy,the Land Forces, the pilots, the airport, the airbases, air traffic control, road traffic control, the police, and civil defence.”
Protec’s founder and CEO,Stephen Lakin, was in charge of building the entire scenic set said, “Under the temporary venue that Protec built, were the exhibition center’s utilities and drainage systems which had to be protected by the weight of the military vehicles some which weighed in excess of 60 tonnes. Therefore it had to b built up to 1m above the existing surface, graded up with sand, road base, and tarmac/asphalt,” said Lakin. Protec also built a temporary 65m long x 30m wide x 1m high “lake” which held two-million litres of water on which jet boats and a submarine were run to get involved in the action. Lakin adds, “We added working waterfalls that we built into the mountain set along with artificial greenery to complete the scenic visual.”
IDEX 2017 Opening Ceremony