Page 67 - Protec PR Book Volume 2

Protec’s staging department built all the supporting features and props. A 100m long railway track that was shipped from the UK was put together on site by the company which was then complimented by
a working train that was built out of timber and metal frames and run using a jeep to power the train on. Protec then built a submarine
that was powered with a custom designed motor pulley system.
The submarine was built with steel frames and timber and had room for six crew, as well as a working hatch for the crew to emerge out of it on the lake during the show to join the action.
The mountains themselves were built out of base scaffold structures with carpet fascia that was painted to resemble rocky and moss/grass covered mountains and finished off with artificial greenery and landscaping. The mountains also had to be strong enough to withstand powerful pyro explosions at various heights, soldiers’ abseiling, zip lining, and
a lot of personnel movement. Over 400 tons of ballast was used to secure the structures which worked well with the high and dangerous wind speeds experienced especially during the build-up. Two 16m x 9m LED screens were built into the upstage mountain structures with access to work behind them.
The audio package provided by Protec included 40 L-acoustics K2 in blocks of four ground stacked with L-acoustics SB28 subs positioned between each set of two K2 stacks. Protec’s head of audio, Ed Ross explained, “We ran a dual redundant fibre network using DiGiCo racks running digital outs and Optocore Sane units running analogue outputs to the LA8 amplifiers, this complemented our use of the SD10 mixing desk with SDRE redundant engine which meant we could lose kit or connections anywhere in the network and not lose audio or control at all.” Ross continued, “For communications we used a Clear-Com matrix and a selection of control panels, helix net belt backs and Motorola digital radios, these were integrated with Riedel RiFace units for seamless communication across platforms.”
When asked about the process of creating a show like this, Andradé said, “This is a very unique show. It’s not as simple as using your imagination and delivering an action movie styled show because it also has to be realistic in the sense that it being a military show demonstration, it needed to involve military procedures and methods. This calls for some serious research and coordination. From a creative standpoint, we had already done a desert theme and a port theme
so this time had to be in a completely different setting. So, mountains it was this time. Once we had the setting, we had to develop the storyline that had to be creative and yet practical and most importantly safe for them to perform live.”
The complete production for the IDEX 2017 Opening Ceremony was, according to the client and event organisers (IDEX LLC, GHQ, and ADNEC), the best they had seen and experienced in the exhibition’s history which didn’t just meet the brief but went well beyond expectations.
Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, group CEO of ADNEC had this to add: “Thank you very much on a successful IDEX, which for ADNEC and Abu Dhabi, was the most successful ever IDEX in its history. This year’s show has broken all records, including reaching more visitors than previous years. Working with you all at Protec, was a pleasure for not only myself; but for all my team, who mentioned that it was
a delight to work with such a professional and well organized and structured organization. I am sure the stress behind the scenes was well worth it in the end. What a marvellous Opening Ceremony and each day I watched the performance, I noticed even more intricate details to the show. The opening ceremony ran as smoothly as what I was hoping for and my expectations were not only met, but were exceeded.”
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