Try, Try & Try Again

Text:/ Paul Collison

PROJECTION RULES

Enter the lighting department. It was critical to strike that perfect balance between lighting the show and not disrupting the projection on the field of play. The base light level was dictated by the projection. Any and all other lighting had to balance to that. The outside broadcast cameras were essentially wide open for the duration of the performance. The resulting limited depth of field may have given the camera operators a hard time in holding focus, however, it did mean that the basis of the show, the projection, would always be prominent in shots.

Lighting performers and set pieces on the field was no easy task. Direct light from an elevated position was less than ideal, as this of course would wash out the projection. A combination of side light from the periphery of the performance space and tight integration with the image content was the only viable solution.

ARK LIGHTING

A modest 60 x Martin Mac 2000 profiles were deployed in groups of three around the performance space. Compare this number with the 180 used for a similar surface area for the 2006 Commonwealth Games opening, and you’ll begin to appreciate the challenge. Those 60 fixtures actually lit 90% of the broadcast. Meanwhile, 82 x Mac 2000 washlights covered most of the audience to fill out the background of the low-angle field shots.

We also can’t forget the 16 x High End Cyberlight Turbos (that Noah generously donated from his ark for the event). On the odd occasion they returned to their pre-recorded positions, they did a stellar job in lighting various tableaux and protocol moments.

The integration of lighting and projection under these conditions was indeed problematic. At times where it was impossible to light a performer for various reasons, windows and highlights could be built to create areas in the projected image where a performer, or a group of performers, could be visually enhanced. John Baxter of Perceptual Engineering in Auckland was responsible for building the media content for the show. His desire to not only build the content with animation, but also include organically-captured video, helped legitimise the content and make some of the packages quite realistic. Working on a modest budget, the animation team did an amazing job collaborating with Michael Reid of DAENZ to deliver some beautiful content.

TOTAL CONTROL

The co-ordination with other departments did not stop at the technical level. It was imperative that the choreography of the performers was within the limits of what could physically be lit at one time. Due to the side-lit nature of the show, mass cast movements had to be carefully placed. Performers could easily mask light intended for another. Entrances and exits of mass cast also had to be precisely choreographed, with many hours of rehearsal time spent considering this.

Driving the video side of things was the Onlyview video replay system from ETC of London and Paris. Onlyview is a distributed video control solution that The Electric Canvas have used on many events around the world. It is at the core of all their video projection events largely because of the flexibility and redundancy it provides.

The central video control area housed the main ‘Producer’ controller from which the show was programmed and run. Server clusters were then located on the Eastern and Western roof positions, not far from the projectors themselves. Redundant Producer stations receiving timecode were located and manned in those areas, ready to take control should the network go down and local control be required.

WHISTLING IN THE DARK

From an audio perspective, the challenges were just as great. Audio designer Scott Willsallen, from Auditoria, points out “Eden Park Stadium was a very difficult venue, both architecturally and in terms of getting access to the field of play to deploy the loudspeaker system and conduct system tuning. In fact, the only time we heard the audio system at full show level was during the show itself. This situation required days of modelling and calculations, as well as a great deal of previous experience with the loudspeaker system to arrive at the final tuning.”

Musically, the ceremony was spectacular, drawing from the rich musical traditions from all parts of New Zealand and combining traditional instruments and sounds with contemporary music to produce a show that was dynamic, powerful and enveloping.

It was clear from the beginning of the design process that the loudspeaker system would need to deliver high sound pressure level and full bandwidth to every seat in the 80,000 capacity stadium. The system consisted of 18 arrays distributed around the edge of the field of play. One array was located in each corner, three across each end and four along each side of the field. Each array consisted of five L-Acoustics Kudo line-source elements and two EAW BH760 horn-loaded subwoofers plus monitor speakers for the cast.

The audio control system was a 100% dual-redundant design with a primary digital network using Optocore hardware teamed with an analogue backup network. Two Digico SD8 consoles were used for mixing FOH and monitors, again in a dual-redundant configuration. A pair of Pyramix 48-channel replay systems driven by an Isis remote controller delivered the music stems to the mixing consoles and to the host broadcaster. A custom dual-redundant Rode lectern microphone system was used to capture the speeches.

HEAVY LIFTING

The available live load capacity and the geometry of Eden Park Stadium structure did not allow for a suspended audio design or copious quantities of lighting fixtures in the roof. Thus the audio system in its entirety, along with a bulk of the lighting equipment and some special effects (some 20 tonnes all up) had to be co-located on the field. Under the expert direction of Nick Newey, Ian Baldwin and Alistair Cameron, most of this equipment was installed and removed each day for around two weeks prior to the show.

In an amazing display of teamwork and planning, all equipment including the ground cloth was removed from the field of play in less than nine minutes at the conclusion of the show – allowing the New Zealand and Somoan rugby teams to get on with task of playing an actual game of football.