The elaborate event consisted of two parts; a formal conference followed by a spectacular surprise party where the entertainment included everything from aerial acts to ballerinas in LED tutus and popular DJs.
This was the largest event Victor Vermaak from AV Unlimited (AVU) had worked on as production manager. AVU were commissioned to supply the full technical.
The greatest challenge for Vermaak and Garrith Castelyn (AVU's in house creative and designer) was designing a concept that would fit into the budget without losing the essence of the concept pitched.
A mere two weeks prior to the event, AVU received the green light from their client, Mela Events to go ahead with the full concept. "I actually knew from the beginning when I sent out the hopeful budgets that the show would be amazing," said Vermaak. "When they signed it off and the Lighting Designer, AVU's very own Renaldo Van De Berg, had all the fixtures on his dream list, I knew it could only go well."
The DuoLED screens were supplied and installed by LED Vision and LazerX was contracted to supply all the lasers for the show
The Pavillion room at the Sandton Convention Centre was strategically divided into two allocated areas. In fact, when guests attended the conference and reveal of the new smartphone, they had no idea that a curtain on a 35m electronic track, would open after the launch and they would escape to world of colour, music and sensation.
"We had Sunday, 21 April for rigging," said Vermaak. "There were five riggers and 116 points. All rigging and trussing was flown."
The kit was loaded in and set up on Monday and Tuesday, with a full day's rehearsal on Wednesday and Thursday. The official event took place on Thursday evening.
Dividing walls isolated the conference area. Mela Events, wanting to create an intimate atmosphere, added a ceiling made from Honeycomb mesh and brought in by Afresh, the contracted décor company. It served as a versatile surface onto which lighting could be projected. The cinema style seating saw presentations projected onto an enormous 34m screen, and the event was further complimented by musicians playing background music on either side of the stage - which was the same length as the screen. Feelance lighting operator, Johnny Scholtz used soft colours and an Avolites Tiger Touch to create a clean corporate feel.
"The best part of the whole event was setting up and seeing everything come together as we had planned," said Renaldo van der Berg. He had chosen specific lighting fixtures, amongst others Robe and Clay Paky, for the event. The Clay Paky Alpha Spots, in particular, caught v d Berg's attention and he loved the brightness, function and gobos of the unit.
Initially the aim was to only utilize beams for the show, but due to the live acts, washes had to be incorporated, and 24 x Robin 600 Washes performed faultlessly.
The show was run on a grandMA 2. "The grandMA2 was fantastic and I wouldn't have any other desk," said v d Berg. "We included networking, VPU, NPU; the full MA in control."
(Jim Evans)
