Eazy Bailey commented: "No job is too big for Adrian. From a creative perspective he can interpret any idea and make it happen!" Blackout project managers Kevin Monks and Chris Brain were integral to building the structural set elements for designer Adrian Smith. Monks said: "Adrian has carved himself a niche at the top end of this extravagant party market. He has a great eye for detail and has such a vivid imagination; Blackout works with him to translate these ideas into practical solutions."
The brief from MTV was to tie in the new Terminator film. However, unable to view more than the film’s opening sequence, Smith took his inspiration from the bold usage of colour and smoke, translating this into an apocalyptic set exuding feelings of devastation. Monks recalls Blackout’s brief from Smith - ‘to create a feeling of carnage’. The walk-in through the amphitheatre played a vital role in creating an impressive ‘wow-factor’. The team used moving lights, detailed sound-scapes, strobes and plasma screens. Yet the simplest idea - of utilizing draped flight-cases transforming the area by breaking up the ordered lines of the amphitheatre - worked the most effectively.
Building up layers of white gauze and camouflage netting, Blackout created an uneven textured landscape, further distressed by randomly placed intersecting trusses. The eerie soundscape that built to a heightened crescendo of helicopters, compounded by dramatic searchlights, further enhanced a sense of unease. Focussed at different angles through the gauze, saturated red beams of light gave the landscape an almost molten volcanic feel.
Cardin’s garage became the focal point of the party owing to the grand central bar designed by Smith, and built by set company 2D/3D. Cloaked in silver gauze, and towering over the guests from the core of the bar stood a Terminator figure which produced a holographic effect when lit. Smith wanted "to create a bar that would draw people in. Mirroring the circular shape of the garage, the idea was that everything radiated out from this central point."
A technique called CNC (computer numerically controlled) routing was employed to help build the bar. Smith’s CAD drawing was imported to a machine which mechanically cut into the wood fascia. 2D/3D also supplied mirrored silver casino tabletops to enhance the gritty look. Continuing the circular pattern in the room, Blackout supplied and built a series of cages on site, made from aluminum scaffolding, backed with silver glitz, a mirrored gauze, literally caging in the guests. The band, playing on an under-lit Perspex floored stage, were also subjected to such treatment. The team rigged a gauze-draped cage surrounding the stage, the end result shifting the emphasis of the band to being little more than ‘wallpaper’. The backdrop effect was created using curved scaffolding, with both black and white drapes hung along the lines of the curves.
Monks commented: "The entire room was encased within a very machine-like structure. It was incredible that we were able to create such a stunning look out of off the shelf stock rigging items."
Sound was supplied by Clockhouse Concepts. Lighting was supplied by Arpege and designed by Fred Pevri.
(Lee Baldock)
