Spectacular lighting for the energetic multi-media SG50 NDP show directed by Dick Lee was designed by Javier Tan, and the equipment - including the 350 x Robe BMFL Blades - delivered by Showtec Communications Pte Ltd., which recently purchased over 700 BMFL fixtures.
The BMFL Blades were positioned on all four sides of the NDP venue, constructed specially for the SG50 event, rigged on the top rail of trussing gantries towering above the back of the four grandstands. They were used for all the key lighting of performers spread out across the 120 x 90m performance space which was covered in Teraplast.
The throw distance was between 60 and 80m around the show ground, and that's why Javier needed the most powerful profile fixture currently available - to have a real impact.
A 360 degree LED screen hung above the top layer of seating circling the arena also produced a massive amount of ambient light through which the BMFL Blades had to cut, a task which they managed effortlessly.
In addition to their intensity and power, he also needed precise shuttering which the BMFL Blade offers, to ensure that lighting was confined neatly to the areas, people and objects it was illuminating, with no spillage or mess.
It was the first time that Javier had used Robe BMFLs. He saw the fixture initially at Prolight+Sound in Frankfurt earlier in the year where it was launched, and was confident it would do the job.
Javier's starting point for the lighting design was the format of the NDP which included around 10,000 performers, dancers, school, youth and community groups, special guest singers and massed displays by the Singapore Armed Forces, Police and the Civil Defence Forces, an 170 vehicle military column, plus several fly-pasts including Singapore Airlines, an aerial 'bomb burst' by the Black Knights display team and Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) F-16 fighter jets in a breath-taking "50" formation.
The 'show' - the final section of the NDP - was an energetic and invigorating journey through Singapore's history and culture, highlighting its multi-culturism, aspirations, community and key people and inspirators fuelling its remarkable growth into the strategic and commercial powerhouse it is today.
Javier programmed and ran the show on a grandMA2 console, working closely with his associates Joyce Goh and Clement Cheong.
Showtec's crew chief Jeffry Swee led around 25 technicians working across the build-up, rehearsal and the show periods and the lighting data network was set up and looked after by Fares Aljunied.
(Jim Evans)
