Working for the DRP who were the main show producers, the Malta Tourist Authority and the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre (MFCC) the event was staged for two sets of Thomas Cook delegates. It marks E//T//C UK's return to the island after their highly acclaimed work for the Welcome Europe celebrations in 2004 that saw 10 new member states including Malta join the EU.
E//T//C UK projected 500 metres across Valletta Harbour onto the Fort from the projector position located at the Old Customs House.
They used eight 6kW PIGI projectors with double rotating scrollers, all overlaid to optimise the image brightness, complete with special Barco 125 cm lenses. The image was divided into two halves, with four machines covering each half, and soft edged together using PIGI's proprietary OnlyCue software - which was also used to programme and run the shows. The OnlyCue programmer was Karen Monid with technical support from Andy Murrell and Philip Pieridis.
E//T//C UK's Ross Ashton was commissioned by production company Sign-It to create a special 15 minute narrative illustrating the history of Malta from its discovery 6000 years ago to the present. Ashton researched, wrote and produced the storyboard - all in a three-week time-span - and originated all the artwork. The soundtrack was edited by Karen Monid.
Sign-It had also been heavily involved with the Welcome Malta show. The projections onto the Fort proved such a great hit that Reuben Caruana, the MD of Sign-It, was keen to do it again as soon as the opportunity arose. "Projection makes such a bold, dramatic statement and is hugely entertaining," he states.
The projection show was part of a full evening of entertainment planned for each set of Thomas Cook delegates that concluded their two-day conference, and there were also fireworks over the harbour.
Once again, the shows were a huge success. Ashton says: "It was a great privilege to be asked back to Malta, and also to produce a show from scratch, undertaking all elements of the process in-house."
It was actually the fourth time that E/T/C UK has worked in Malta, following the 1999 launch of the Malta Freeport Container Dock and the Malta Millennium celebrations in 2000 as well as Welcome Europe.
(Chris Henry)
