Afterwards, the real party starts with the 'Table of Honour - the Nobel Banquet' - a banquet for 1,300 people, including the entire Royal Family of Sweden, along with dukes and duchesses, counts, ambassadors, lords, ladies and political figures and even more distinguished guests. Sundin (of Sveriges Television), as LD, has for many years been in charge of enhancing the event for the guests and for Scandinavian TV broadcast. "The goal is to make the room a cozy but still formal atmosphere," he explains.
Supplementing the candle-lit tables, Sundin chose to enhance the ambiance with a "buffet" of High End Systems lighting products, including the DL1 digital light engine and the Catalyst Version 3 Media Server. The DL1 combines automated lighting with video projection, all in a familiar moving yoke fixture, while the Catalyst Version 3 Media Server offers multi-layer video effects.
Spectra+Sweden provided equipment and technical help, under the direction of production manager Lars-Ola Melzig. Their equipment list included 12 Studio Spot 575s, 12 Studio Beams, 12 Studio Color 575s, 12 Studio Spot 250s and a Cyberlight, along with three DL1s and three Catalyst Version 3 Media Servers, plus conventionals. In addition to this, the company went to Video Unlimited for three stacked 12,000 ANSI Lumen projectors.
Says Sundin: "The Swedish King, who is the host, has given us special instructions regarding light and TV production: none of it is allowed to disturb the guests in any way. Because of these rules and the architecture in the City Hall, rigging is a little bit tricky, and everything such as cables, trusses, lamps and so on needed to be hidden or covered. This year's lighting design, which included video projectors, was a little bit special. We were forced to place the DL1 in a position where they could reach the projection surface in a certain angle, so we had to get special permission to place them in a visible area."
There were three entertainment breaks during the dinner featuring a jazz soloist supported by a small symphony orchestra. To accompany the music, visual artists Helena Bystom and Asa Lipka-Falck created video content.
Programmer/operator Bullen Lagerbielke and Sundin programmed the moving lights and Catalysts, working closely with the video artists to ensure all would go smoothly during rehearsals. Sundin said: "The content was very arty - only black and white images with high contrast, but it worked very well on the red brick wall, which was our projection surface. It was impressive. Everything worked very well and I am very surprised regarding the DL1's capacity and light output. This is the beginning of the future and the DL1 fits very well in an environment of Nobel Prize winners. The Nobel Foundation was delighted and happy about the lighting and video."
(Lee Baldock)
