The event - attended by General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces - was staged in the Zayed Sports City Stadium.
The show was a collaboration between HQ's artistic director Katie Veira and creative producer Daz Jamieson, the police and His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who played a very hands-on role in the event.
The Sheikh and the police had several specific ideas which were taken by HQ Creative, added to with their own input and integrated into the show's storyboard.
Lasting 90 minutes, the brief opening speeches were followed by poetry reading, a special choreographed candle 'shaping' parade with hundreds of candle bearing police cadets forming words and symbols with their candles; a large format multi-screen HD video presentation charting the history of the police; performances by several police bands including the Desert Rifleman - accompanied at one point by two rifle-toting robots; a dramatic James Bond style Special Forces section, including helicopters, abseiliers and speeding vehicles, plus a parade of all the various Abu Dhabi Police departments and modes of transport - from camels to armoured vehicles. The show concluded with a high energy laser and firework finale.
In addition to developing the show's narrative, HQ Creative energised a team of technical experts to source and install all the infrastructure needed to stage the show. Their regular suppliers included Delta Sound Dubai for audio, Neumann & Mueller from Munich for video and lighting, and German-based LunatX and TARM for pyro and lasers/robots respectively.
The on site production team was led by Ian Greenway (project manager), Chris Hey (production manager), Zak Fox (production coordinator) and Mylan Lester (site co-ordinator), all from the UK, working closely with HQ Creative's director of production Jo Marshall and show producer Jo MacKay.
(Jim Evans)
