Providing shady respite just in front of the Palais des Festivals are a stately row of tropical palms whose natural beauty the City of Cannes wished to emphasize. Lighting designers M. Alain Guilhot, Thierry Guilhot (Architecture Lumière-groupe Citelum) and M. Gilles Genetelli were tasked with the job and turned to dynamic lighting to bring out the area at night. The installation also allows the space to celebrate the excitement of the Cannes Film Festival each May.
Guilhot and Genetelli chose the Martin Inground 200 colour changer because "it's the only powerful colour changing projector on the market that is made to be buried". Fully weatherproofed, the Inground is safe for installation in pedestrian areas and has full drive-over capability. Additionally, the Inground's choice of lenses allowed the lighting designers to customise it, depending on the characteristics of the object to be illuminated.
22 Inground 200 fixtures are located at the foot of the palms, full spectrum CMY colour mixing versions and six-colour versions. The six-colour system offers a selectable palette (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white) or designers are free to incorporate their own colour shades. The system also provides programmable dimming for 0-100 per cent intensity control. A single colour version of the Inground 200 is also available.
Guilhot and Genetelli used the Inground's standard colour set at Croisette and were quite satisfied with the colour spectrum, different angle possibilities, and ease in changing the beam angle. Gilles Genetelli comments, "I am very happy with the final result. The Inground 200 is definitely the product I was looking for, especially for the large spectrum it can provide."
The installation was completed in January 2008 by electrical company Pignata with the help of Domo Lumidis, who also did the programming. Lighting control is from a Halto control panel.
(Jim Evans)
