Held from 2-11 October, the Special Olympics World Summer Games saw 7,500 athletes from 160 countries compete beneath the Olympic Flame of Hope. An army of 40,000 volunteers were called upon to make sure the Games ran smoothly.
Perhaps bigger and better than anything staged before in China - until next year's Summer Olympic Games that is - 80,000 spectators at the Opening Ceremony in Shanghai Stadium witnessed an awe-inspiring display of traditional dance, music, lighting and pyrotechnics.
In terms of colour and visual effects, the Opening Ceremony was spectacular. LD Bob Dickinson (Academy Awards; Grammy Awards; Athens, Salt Lake and Atlanta Olympics) incorporated approximately 850 MAC 2000 Washes and 100 MAC 2000 Performances, the majority of which were supplied by Procon Event Engineering of Germany. The 950 MACs is a new record for a single event. Also in the rig were 93 Martin Atomic 3000 strobes and other automated fixtures.
The approximately 850 MAC 2000 Washes were the workhorse of the system and were used to light the audience, field and performance stages for the Opening Ceremony, says Dickinson. "Instead of ambient light, we controlled the visual by illuminating the audience with MACs," he stated. "The MAC 2k Washes were chosen for their extremely high output and ability to throw long distances when used with the PC Lens option. This, in conjunction with the superior reliability of the fixtures, made them the only choice for the project. The MAC 2k Performances were chosen for the template and framing abilities and reliability."
(Jim Evans)
