A thousand guests, including South African government and business leaders, were invited to the black-tie occasion.
With the client only confirming the technical four days prior to show day, the greatest challenge was to build the set. Project manager and head of crew, Zeeks Sebatjane of MJ Event Gear, and lighting designer, Johnny Scholtz, had already come up with the design. The team at Driftwood, under the guidance of Jaco Meyer, put the set together in record time. The stage incorporated white flats and two big screens.
"The client was impressed," said Zeeks Sebatjane. "They said our work was very tidy... and that was during set up. The crew was super and everyone was willing to help. "Thank you to Johnny Scholtz, Joe Hatla, Ole Boinamo and JW van Boordt," he added.
Mercedes-Benz group of companies in South Africa is a long-time sponsor of BMF. Two of their vehicles were displayed on revolves on the stage. The new Mercedes-Benz E-Class was revealed by a water screen and two centre flats opening on the stage.
All lighting was specified by LD Johnny Scholtz and he programmed on a grandMA full size. Longman LED parcans worked effectively to highlight the set.
"I really enjoyed the grandMA full size," commented Scholtz. "It is a solid console and you just know it's going to do the job right."
Robe Digi Spots created a corporate backdrop on the set, the Pixel Pars and Longman Battens washed the stage and Robe MMXs added texture. "I used the Robin 300 LEDs to wash the two cars on display and I had a mixture of Robin 600 LEDWashes and Robin 100 LEDBeams as my stage lights which gave me a nice even wash and some complimenting beams," explained Scholtz. "For the car reveal, the Robin 600 LEDWashes gave me the zoom capability to bring the car through without any problems while the Robin 100 LEDBeams did some aerial work to complete the launch."
MJ Event Gear also used new Prolyte trussing, X40 and X30 on the show.
The BMF is a non- racial, thought leadership organisation founded in 1976, with the main purpose of influencing socio-economic transformation in South Africa, in pursuit of socio-economic justice, fairness and equity.
(Jim Evans)
