"Before midnight, the lighting on the Eye was set to the five colours of the Olympic rings, to show support for London winning the games in 2012," explains Marenghi. "Then, on each of the 12 chimes from Big Ben, three brilliant white Lightning Strikes fired a strobe-like effect on the wheel, following which a 10-minute fireworks display entertained the massive crowd. The lights were set to be coloured in sympathy with the display, which was kept low in the night sky so that TV cameras could see the wheel and surrounding architecture as well as the fireworks themselves. The brief required the surrounding buildings to remain connected and visible during the display so that viewers around the world knew that the event was in London."
Lighting, which included a Martin Professional Mac 2000 wash, supplied by Stage Electrics, in each of the 32 pods, was controlled wirelessly (via a DaftData system) from a PRG Europe-supplied Wholehog II, operated by associate lighting designer Paul Cook. Up to 250,000 people gathered along the river banks to watch the display, which included images of people who have contributed to the life of the capital over the last 12 months, projected onto the imposing Shell Building on the South Bank.
The display was produced by the award-winning London office of communications agency Jack Morton Worldwide. The project manager for PRG Europe was John McEvoy.
(Lee Baldock)
