Contracted by production company Nine Yards, Screenco’s vast 156-module, 25mm screen, all supplied from the company’s UK stock, measured 21.13m wide by 7.32m high, making it the biggest indoor LED high-brightness display ever seen in Europe. It thus provided an exciting solution for Hamish Hamilton’s Done & Dusted, who were responsible for the television production and design.
With all the risers set behind the screen, a large 8.1m x 4.88m door, positioned in the centre, raised and lowered on varispeed dual-brake motor hoists - provided by Unusual and operated off a laptop. The door was primarily used to expedite rapid artist and backline changeovers. But Unusual’s Nick Brown also had to deal with the loading difficulties involving the giant 8ΒΌ tonne Screenco backdrop.
In view of the weight of the screen - and the Arena’s restricted roof-loading capacity - he had to take up around half of the weight, using a rope tension meter to land the display in position. Thus the load was evenly split between the roof and the floor. The screen content was played out from a separate production gallery, which Screenco occupied within CTV’s scanner (whose unit manager was Bill Morris). Four digital motion effects panels enabled the I-mag to be used either full frame or as individual windows, receiving various VT play-ins and graphics.
Screenco’s Richard Shipman had access in the CTV trucks to all the TV feeds which he then incorporated into the specially created Done and Dusted screen graphics to produce the final screen feeds, sending them to four colour matched and aligned screen processors. To gain an idea of the scale of the stage set - and the potential huge light output generated from the LED panels - Screenco’s project manager, Stuart Young, noted that for the lighting to be effective LD Al Gurdon had to use four ultra-powerful Super Trouper followspots on the upstage truss as backlight spots.
(Lee Baldock)
