Following eight consecutive years of supplying elements of lighting equipment and staff, this was the first year that Stage Electrics was the sole supplier of all the lighting for the New Years Eve event for Jack Morton Worldwide. This year's event stepped up a level with lighting designer Durham Marenghi making use of 14 Clay Paky Alpha Beams 700s, which were programmed by associate designer Paul Cook, to form 50ft tall digital count-down clock, on the Shell building façade, achieved using some precise indexing of the oblong slot Gobos.
The cues were triggered by a satellite time code via MIDI into the console, which set the stage, attracting over half a million New Year revellers, who again braved the cold to usher in the New Year as they watched the spectacular lighting and fireworks extravaganza.
Project Manager Jono Rose said: "This year proved more of a challenge as Stage Electrics supplied all lighting and control aspects of the job that required a completely new rigging solution for the pontoon fixtures. The Clay Paky Alpha Beam 700s are a fantastic unit - easy to work with, robust in cold & wet conditions and provides superb brightness over a long range. The shutter speed allowed us to comfortably project the countdown clock which looked as good as a projection solution.
"The trusted solution of MAC 2ks and wireless DMX in the pods worked well again this year with the crew loading one unit into every pod as the wheel continuously moved, only stopping for the occasional slow moving technician!"
The Eye itself was illuminated by 20 Alpha Beam 300s, 36 700s along with 20 VL5 ARCS. As per tradition each pod included one MAC 2k wash. Also 14 Big Lights were used on the Pontoons to complete the event.
Live Events operations manager John Wallace commented: "This is our 9th year working with Jack Morton Worldwide and Durham Marenghi on the New Years Eve project and working closely with the production team we introduced new technology to the event which produced stunning results for the viewing audience. The whole team at Stage Electrics are very proud to have been involved in such a hugely successful event to see in the new decade."
(Jim Evans)
