WIcreations debuts WImotion with Rammstein
- Details
WIcreations took the opportunity of working with the band to launch its new integrated WImotion system, which gives precise control and synchronisation of individual and group moving chain hoists utilising SIL3 group position monitoring.
WI, well known for their own industrial strength automation and engineering solutions, was asked to supply several custom staging and automation elements for the tour.
All this is being co-ordinated for WI by Koen Peeters and Hans Willems, who were asked onboard by the tour’s technical consultant Jeremy Lloyd of UK based Wonder Works.
They have worked closely with Rammstein’s own creative team, a collaboration between lighting designer Patrick Woodroffe from Woodroffe Basset Design (WBD), production designers Wieder Design Studio and Wonder Works. The band themselves are also very involved in their stage presentations.
WI has designed and built six backwall structures which are part of the set and contain integrated lighting elements. 104 Vari*Lite 6000 moving lights, 210 Solaris Flare Q+ LED strobe/washes and six ColorForce 72” LED battens are integrated into these.
All the lights are rigged on integrated mounts that slide over the grid structure and into place. WI’s design means they remain on the structural beams during transportation, making it extremely fast to install these six major structural pieces.
WI has also created a set of ‘Tron Fascias’ as they are called, eight in total, six of which are in between the back walls, with two rigged on the main left and right pod towers, and two more on the upstage pod towers.
All the Trons have integrated RGBW led strips and ColorForce LED battens in bespoke waterproof housings.
The 400sq.m central tower - which has 23 fascia panels in two stacks of 11 and one stack of 10 on the front - is also a WI construction. This is made up from four vertical rails, each loaded with 11 Robe BMFL moving lights and 10 Solaris Flare strobes. These lighting fixtures all feature individual weather protection.
Each of the main sound towers is outfitted with another 10 Claypaky Scenius moving lights on the onstage side, and five Ayrton K25s on the upstage side. Again, these individually weatherproofed moving lights travel up and down guiding rails on bespoke carriages, making installation extremely neat.
WI was also asked to create an easy-to-rig system for 10 kabuki drops. Six of these are deployed in the backwall area, with four more on the freestanding field towers. As an addition to the StageCo-built band roof, production commissioned WI to create an easy to rig yet neatly integrated pyro trough along the downstage edge (of the roof), which holds a variety of pyro and flame devices complete with related wireless control electronics.
The centrepiece of the main tower is formed by a HD video screen that moves 27m up and down the tower. The screen is wind braced and guided along a set of vertical rails to allow an in-use wind loading of 15 metres per second.
To top off this demanding but hugely exhilarating project, WI created a scenic lift platform that raises the six Rammstein band members 26 meters above the main stage.
A total of 10 1250kg SIL3 WImotion hoists are used to move the video screen and band platform. Both can travel at speeds of up to 0.4 metres per second.
The WI-hoists are controlled by the WI-VSD-SIL3+ controllers. At the heart of this machinery system is the WImotion controller which deals with the individual and group synchronisation of all the moving chain hoists using SIL3 group position monitoring.
(Jim Evans)
