BLACKPOOL, U.K. — A remembrance show involving video, photos and graphics projected onto the Cenotaph War Memorial has proven popular enough to be extended by three weeks. The tribute to war victims was conceived by Carl Carrington, a member of the Blackpool City Council, and carried out by Blackpool Illuminations using three Robe DigitalSpot 3000DTs. Blackpool Illuminations has been active with an ongoing series of lighting projects undertaken to liven up the Blackpool city center, and their relationship with Robe UK goes back a few years.
In September, Robe UK’s Bill Jones and Nathan Wan demonstrated the DigitalSpot 3000DT to Blackpool Illuminations’ Dan Creasey, Stephen Shaw and Richard Williams.
Their decision to use the Robe unit was based on its brightness and features, including picture merging and perspective/keystone correction. The unit was also a good fit with remembrance show’s need to combine video, photos, graphics and animations.
“As always, the people at Robe were extremely informed and helpful in sorting everything we needed for the demo,” said Creasey.
The Cenotaph presented a challenging projection surface. It’s 80 feet tall, 10 feet wide and it tapers toward the top. The grounds around its base are also uneven. Blackpool Illuminations purchased three of the units and mounted them in clear domes on a pole. The pole stands seven meters in front of the Cenotaph.
The DT3000s are programmed to project images that fit the front fascia of the structure precisely, and also to project vertically down the Cenotaph, which faces Blackpool’s busy Esplanade.
Carrington gave his brief to Stephen Shaw, who researched and sourced all the images required to complete the nightly eight-minute looped show, including some from the Imperial War Museum archive.
Among them is a tribute to Gunner Lee Thornton, a Blackpool-based soldier who died in Iraq in 2006. That segment includes the farewell letter Thornton wrote to his girlfriend, Helen O’Pray.
All the material is stored in the heads of the DT3000s. The fixtures are controlled by a Jands Vista PC running ArtNet protocol, which is located in a box attached to the back of the pole.
“We are very keen to embrace new and future technologies in Illuminations in order to present the public with works that they can enjoy and engage, of which this is a prime example,” Creasey said.
The work, originally scheduled for seven days including Armistice Sunday, was extended to three weeks. It’s expected to be expanded for future remembrance events, with simultaneous projections on at least three sides of the Cenotaph.
For more information, please visit www.robe.cz.
