Only 59 of the 1,400 young people from around the world who participated in the 47th annual WorldSkills Competition won gold medals. But in reality, everyone involved in this nonprofit event went home a winner. First, there were the educational benefits. Founded in the aftermath of WWII when there was a global shortage of skilled workers, WorldSkills is dedicated to promoting vocational education. The 2024 edition of this biannual event fulfilled this mission in brilliant fashion. Beyond being enriched by the exchange of ideas and knowledge, however, participants and guest from 70 countries left WorldSkills energized by the uplifting mood that resonated throughout Parc Olympique Lyonnais stadium during the closing ceremonies.
Enhancing this inspirational aura and taking its energy to a new level was a spectacular production design by Frédéric (Aldo) Fayard working with set designer Simon Fouillet, and lighting-multimedia designer Theo Broche Cannone, along with the rest of the team at Concept K that featured 142 Color STRIKE M motorized strobe-washes from CHAUVET Professional. Positioned throughout the 59,000-capacity stadium, the Color STRIKE M projectors filled many roles during the closing ceremony, from highlighting the emotional awards presentations, to setting the entire massive venue aglow with immersive panoramas of color at different moments during the four-hour event.
Each of the many facets of the ceremony had its own distinctive flavor. To reflect this, the Concept K design called forth a rainbow of different color combinations, ranging from intense monochromatic palettes to woven tapestries of various hues artfully woven together. “We used a pale magenta as a base color, then a peacock, deep blue, mid-blue, cyan, pink, orange and yellow,” said Theo. “At time, we also used white beams, essentially as a strobe and pulse bump.”
“On the Set Design, we wanted to use the event graphic chart colors to cover the field,” added Aldo. “So, we made a large gradient between the two main colors (Magenta and Deep Blue). It’s a subject of contrast, to focus the eyes on the center of the field with a nice colored carpet. Because we had flames on this show, we drew hexagons on the carpet to use it as a placeholder for flames, with a nice design recalling the event Logo. Chromatic is important for us.”
Thanks to its color rendering prowess and intense output, the Color STRIKE M, was ideally suited to help Concept K achieve its vision for this this project. “The Color STRIKE M is powerful, which was essential given the size of the space were working in,” said Theo. “The quality of LED Colors balance is excellent. It’s quite easy to make the color you need with this fixture. The dimmer curve is correct for this kind of product.”
Of course, a project of this magnitude is always the work of many hands. In addition to Aldo, Theo and Simon, credit for the project must also go to Broadcast Director Philippe Letourneur; Show Caller Laurence Pelissier; Lighting Programmers and Assistants Paul Biencourt and Paul Simon; Laser Designers and Programmers Tanguy Kopczynski and Theo Frick; Production Technical Director Antoine D’Halluin; Production Deputy Technical Director François Catteau; Network R&D Kelian Sevree and Martin Muraccioli; Project Manager Stephane Courtillot; Project Coordinator (Shanghai Crew) Stephane Thiodat (Stod);Musical Composer Philippe Villar; and Sound Engineers Antoine Secondino and Jeremie Kokot.
The importance of having a strong team and excellent tools with features that match up well with the demands of the job at hand is a lesson that was repeated often at WorldSkills Lyon 2024. The wisdom of that lesson was there for all to see in the event’s closing ceremony, where the Concept K team selected a lighting tool that helped them achieve breathtaking results.
Further information from CHAUVET Professional: www.chauvetprofessional.com
