MANCHESTER, UK – dbn designed and supplied a ground support system for the “Games Time” outdoor stage spectacular, which played its final performance recently at Derby. The show, produced by Walk The Plank and Déda, was a mixed-media performance combining music, dance, video, lighting and pyrotechnics. Four teams sporting carnival style costumes competed to win the ‘Games Time’ Finale.
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MANCHESTER, UK – Manchester-based lighting, rigging and visuals rental company dbn designed and supplied a large ground support system for the “Games Time” outdoor stage spectacular, which played its final performance recently at Derby.
The show, produced by Walk The Plank and Déda, was a mixed-media performance combining music, dance, video, lighting and pyrotechnics, directed by Lea Anderson and starring members of the local community. Four teams – Red, Blue, Green and Yellow – sporting carnival style costumes designed and made by Mahogany – competed to win the ‘Games Time’ Finale.
dbn’s Stephen Page was asked to design the truss and lighting for the event, which played four towns – Skegness, Loughborough, Northampton and Derby – celebrating the spirit of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the East Midlands.
dbn invested in a new Slick ground support system for the series of shows, which for Games Time was built as a three-sided trapezoidal shape, supported by six 12- meter high legs. Below this was the large checkerboard stage which supported casts of up to 200 people in each location.
At the same time, dbn invested in a Broadweigh wireless wind and load monitoring system, which has enabled accurate up-to-the-minute assessments of how the structure is being affected by local weather and environmental conditions. This is an essential aid for the safe administration of outdoor structures.
Page’s brief for the lighting was to enhance the choreography and highlight the vibrant carnival costumes, bringing a zing and effervescence to the whole production.
He used 12 Clay Paky Alpha Wash 700 and 12 Alpha Beam 700 moving lights together with 60 PARs for the majority of the stage and performance washing.
“It was all about introducing color and richness with the moving lights to complement stage washes from the PARs,” explains Page. He also had to ensure that the lighting cut through the pyro smoke so the cast had a clear view of the performance space.
He used the full extent of the 9-50 degree zoom on the Alpha Washes for achieving good stage and cast coverage, juxtaposed with slices of thin concentrated light from the Alpha Beams, which cut through, adding another layer of texture and depth to the visual picture.
Molefeys around the top of the ground support illuminated the audience, while the front footlight positions were covered by 24 single PAR cans and 24 SGM PALCO LED floods rigged in the ‘pit’ area. The lighting rig was completed with four Elation LED UV PARs.
Page ran all the lights from a Jands Vista S3 console, working alongside dbn technician Oliver Bracey.
Page says, “It was great to be working with the Walk The Plank team again and to be involved in a beautifully visual show that engaged the talents and interest of the local communities in each town.”
Photo: Kevin Ryan
