BEIJING — Lighting designer Durham Marenghi specified individual i-Pix BB4 LED cells to up-light the performers onboard the special double decker London bus in the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Handover sections of the 2008 Beijing Olympics & Paralympics Closing Ceremonies. The two Handover events took place three weeks apart in the Birds Nest stadium, and were integral elements of both Games’ Closing Ceremonies. Marenghi called the BB4 cells, which feature homogenized 20 degree RGB lightsources, “efficient, bright and low power." There were 24 individual units bordering each of the two scissor lift platforms positioned at both ends of the bus, with an additional 20 mounted on the central hydraulic ram lift.
During the eight-minute ‘Handover’ section of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony, the lifts were used by U.K. stars David Beckham, Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page who led the show with dancers from the Royal Opera House Ballet, CandoCo and Zoonation.
For the same section of the Paralympics Closing ceremony, the bus was completely re-branded in the bright, funky colors of the 2012 Paralympics logo. It was used for a primarily dance-orientated show that included performances by drummer Cherisse Osei and guitarist Sam Hegedus, with an appearance by wheelchair basketball medalist Ade Adepitan.
It was the first time the two Closing Ceremony ‘handovers’ have been linked in this way.
Stufish designed the bus, and Stage One, which customized the whole vehicle for the shows, integrated the BB4s and other lighting elements into it.
Marenghi originally used BB4s on 2008 Dancing On Ice —The Tour, and liked their color range and compactness. He was also impressed with them on this year’s Radiohead 2008 tour, with LD Andi Watson.
The bus had its own complete show system including a set of LED umbrellas, and all of its lighting was programmed and operated by Tim Routledge using a grandMA console, located at the front of the bus by the driver. An onboard generator powered the lighting fixtures, and an inverter linked to the bus’ battery powered the control equipment.
The 2012 Handover Show’s musical director was Philip Sheppard. Ray Winkler served as production designer. Jonathan Bentley created the costumes. Sam Hunter led the stage management crew and John Farquhar-Smith was the production director.
For more information, please visit www.i-pix.uk.com and www.stufish.com.
