NEW YORK — The 83rd Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting ceremony drew hundreds of thousands, with millions watching from home during the NBC live broadcast. To provide an even better view of the switch-on of the 78-foot tree’s nearly 40,000 LED lights, Upstage Video provided six LED screens.
More details from Upstage Video (www.upstagevideo.com):
Everyone can feel the spirit of Christmas pulsating through the city streets of New York as of December 2. The 83rd Rockefeller Center Tree Lighting ceremony drew a crowd of nearly 500,000 people and millions watching from home during the NBC live broadcast. The annual event is a worldwide symbol of the holidays, millions of tourists from around the world travel to visit the 78-foot tree with nearly 40,000 LED lights strung from top to bottom.
Upstage Video of Philadelphia, PA provided 6 LED screens. Two 15’ x 27’ 16mm blow-through screens were erected on the setback rooftops of 30 Rock directly behind the tree. The client entrusted Upstage Video to spec the best choice for the budget. Doug Murray, president of Upstage Video, suggested a 16mm because the minimum viewing distances were over 100ft and using a 7 or 8mm product simply wasn’t necessary. “The market has really shunned the 12-18mm pixel range out of ignorance, the 16mm looked stunning,” says Doug Murray. The company’s CS16 blow-through product utilizes the most uniform LED chips available from Cree and offer a crisp, color-balanced image that translated well on the live NBC broadcast. The screens provided participants a magnified view of performances on stage from the Rockettes, Mary J. Blige, Sting, Andrea Bocelli, The Band Perry and many more.
In addition, two 7’ x 13’ 8mm screens hung on brand new V-tower support systems the company introduced earlier this year. One of which, was used as a backdrop for a secondary stage. Both V-tower support systems allowed for an efficient load in and load out. These hybrid screens took up only a fraction of the footprint that a traditional truss goal post system would have.
If that weren’t enough, two 11’ x 18’ 8mm mobile screen units were used to provide a view to the overflow crowds on both 49th and 50th streets. Upstage Video also provided a full array of TV’s and signal distribution throughout three buildings for a slew of VIP viewing positions.
“We’ve worked a number of events at Rockefeller Center Plaza over the years, but never the Tree Lighting Ceremony. We were extremely proud to be called upon for such an iconic event,” said Doug Murray.
