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Avolites wrote customised software for their Pearl 2000 console, so lighting
designer Dave Gibbon could easily program a large matrix of par cans and operate a challenging, lightshow staged at the famous Thorpe Park theme
park in Surrey. Setting the scene Secreted deep in the hostile recesses of Doom Island, Mabuse-esque megalomaniac, the Master of Misery, presided over his evil masterplan to destroy planet earth ….. all hopes were pinned on Federal Agent 451 to penetrate and defeat him. So went the narrative for Thorpe Park's end of season spectacular, a stunning, action-packed amalgam of lighting, sound, lasers, fireworks, pyrotechnics and breathtaking speedboat stunts, performed on the lake next to the park. |
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Visual identity The brief given to Lighting Designer Dave Gibbon included installing a visual identity on the island, producing large scale lighting effects including a giant, throbbing 'M' and assorted other effects symbolic of Misery's brain, plus various pieces of scrolling text in lights and a countdown. Dave designed a massive 216 PAR can matrix for the project (36 x 6-lamp bars). This was rigged on the island on a tower above his operating 'bunker'. The bunker also contained the six 48-way Avolites ART dimming systems, Dave himself, his trusty Avolites Pearl console and his right-hand rigger-in-chief Chris Henry (Carrot) and Avolites' John Snelling. Custom Avo software Avolites wrote custom software for the Pearl to allow Dave to program letters, numbers and text for the matrix on a PC – using a mouse and a grid mimic – and then record them as chases. These were then imported directly into the console and stored, edited and replayed just like normal chases. The software also allowed him to select figures directly from the Pearl's keypad and apply them to the matrix. This saved literally days of programming time and removed the need for a conventional matrix controller.. The majority of the show was programmed beforehand at Avolites using a Visualiser system, allowing Dave to start the project well prepared. |
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Hostile environment A major challenge was the island location, 300 metres across the lake from the viewing platform. Others included the weather - inevitably - and the get in …. a 100 metre haul through pure quagmire and sludge at the back of the island, aided only slightly by a 45 ft arm forklift vehicle. The four shows were spread over two consecutive weekends. Both crew and equipment braved the appalling damp and cold, unleashed by one of the wettest October's on record. They also survived being rocked throughout the show by the incredible air pressure fluctuations generated as pyros, explosions and special effects let rip – not to mention the empty fireworks shells which rained down from the back of the island. The concussion from one of the explosives barges, moored just 10 metres in front of the lighting tower (all pointing into the lake of course), could be felt 300 metres away on the audience platform – a mere taste of what they experienced in the bunker. Tougher than the rest Once again, the Pearl proved itself to be the toughest and most robust of desks, rock solid throughout this hostile operating environment. The ART dimmers were similarly inclined. Dave also lit the Island of Doom, the centrepiece of the action, with eight Studio Due City Colors, also controlled from the Pearl, and a 70 kW Lightening Strikes strobe burned into the sky and clouds. |
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Radio Link The 21-minute timecoded show was run just like any conventional theatrical performance, with a show caller administering cues to all departments. SMPTE timecode from the sound desk, located on the audience viewing platform, was bounced over to the Pearl via radio link. It was decoded into MIDI timecode before being fed into the desk. All worked like clockwork. Awesome result! The lighting cues looked sinister and spectacular with great blasts of light pulsing across the water from the matrix. To say it was high impact is an understatement! Fireworks flew, explosions ignited, shuddering the countryside, speedboats whizzed round the lake adorned with lights and laser beams which appeared to detonate the explosives floating on barges and pontoons. Creative Media Techniques (CMT) coordinated the overall visuals and supplied the lasers for the show with Darren Parker Lighting (DPL) from Southend to supply the lighting equipment, LD and crew. The show was enjoyed by approximately 8,000 people per night. |
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