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Clay Paky at the Asian Games 2006
The recent Asian Games held in Qatar were the biggest, richest and most celebrated Asian Games so far. Since 1951, the event, held every four years, is the sporting and cultural centre for all Asian countries, a multi-faceted continent comprising a huge variety of ethnic groups.
Thanks to the importance of the athletes and competitions, the massive presence of satellite television and a colossal organisational structure which involved companies and operators from all over the world, the Asian Games 2006 had an international significance.
The German company Procon, through a sub-contract of Bytecraft of Australia, designed, installed and supplied the lighting inside the superb Khalifa Stadium of Doha, which was the venue for most of the sporting competitions, as well as the extraordinary Opening and Closing ceremonies of the Games.
Procon chose 110 Clay Paky Alpha Spot HPE 1200 moving body luminaires, which, together with many other lighting projectors, were used highly effectively by the lighting designers Andy Doig and Fabrice Kebaour for their shows. Alongside them, 120 specialized technicians, under the guidance of the Procon project manager Michael Casper, worked non-stop before, after and throughout the event, using a total of 520 tons of material (which included 5km of truss and 400 chain hoists).
The climatic conditions in Qatar certainly did not help the operations: the initial torrid temperatures, followed by a month of unexpected rain and hailstorms, very unusual for that region, put the organisation and equipment through a severe test. However, the ‘Alphas’ confirmed their reliability, making an excellent contribution to the superb production of the show despite the adverse weather conditions.
The lights were installed mainly on three distinct elements of the arena: on scaffolding supporting the roof of the stand, on a truss hooked to the arch that crossed the length of the stadium and on the truss placed at the top of the largest of the LED videowalls, which boasted an incredible base length of 150 metres (492’).
On the light engineering level, one of the fundamental questions when operating with mega structures is that of being able to uniformly cover all available surfaces. From as early as the design phase, the combined action of all the projectors has to be considered, bearing in mind that the beam of light from each projector will have to cover a maximum distance of up to 100 metres.
This was one of the reasons for using Alpha Spot HPE 1200 high performance projectors for lighting effects, considered to be the most powerful and have the most effects - and they are particularly suitable for covering the long distances involved. Procon had already used HPEs in similar circumstances in Paris, for the epic Ben Hur production staged at the Stade de France. The “HPE”s were perfect for the intensive use and to cover large distances. Also, the Alpha Spot HPEs allow very high quality dynamic graphic effects, and thanks to them, it was possible to design many different settings on the surface of the arena of the Khalifa Stadium, which harmonised the various elements of the stage.
The shows for the Opening and Closing ceremonies, produced by David Atkins Enterprises, were characterized by their strong emotional impact. Doig and Fabrice Kebaour put on a show where colours and special effects blended perfectly with the actors on stage, like a Broadway musical produced in an arena. In addition, great importance was given to the public, who were lit so that they also became an element of the show.
Clay Paky automated luminaires and colour changers were used exclusively on the four stages located along the stadium of Doha. The installation and the lighting design were by Lumen Art, the Lebanese rental company, and the lighting was managed by the LD and owner of Lumen Art, Roger Bakhos.
photos Ralph Larmann on behalf of Procon.
18th January 2007
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