latest news headlines
Robert Juliat Followspots Highlight Beijing 2008 Olympic & Paralympic Games
In front of 91,000 spectators at the Beijing "Bird's Nest" National Stadium, and an estimated worldwide television audience of 4 billion, the Opening Ceremony kicked off at eight minutes and eight seconds past eight, on the eighth day of the eighth month, 2008.
After a ceremony which lasted over three hours and showcased some of the most advanced technology, the event culminated in the signature lighting of the Cauldron with the Olympic Flame. This was undertaken in dramatic aerial fashion by Chinese sporting legend, Li Ning, a gymnast who won three golds at the 1984 Games, before starting a successful sports clothing business.
The number 8 is considered a lucky number in China, associated with prosperity. Eight Robert Juliat Lancelot 4000W HTI followspots were used to cut through the vast quantity of light produced by the largest moving light rig in history, highlighting critical scenes of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic & Paralympics Games 2008. Eight Robert Juliat Cyrano 2500W HMI followspots were also used across other Olympic-related events across Beijing.
Chief lighting designer for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies was Mr Sha Xiaolan who worked closely with director Zhang Yimou to create the spectacular effects.
Jamie Boey of Robert Juliat China which supplied the Lancelot and Cyrano followspots, spoke to Mr Sha. "Mr Sha was delighted with the performance and quality of the Robert Juliat followspots," says Boey, "and confirmed his decision to use Robert Juliat was based on sound technical reasons."
"The brightness of the Lancelot was a deciding factor," affirms Mr Sha, "since more than 2700 units of 1200W moving lights used in total, so it needed to be able to cut through this amount of light.
"The projection distance was, at times, was more than 200m. The Robert Juliat Lancelot therefore had to fully comply with our requirements for the best ‘distance versus light output' ratio, which it achieved with its extremely narrow zoom range of 2° to 5°.
"Obviously, we must not forget the light quality which gives both flatness of beam as well as sharpness of projection. All these are possible thanks to its excellent optical system.
"I especially like the dimming mechanism which allows a very low output yet maintains its light quality. I also like its user-friendliness and operational smoothness despite its weight, and the fully closing iris mechanism. These are all high-performance, unique features of the Lancelot.
"The Lancelot is a well design followspot with an excellent optical system - a high quality product giving excellent performance.
"Robert Juliat products are excellent!" concludes Mr Sha. "I hope that there will be more new products from them, not only with new technological break-throughs, but which also retain the excellent performance and quality."
16th September 2008
HEADLINES
news archive
search stories
FOOTNOTE: Select the news type you require in the red band above; this will enable you to see the current news stories from that section
© 1999 - 2012 Entertainment Technology Press Limited News Stories
