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PRG Lights Mazda in Milan
When Mazda was looking to host a landmark pan-European event for its European dealers to reveal and showcase four ‘hero’ vehicles for launch in 2005, it decided to go to the 17,000m2 Superstudio Pił in Milan. Over three days, both daytime and evening, Mazda ‘Mirai’ – which in Japanese means ‘Future’ – played host to 3,725 delegates from 35 countries; design and communication company Imagination commissioned PRG Europe to help them make everything look just right.
Project manager for PRG Europe John McEvoy explained: “There were five areas to light: the main auditorium – the Mirai Theatre – where a live show took place each day; the Mirai Gallery; a daylight room; a smoking room with bars and DJ; and the outside area, also with bars, which needed to be lit in the evening.
“In the evening, with the help of lighting from PRG, the Mirai Theatre was transformed into a magnificent dining hall for a four-course dinner, followed by a performance by Heather Small of M People, with dancers.”
PRG Europe supplied a turnkey package for the whole event – lighting, crew and mains distribution. In the Mirai Theatre during the day, delegates were given a presentation by executives about the vehicles, simultaneously translated into 16 languages. Four dramatic reveal sequences were followed by skilfully choreographed routines featuring stunning car driving, dancers, music, lighting and special effects.
“There was a central circular stage accessed by three ramps, above which was the lighting rig and a three -sided screen onto which images were projected,” said Imagination’s in-house lighting designer Mike Sobotnicki. “Programmer Dave Hallett did a fantastic job, because we were restricted as to how we could light the executives while they were doing their presentations. Obviously, we couldn’t light them through the projector beams, so we used Wybron’s Autopilot to get the Vari*Lite luminaires on the rig to follow them as they moved round the stage. As each speaker moved, we used white lighting on his face, with cool blue behind so as not to dazzle the audience.”
The main room was lit with some 65 Vari*Lite fixtures, including VL1000s, VL2000 spots and washes and VL3000s, controlled by a Wholehog II, all supplied by PRG Europe. Following the presentations, each of the three reveals had to look quite different, while following varying themes. One theme was cold, hard surfaces and steel; one was warm and vibrant; and the third, which involved vehicles driving across the stage, was a mixture of the two.
“The daylight room was essentially an exhibition room, but we didn’t want it to look like a museum, so we used the lighting in the evening to highlight the industrial looking roof beams,” continued Mike. “We wanted it to look like a trendy Soho club, and used coloured light through the drinks bar to provide most of the ambient lighting. The smoking room used 12 VL2000 washes to create an entire colour changing area. Over a period of about 20 seconds, so it was barely noticeable, we changed between yellow and cyan, Mazda’s corporate colours. We then lit the windows from the outside using Palco LED washes on the ground, which subtly lit the net curtains in front of them.”
This was the first time PRG Europe had provided a turnkey service for Imagination, which meant it was able to provide a more competitive package, and client feedback testified to the impact of the event and its success in delivering – and exceeding – the expectations outlined in the brief. Indeed, Dan Morris, CEO of Mazda Motors Europe called it “an absolutely outstanding event.”
Mazda’s parent company Ford was so impressed that they asked Imagination and PRG Europe to work together again, this time for the press launch of all their new models at the Frankfurt motor show in September. Covering each of Ford’s brands – Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Volvo, Jaguar, Land Rover and Aston Martin – VariLite fixtures were used to highlight aspects of the vehicles, such as the front bumper or the bonnet, when describing them to the assembled press.
“Car designers spend a lot of time seeing how their vehicles look in different lighting conditions, so they are always quite specific about how they want them to be lit at shows,” said Mike. “We were keen for PRG Europe to work with us, because they are specialists in the technical aspects of lighting – making everything look just how the client wants it. Exhibition lighting companies wouldn’t be able to reach that technical standard, and would probably call in PRG Europe to help anyway!”
15th December 2005
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