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Spectra Supplies Nobel Prize Awards
Lighting specialists Spectra supplied creative design and production management services, plus all lighting and AV equipment for visual requirements at the prestigious 2005 Nobel Prize Awards Banquet. This was held in the Blue Hall of Stockholm’s fabulous City Hall.
Sweden’s highest profile event of the year was attended by the King, Queen and other members of the Royal Family, a host of Nobel Laureates, politicians, dignitaries and VVIPs, totalling approximately 1400 guests. The entire evening was also broadcast live on Swedish National television’s SVT1.
Spectra – renowned for their innovative designs and productions - instigated several important technical ‘firsts’ for the occasion, including stunning roof projections, created using the brand new Catalyst Version 4 digital media server. It was also the European debut for Wybron’s new Nexera tungsten colour changing wash fixtures.
In addition to the above mentioned new technology mentioned, Spectra also utilised SGM’s latest Giotto Synthesis 700 moving lights with inbuilt W-DMX, Barco R18s for the projection and the dual award winning Wireless DMX system from Wireless Solutions, Sweden.
Spectra has lit the event in the past, but this year was the first in a new 3-year contract for its busy Stockholm office. (the others are in Malmoe, Gothenburg and Gavle).
Lighting designer was Per Sundin and production manager was Spectra’s Ola Melzig. Melzig comments, “It is a great honour to be invited back to produce the Nobel Banquet. Having the 3-year contract will enable us to develop innovative ideas as well as provide a continuity of service and quality”.
Sundin’s meticulous design was based on the creation of a warm and intimate ambience in the massive space, built between 1911-1923 by architect Ragnar Östberg. It also needed to look good on camera for the broadcast, and whilst a formal occasion protocol-wise, it was essential that the evening was a personal and relaxed experience for all involved. Lighting had a vital role in this, which was definitely the biggest challenge recalls Sundin.
His design needed great subtlety, and the lighting – both in terms of equipment and effect – had to be virtually invisible.
Each year, the Nobel Banquet features different entertainment. This year the audience was spellbound by the amazing tones of the 40 piece Allmānna Sången Choir, who punctuated the dinner courses with four short promenade performances.
Another major challenge of putting a production into the Blue Hall is the complete absence of rigging points.
However, there is a half metre wide ledge or lip around the very top of the building, so Spectra’s starting point was the installation of four ‘bumper’ trusses in each corner, each secured across two sides the ledge. This gave flying points for four pieces of mini beam. Rigged to these and also positioned strategically along the ledge were a total combination of 13 SGM Giotto Synthesis 700s, four Giotto 400s, four SGM Palco LED floods for washing the roof, and fifteen 2K profiles. All SGM equipment was wireless controlled by W-DMX.
From below, near ground level, the Hall’s walls were up-lit by 25 colour changing LED battens, carefully fixed to the pillars via custom brackets designed by Spectra at approximately 3 metres high. The arches around the Hall were illuminated with forty 500 Watt floods, and 14 ornate second floor windows were individually lit with short nosed PARs.
The majestic staircase that sweeps down from the first floor balcony onto the hall floor was back-lit with two bars of six PARs, and the Golden Hall adjacent to the balcony and its ornate mosaic Byzantine style interior was boosted with four 2K softlights. This was also where the after-party dance took place.
The staircase landing area doubled as the stage for post diner acceptance speeches from selected Nobel Laureates.
For a bit of pizzazz, Sundin positioned four Syncrolite 5Ks behind the first floor windows at one end of the hall behind the staircase.
For general colour, he kept the basic looks warm, with one dramatic blue scene activated during the final choir performance, as they lined up along the balcony.
The 14 colour changing Wybron Nexeras were used to wash the sculpted walls behind the balcony. They blended in perfectly with the washes on the other three red brick walls of the Blue Hall, and highlighted the textured surface as a dramatic backdrop to the choir when in this position.
The lighting was programmed and operated by Emma Landare using a WholeHog II.
Projection
The Catalyst artwork was specially created by Peppe Tannemyr and Lennart Wahlin from Beacon, using their latest graphics software, Adobe After Effects and Apple Motion They had also been part of the hugely successful Eurovision 2005 team that was put together by Melzig as was Sundin.
Tannemyr and Wahlin collaborated closely with Sundin to produce the content which included different cloud formations, a starfield, flowers and fireworks. The latter were particularly spectacular, used as the Royal Family left the room at the end of the dinner and everyone followed in the general exit up the stairs and into the Golden Room.
A lot of the artwork was edited and tweaked once they were up and running on site – one of the beauties of the system is its flexibility.
The two Barco R18s were managed by video rental house Massteknik and positioned poking through opposite end windows on the first floor production area, forming a 40 x 32 metre area on the ceiling. The angles required considerable keystone correction and soft-edging to create one large image, and this was achieved in the software. The Catalyst was triggered by another WholeHog II run by Mats Andreasson.
It was the first time roof projections have been used like this in the Blue Hall, but it had enormous impact on the overall production and design.
Audio
DM Audio AB and sound designer Lars Wern, are now veterans of 20 Nobel Banquets. (DM Audio was also in charge of the PA and the sound on stage for the Eurovision Song Contest 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005).
This year Wern used an 8-channel surround system with QSC speakers and amps, and a pre-recorded mix of the choir that was carefully balanced with their live vocals to give a uniform coverage as they moved around the hall. The idea was that people should not be able to differentiate between the two different formats of sound.
Four QSC ISIS 102W speakers were hidden along the first floor balcony and another four were attached to the windows of the first floor production area, enabling him to move with the choir, using a completely manual mix on his Yamaha DM2000.
A set of 8 Audio Technica 4051s were concealed along the balcony to help the choir project from that position, along with a DPA 4023 for the soloist.
DM Audio also supplied a Sennheiser IEM system for the conductor.
Some additional Martin WT15s were ensconced in the stairs for the speeches.
No outboards were required, and the hall’s natural acoustic is warm and extremely reverberant. Precision was the key to producing an excellent natural sound, and Wern also fed a left and right mix to the broadcast trucks.
24th January 2006
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