latest news headlines
Stage One ‘Fly the Flag’ at Eurovision
Scooch may not have been able to fly their flag very high, but at least there was some success for the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, as it was the North Yorkshire based scenic contractor, STage One, who were responsible for the stunning stage set and backdrop.
Brought on board by Finnish television company YLE on the back of their technical expertise, extensive set building skills and proven track record (including the set for Eurovision 2006), Stage One became a valued member of the Eurovision 2007 team. The inspiration for the stage design was taken from Finnish mythology in which the jawbone of a Pike was used to make a ‘kantele’, an ancient Finnish musical instrument.
To develop this design and turn it into reality was the role of production designer Riikka Kytönen. “The show’s production was widely regarded as a resounding success and the role that the Stage One team played was key in its achievement,“ said Steve Dolan, senior project manager, Stage One. He continued: “Even though there were a number of technical challenges to overcome, sheer hard work and the resourcefulness of the team meant we delivered a set which looked spectacular.”
Stage One constructed the entire set, including the performers stage, the ‘jawbone’, the ‘cobra’ and the moving ‘fish scales’ backdrop. The performers’ stage covered an area of 80m2, with a central elliptical area of 40m2 constructed from 20mm clear, laminated glass that covered the vast amount of LED screens set beneath the stage. A 400mm high catwalk pushed out a distance of 20m and was joined to the stage by curved, sloping ramps either side. Along the edge of the stage were 24 individual pieces of sculptured timber, built to resemble the spine or fin of a fish. A sweeping, twisting ‘jawbone’ extended up and over the whole width of the stage to a height of 6.5 metres and was constructed by attaching CNC cut polycarbonate panels to a steel frame, which decreased in size from top to bottom and incorporated LED lighting battens.
The gently arching ‘cobra’ was a complicated steel structure set behind the stage. The cobra rose to a height of 12m, was fitted with O-Lite LED’s and mounted with 64, 6mm clear polycarbonate panels, backed with diffusion material. Finally, as a backdrop to the whole stage area and in order to create differing lighting effects for each act, Stage One’s Q-Motion technology controlled seven winches which
flew 70 strands of ‘fish scales’. Stage One used some of their far-reaching in-house CNC capabilities to produce the 600 differing shaped polycarbonate scales that were required.
23rd May 2007
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
