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London Sees in 2008 with PRG Europe
An estimated 700,000 people went to central London to bring in the New Year, culminating in a 10-minute firework and light spectacular around the London Eye with an estimated 180,000 watching the event live from the banks of the Thames. Once again the event was organised by the Mayor of London and produced by Jack Morton Worldwide. The lighting was supplied by PRG Europe, with lighting design by Durham Marenghi and fireworks by Christophe Berthonneau and Jonas Bidault of Groupe F.
Durham explains: “For the fourth consecutive New Year’s Eve, associate LD Paul Cook and I created a three hour light show prior to midnight and then supported the firework finale with the floodlighting of the Eye and aerial searchlight effects. PRG Europe, led by crew chief Gerry Mott, supplied 100 VL5 arc luminaires and ten 10kw Syncrolite searchlights to outline the wheel, with Stage Electrics, led by Simon Baker, supplying the 32 radio controlled Mac2ks in the pods and 16 Martin BigLites on the pontoon. The light show element also used the existing LED installation on the London Eye and this was programmed specifically for the event by Simon Hicks of Pharos Controls.”
PRG Europe project manager John McEvoy says: “We placed the VL5s on the pontoon which extends into the Thames at the base of the Eye, and the 10kw Syncrolites on the bank behind and in a line perpendicular to the wheel to create aerial fans and a massive 100,000 watt vertical beam! Paul came in to our WYSIWYG studio before Christmas, where he planned the lighting, then on the evenings of 29th and 30th December, after the Eye closed for the evening, he programmed from a position on the opposite bank using wireless DMX from the PRG Europe-supplied Wholehog II.”
On the night, Paul was positioned on the same side as the Eye, to avoid having to cordon off a section of the most popular area of the north bank for the lighting control position, and the wireless to the VL5s and Syncrolites replaced with wires. Durham positioned himself on the steps down to the water, out of the public’s way, with a two-way radio to do the cue calls; fortunately it was low tide!
Paul Cook says: “We wanted to do a bigger flood effect than we’ve had previously, so we used a wider ‘chase’ from the searchlights through the wheel’s spokes. The aim was to get an attractive and anticipatory focus before the show, in conjunction with the music from BBC Radio 1. We used the atomic clock at Rugby to ensure the lighting was in sync with the fireworks and Big Ben at midnight.”
London’s Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said: “Hundreds of thousands of people enjoyed a magnificent and spectacular start to 2008, and millions more will have been able to enjoy it live on television. With the equivalent of one in ten Londoners enjoying the fireworks in central London alone, it shows a city seeing in the New Year in style.”
11th January 2008
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