Unite Rules Conference
Following on from the success of Unilever's conference at the ExCeL centre in London earlier this year, Steven Williams at CSP asked Basic Monkey to design and supply video for Unite, the Union's rule conference at the ACC in Liverpool.
Irene Reed from Frameworks Events produced the event and asked long standing partner CSP to realise the technical requirements.
The video system included 3x Barco FLM R22+ projectors, the best in class, which shone onto an 18m x 4.85m super-widescreen surface. These were driven by our 'Gorilla' Catalyst system, which took in feeds from cameras and IML voting.
Three cameras in total were used; two Grass Valley HD channels from Basic Monkey, one with a Canon Super 70 long lens and also a locked off Sony Z7 above stage. These were ably cut by Kevin Watts on a Panasonic HS50.
The remit from Frameworks was very specific for the layout on screen and James was tasked with using Catalyst to make it work. A scrolling news ticker at the top of screen could be slid in and out, displaying dynamically updated text which was remotely input. The current topic information was displayed in a box to the left of screen which again was dynamically updated remotely over a network.
IML handled all the delegate registration and card voting, the results of which could be displayed in place of the camera PiP. When delegates approached the stage to talk, they scanned their smart card at the graphics desk which in turn sent their name, region and sector details to be displayed as a lower third graphic over their camera image.
A second Catalyst machine was used to arrange the above information into a feed that was distributed around the building on relay plasmas, ensuring that delegates knew the current order of business and could see what was going on outside of the auditorium.
This complex signal routing and flow of information again showed the flexibility of the Catalyst system, combined with the ease of programming on the Jands Vista console.
Unilever Conference @ ExCeL
Unilever wanted to make a big impact with this event so CSP designed an 18m x 4.8m widescreen set and asked Basic Monkey to design and supply the video system to make best use of it.
Tim from XL Video managed the event on our behalf and implemented the system of 3x cameras, 4x channel HD-PPU, 3x Digital Projection machines and distribution.
We provided our 'Gorilla' Catalyst system which played video content, processed the camera feed and outputted the 3x way edge blended projection, all in one system.
Unilever Christmas Party 2010
For this year's Unilever Christmas party, the theme was '20s Prohibition' so it wouldn't be appropriate to use LED screen as the main feature as last year. Instead CSP designed an ornate set, perfectly suited to the theme.
James was asked to design and operate the lighting with equipment provided by CSP, including Clay Paky Alpha Spot 300s, Alpha Beam 700s, Alpha Wash 575s, Martin Mac 550s, Mac 250s and SGM Palcos.
On top of all the intelligent lighting was 200m of tungsten festoon lighting to add a rich glowing canopy over the dining space.
The excellent catering was provided by Barretts and the marquee by Millennium Marquees.
Basic Monkey supplied a Jands Vista S3 console to control the lighting, running the new 'Byron' software. This was the ideal event to use the beta software for the first time as the evening is 'busked' as opposed to having lots of programmed cues, meaning we can get away with things more easily if there are any software glitches.
The new version performed very well and a detailed report was sent to Jands afterwards to aid in their further development of the software.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and many comments were made about the standard of decoration and entertainment.
Exhibition Stand Lighting, Hanover
Today, James is in Hanover for CSP AV to rig and light an exhibition stand as part of the big commercial vehicle show at the Hanover Messe.
Due to the limited availability of rigging points, truss bridles were used to get the grid as wide as possible over the stand area. Since the rig will be in place for 4 weeks, budgets are tight and as such manual chain blocks had to be used and this makes for a tricky lift!
Basic Monkey provided lighting plots, weight calculations and James as crew for the install. Keven Heyes from Theatr Clwyd was also there and providing all truss and rigging.
Deeside College Awards
This week saw James at Deeside College in Flintshire for their annual student awards show, produced as always by CSP Audio Visual.
All equipment was provided by CSP, apart from our own Catalyst media server and Jands Vista lighting console. The lighting rig was designed by Steve from CSP and operated by James.
The set backdrop was 11m x 4m of ColorWeb 250 with a black backdrop. Over this was hung a widescreen projection surface. Using the Catalyst system, the colour scheme of the lighting, ColorWeb and projection could be easily and effectively matched.
Unilever Christmas Party 2009
Based on the success of the Catalyst and Barco iLite 12 combination at Paul Hogarth's birthday party, James was asked by CSP to reproduce the spaced screen effect for Unilever's Christmas party in a marquee at Chester Rugby Club. The event had a strong Hollywood/Oscars theme with lighting designed and implemented by James to enhance this.
Jeremy from Unilever asked that as the guests arrived, it would look as if he had spent no money on the event and as such all screens were off, intelligent lighting was off and the room left dark with only a hint of colour. After the guests had all arrived, an intro video was played on the iLite screens and projection surfaces mounted on the gable ends of the marquee (also fed by Catalyst). After this intro video, the full lighting effect was revealed and film trailers were played on the iLite pillars, a different one on each.
As the evening progressed and entertainment from the band began, stock content from Basic Monkey's large library was played on the iLite pillars along with lighting effects from the array of LED and moving fixtures to support the performance.
The night was real show piece, demonstrating the benefits of combined lighting and video design. Ideas brewing for next year already...
Catalyst and Screens at Unilever’s Christmas Party
Basic Monkey has been asked to provide Barco iLite12 screens and a Catalyst media server for Unilever's Christmas party.
Steven Williams from CSP saw the photos from Paul Hogarth's birthday party and suggested to Unilever that they use the same system. A few design ideas were put forward but they've decided to go for the same layout of 5 columns of video wall, this time in a V shape plan on stage.
The Catalyst system will also be driving projection in the marquee, all geared towards the Hollywood theme. All video and lighting will be controlled using our Jands Vista S3.
James will be installing and operating the system, also creating some custom Hollywood graphics to work on the LED screen and projections. James will also be designing and operating the lighting.
Should be a great event!