Once again, the company responsible for creating the light show at Seattle’s New Year’s Eve event at the Space Needle, Illuminate Production Services (IPS), turned to Elation Professional’s leading line of IP-rated products to bring their vision to life. New to this year’s design were Elation Proteus Rayzor Blade linear effects, which joined other Proteus range luminaires and other Elation IP-rated lights on the dazzling show.
The New Year’s Eve celebration featured a choreographed 11-minute show with synchronized drone footage (Sky Elements), fireworks (Pyro Spectaculars), and Elation lighting. The show was set to a playlist highlighting significant music and pop culture events of the year, and included a tribute to Ukraine. Broadcast locally on KING 5 and streamed online, the night also included two 10-minute light shows prior to the New Year’s countdown used to build anticipation.
IPS President Rick Franke managed the lighting project for the IPS team while IPS Vice President of Design & Operations, Caleb Franke, served as lighting designer and programmer.
New to this year’s design were 30 Proteus Rayzor Blade linear lights used to illuminate the structure’s core. “We were extremely pleased with the addition of the Rayzor Blade fixtures on this year’s show,” stated Caleb Franke. “Their movement and strobe aspect for the Space Needle’s core was phenomenal.” Driven by independently controlled 60W RGBW LEDs, the Proteus Rayzor Blade is a striking visual combination of linear wash, high-intensity strobe line and SparkLED FX inside a compact IP65 linear fixture design.
Caleb added: “As a 3-in-1 fixture with strobe, zoom, and motion they looked amazing both lighting the structure and through the pyro smoke. And of course, we love that the fixture is IP rated. This is crucial for an outdoor project like this with extreme weather considerations, but knowing these fixtures and others on this project can also handle the massive amounts of pyro smoke and dust is a key benefit.” After adding the Proteus Rayzor Blade fixtures to inventory at IPS’s recently opened East Coast facility, Caleb says they decided to add more units to their overall inventory.
IPS used several other Elation Proteus line luminaires on the show, including six Proteus Maximus, 12 Proteus Hybrid, and 24 Proteus Beam moving heads, in various locations on the 605-ft tall structure. They also placed 12 Proteus Excalibur narrow-beam sky effects on the Space Needle’s saucer roof, which were a key part of the light show that could be seen from far away and rendered great on camera.
Other Elation fixtures used on the Space Needle NYE show included 24 IP65-rated Paladin wash/strobe/blinders used to colour wash the entire structure. As the event is hosted by T-Mobile, the Paladin’s were key in washing the Space Needle in the company’s signature magenta brand colour, also on days leading up to the celebration. Additionally, 12 Cuepix 16 IP LED matrix panels colour-washed the top of the saucer.
“The IP-rated Elation fixtures we use are designed for extreme conditions,” Caleb stated. “They are used worldwide in extreme climates ranging from the arid heat of Dubai to the freezing cold of Alaska and worked flawlessly for us on this project.” All of the lighting for the show was designed and preprogrammed using Capture design software.
As always, the Space Needle presents unique challenges for the load-in as the elevator only stops at the 100′ level and 580′ level. “Access to our lighting positions is often a challenge with much of the gear being manually carried up ladders, stairs, and through narrow access points,” explains Rick Franke. IPS workers were often required to negotiate two sets of 960+ exposed stairs that run from top to bottom of the structure, just one obstacle of many that the IPS crew had to overcome.
“We do not shy from physical labor,” Rick continued, “but adding the structure’s height, and often harsh weather conditions, the project is definitely one where we all need to be at peak performance! Special thanks to the IPS crew for their diligent work and Space Needle facilities team, once again, for their warm welcome.”
In past years, inclement weather has been a problem, with last year being particularly challenging due to snow and record low temperatures in the week leading up to the event. However, this year the weather did not pose any difficulties. “Everything turned out really well,” Rick concluded, “and we’re happy to report that this year even the weather cooperated!”