When the PR and communications team needed to promote the importance of voting in the 2016 London Mayoral Elections they came to SXS for an exciting solution. “It was vital that the message of the 5 May vote for Mayor was communicated through social media, mainstream media and by passers-by seeing the message,” said Project Director Tim Curwen.
“Working with the client we decided that a projection and lighting installation onto the iconic London city hall would be ideal. This constituted a powerful colour wash and HD projection of the key message. The response on the night was fantastic with many photographers and interview teams from major news networks coming to see the installation”
The Technical Production
The installation required both high-impact lighting and some easily-readable text images. In order to achieve both in a way that could compete with high levels of ambient light the team opted to use HD projection and high-powered moving lights. “Traditionally a project like this may have been done with flood lights and gobo projection,” Curwen said. “But because we now own an extensive range of high-powered HD projection and a large stock of moving lights we were able to use much more advanced technology. This allows for a swift setup, a lot of last-minute flexibility and lower crewing levels.”
The text imagery was projected using two Barco HD20 20,000 lumen projectors. The text was manipulated and mapped using an Apple-based media server. The additional colour scheme was created using 16 Chauvet Professional R2 moving head wash lights.
Curwen concluded: “We are a huge fan of the R2 washes – they pack a punch, have great optics and a highly effective zoom. Because of their sensible price-point we are able to offer large numbers of these to clients on projects like this where we would typically use flood lights. Moving lights means we are quicker, more flexible and more accurate, so everyone wins.”