With decades of lighting experience, including expertise in designing for large-scale shows and spectaculars, lighting and production designer Roland Greil understands what it takes to create a lasting impact.
“When lighting a magnificent, 360-degree, theatrically produced stadium ceremony, where you’re dealing with throws of 50-100 meters or more, besides lighting the stage or field of play, you also want to achieve some magic and theatrical spice, and what you need there is firepower.”
For the Opening Ceremony of the Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait in December, 173 PROTEUS BRUTUS provided firepower LED wash/beam fixtures and 49 PROTEUS EXCALIBUR beam lights. Both are IP65-rated moving heads that Greil turns to when he needs reliability and exceptional output for challenging outdoor events.
More power, fewer lights
For the Opening Ceremony of the Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait in December, 173 PROTEUS BRUTUS provided firepower LED wash/beam fixtures and 49 PROTEUS EXCALIBUR beam lights. Both are IP65-rated moving heads that Greil turns to when he needs reliability and exceptional output for challenging outdoor events.
“There are not many lights on the market where you can realize such a large-scale stadium ceremony with such a small number of luminaires,” he said, referring to the PROTEUS BRUTUS.
“Considering that the stage was in the middle of a stadium without any possibility to rig lights above it or close to it, and the field of play where all the action takes place is more than a third of the football pitch, usually you achieve the firepower you need by having 800, 1000, or even 2000 lights. Thanks to the BRUTUS, it gave us the firepower to do it with a smaller number of lights. One BRUTUS substitutes easily two other lights.”
BRUTUS
The PROTEUS BRUTUS is a 75,000-lumen-strong wash/beam FX fixture with a 1200W peak field LED engine. It is optimized for long-throw efficiency and houses a complete FX package. CMY color mixing with variable CTO allows it to hone in on a particular shade when needed. A 4.5° to 45° zoom enables it to wash a flood of color or narrow to a tight beam that can cut through other layers of light.
With limited fixture types, Greil emphasized focusing the BRUTUS on specific areas. He used them more as spotlights than wash beams and employed them without the diffuser lens. This resulted in a more focused beam and hard-edged light.
Lavish celebration to kickoff tournament
Greil was contacted by Balich Wonder Studio (BWS), the executive producer of the show, to light the biennial football competition. BWS put together a beautiful theatrical masterpiece with creative direction by Federica Goffy. The ceremony, a theatrical piece in several acts, highlighted the beauty and history of Kuwait, as well as the connection between the Arabic states. With a look to the future, it merged traditional Gulf folk arts with modern technology. It concluded with a lavish celebration as a kickoff to the tournament, which commenced immediately afterward.
Lighting positions
The designer states that the challenge of the first match taking place on the same pitch directly after the ceremony (load out had to take place in five minutes!) is that there were minimal lighting positions. Given the restraints, Greil and his team could only use two lighting positions.
One position was the standard ground alignment around the pitch's perimeter. BRUTUS fixtures delivered sidelight and backlight from behind the signage boards with widely dispersed PROTEUS EXCALIBURs, creating radiant beams and framing the entire look. The second position involved a circular array of trusses beneath the catwalk, equipped with BRUTUS fixtures for visual effects and keylighting, which was managed using an automated tracking system that Greil called a ‘saving grace’ due to limited rehearsal time.
Greil’s lighting design had to work for the on-site audience at Jaber International Stadium and the at-home audience, as the ceremony was broadcast entirely. The lighting also competed with full-on floor projection, drones in the air, and an elaborate fireworks display, other reasons why firepower was so significant.
CTME
Lighting gear for the Arabian Gulf Cup Opening Ceremony was supplied by Creative Technology Middle East (CTME), who Greil said did a fantastic job, as they also did on a show with him in Riyadh a few weeks earlier. “Great kit, great crew, and super service,” he said. “They’ve built an excellent lighting department from the ground up over the last few years, and their kit is new. The kit is one thing, but they also have the right people who are wonderful to work with.”
Credits:
Creative Director: Federica Goffy
Artistic Director: Gennaro Girasloe
Artistic Producer: Paola Rosetto
Project Director: Annalisa Barbieri
Client: BWS (BalichWonderStudio)
Lighting Design: Roland Greil
Associate & LX Programmer I: Marcus Bossdorf
Associate & LX Programmer II: Tom Levin Schwenzle
Design Assistant & Spot Caller: Yannick Lippert
Studio Associate: Michael Kuehbandner
Show Director & Choreography: Dimitra Kirkaldi
LX Vendor: CTME
Photos: Luca Parisse
Tags: @balichwonderstudio, @balichwonderstudioKSA
About Elation
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