E\T\C supply Manchester projection installation

E\T\C UK followed on from their huge success of projecting onto Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, by supplying sixteen PIGI 7Kw projectors for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 17th Commonwealth Games in Manchester.
The event was declared open by the Queen and attended by a live audience of 38,000 and an estimated television audience of 1 billion.
The projection system – the largest supply of PIGI to date for a UK stadium event – was provided by E\T\C UK to the Games’ Ceremonies Producers, Jack Morton Worldwide. E\T\C also supplied technicians, programming and technical support services throughout the event.
The projectors were all rigged on trussing under the stadium roof – eight on the East stand and eight on the West, pointing down at the pitch. Their ballasts were actually on top of the stadium’s roof, enclosed in weatherproof housings, custom built by E\T\C.
The PIGIs were an integral part of the lighting for both the M2002 Opening and Closing Ceremonies - and were specified by the ceremony project’s co-lighting designers, Andy Bridge and Andy Doig.
Fitted with PIGI double-rotating scrollers, the projectors all beamed down onto the playing field - covered by a floor cloth for the shows - creating spectacular images, texturing and patterns for all to see.
The effects created big, bold, mega-bright images on the pitch, ranging from stars and moons and other graphic style effects to colourful patchworks and photographic images.
PIGI projectors were specified because they were considered to be the most suitable lightsource. They had to be powerful enough to create the 115m by 62m images, and simultaneously cut through to the floor cloth amidst heavy lighting from large conventional fixtures.
The results and the impact of the PIGI’s on the high-energy opening and closing events was dazzling.
(GB)