Product category:
Event production, video production
News Release from: PRG Europe
Edited by the Marketingservicestalk Editorial
Team on 14 January 2008
London sees in 2008 with PRG Europe
An estimated 700,000 people (nearly ten per cent of Londoners) went to central London to bring in the New Year, which culminated in a ten-minute firework and light spectacular around the London Eye.
Once again, lighting was supplied by PRG Europe, with lighting design by Durham Marenghi and fireworks by Christophe Berthonneau and Jonas Bidault of GroupeF on behalf of Jack Morton Worldwide whose Executive Producer was Jim Donald Marenghi explained: "For the fourth consecutive New Year's Eve, associate LD Paul Cook and I created a three-hour light show prior to midnight and then supported the firework finale with the floodlighting of the Eye and aerial searchlight effects
This article was originally published on Marketingservicestalk on 17 Sep 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
PRG lights sky for Liverpool's 800th birthday
To celebrate 800 years to the day since King John signed the charter that created the city of Liverpool, the city arranged some pretty serious events for Tuesday 28 August.
PRG Europe lights St Pancras High Speed opening
The opening event for High Speed 1 at London St Pancras International station saw PRG Europe supply some seven 45ft truck loads of lighting equipment.
"PRG Europe, led by crew chief Gerry Mott, supplied 100 VL5 arc luminaires and ten 10kw Syncrolite searchlights to outline the wheel, with Stage Electrics, led by Simon Baker, supplying the 32 radio-controlled Mac2ks in the pods and 16 Martin BigLites on the pontoon.
"The light show element also used the existing LED installation on the London Eye and this was programmed specifically for the event by Simon Hicks of Pharos Controls".
PRG Europe project manager John McEvoy said: "We placed the VL5s on the pontoon which extends into the Thames at the base of the Eye, and the 10kw Syncrolites on the bank behind and in a line perpendicular to the wheel to create aerial fans and a massive 100,000 watt vertical beam.
Further reading
Horse Show moves in leaps and bounds with PRG
PRG Europe has once again supplied lighting, control, power and distribution for the London International Horse Show at Olympia.
Fiat 500 launched with help from PRG Europe
Exactly 500 hours after the stroke of midnight that saw in the New Year, car manufacturer Fiat introduced its new 500 model at the London Eye.
"Paul came in to our WYSIWYG studio before Christmas, where he planned the lighting, then on the evenings of 29 and 30 December, after the Eye closed for the evening, he programmed from a position on the opposite bank using wireless DMX from the PRG Europe-supplied Wholehog II".
On the night, Cook was positioned on the same side as the Eye, to avoid having to cordon off a section of the most popular area of the north bank for the lighting control position, and the wireless to the VL5s and Syncrolites replaced with wires.
Marenghi positioned himself on the steps down to the water, out of the public's way, with a two-way radio to do the cue calls; fortunately it was low tide.
Cook said: "We wanted to do a bigger flood effect than we've had previously, so we used a wider 'chase' from the searchlights through the wheel's spokes.
"The aim was to get an attractive and anticipatory focus before the show, in conjunction with the music from BBC Radio 1.
"We used the atomic clock at Rugby to ensure the lighting was in sync with the fireworks and Big Ben at midnight".
London's Mayor, Ken Livingstone, said: "Hundreds of thousands of people enjoyed a magnificent and spectacular start to 2008, and millions more will have been able to enjoy it live on television.
"With the equivalent of one in ten Londoners enjoying the fireworks in central London alone, it shows a city seeing in the New Year in style".
• PRG Europe: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Marketingservicestalk email newsletter
• Marketingservicestalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
