CT ensures Riyadh Season closes with a bang

Creative Technology (CT) Middle East provided site-wide projection for Leila, The Land of Imagination when it took place at the King Fahd Stadium in Riyadh. The spectacle was the grand finale of Saudi Arabia’s Riyahd Season, which has seen a host of events staged in the capital city over the last two months. CT was commissioned by Balich Worldwide Shows (BWS).

The spectacular event, created by Marco Balich and his all-female creative team from BWS, captured the essence of Saudi Arabia through an adventurous 10-year-old lead character, Leila, symbolising the next generation of Saudis who will experience the realities of the changing kingdom, established by Vision 2030.

The stage had multiple projected scenic reveals including a 12m-high Inflatable Fortress, a Gauze house which revealed beneath the field of play, an inflatable hand and a hot air balloon which moved position during the show.

‘The biggest challenge was projecting onto the moving scenic elements as there was a risk they could be affected by varying wind speeds and direction,’ explained Tom Stocks, CT’s senior engineer. ‘Our disguise operators were always on standby to make real-time adjustments to projection lineup as the scenic elements revealed themselves during the show. We used 89 Panasonic RZ-31k and 21K projectors and Epson EB-L1755U laser projectors with ultra-short-throw lenses to span across a 4,400m² projection surface which included four hills, a lake and a sandpit.’

CT provided BlackTrax real-time tracking technology which was integrated into the technical solution to track performers and scenic elements throughout the show. ‘In the stadium catwalk, a redundant camera system was installed consisting of 14 BlackTrax Prime 41 cameras and six disguise Omnical cameras,’ furthered Stocks. ‘BlackTrax was used to track 14 moving discs on the field of play, projecting content during a large choreographed element of the show.'

BlackTrax was also integrated into the lighting design and was used for tracking Leila for the duration of the show. A total of 60 beacons were used to track performers, horses and scenic elements.

Lastly, CT delivered a full site-wide monitor system, including its new Birddog A200 PTZ cameras, allowing production, stage management and creatives a full overview of the site during the rehearsals and show. It also provided a daily rehearsal record with imbedded time code for review by the technical and creative teams.

‘Working closely with the technical management team from BWS, it has taken seven months of preproduction, six weeks on-site and three weeks of rehearsals to perfect this event and our team at CT have enjoyed every moment of it,’ concluded CT project manager, Dan Hughes. ‘It was a pleasure to be part of such an amazing event, and we look forward to working with Balich again in the future.’