The four-day event was held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London
UK - Following on from a highly successful event in 2016, creative agency Imagination has once again produced Make the Future London and the Shell Eco-marathon Europe, a four-day event held at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
The event promotes innovation and future technologies, and includes a variety of family-friendly activities and exhibits to educate and entertain. Imagination’s global project director, Lynda Hickey, and event technical director, Matt Francis, called on PRG XL Video to supply lighting, rigging, and video technology for the event, as the company was able to provide technology across all three disciplines.
PRG XL rigging account manager, Ade Stead, worked with Imagination’s brief to specify and build rigging structures for the outdoor stages, LED screens and lighting, and truss and supports for the lighting in multiple marquees across the site. Lighting account manager, Cameron Bannister, and onsite crew chief, Dana Read, provided a variety of fixtures including bright white Source4 Power Floods to light the Eco-marathon paddock and parc ferme marquees where the energy efficient vehicles were prepared.
ETC Source 4 Power Par fixtures were used for general lighting in the experiential areas. A crowd-pleasing zorbing experience, with midi-controlled lighting which changed colour based on the energy generated by the participants, used German Light Products GLP X4 fixtures to light the zorbs.
On the main stage truss totems were used to back the performers and these featured a combination of Sunstrips mounted vertically mixed with Robe Pointes and Robins.
Cameron said: “It was great to work with Matt and the team on this project for a second year in a row. The event is constantly developing and improving in terms of the show delivery, and the organisers endless drive to streamline the processes in bringing it together are industry leading. I look forward to working with everyone again in the near future.”
On the video side, PRG XL account manager, Rich Pow, and crew chief, Nathan Avery, worked with Matt Francis to provide a high resolution Unilumin 3.9m LED screen in the welcome area. This displayed an introductory film to visitors as they arrived.
In the park, they supplied a pair of ROE Visual MC-7 screens either side of the main stage, which displayed IMAG footage of the performers, and highlights of the Eco-marathon action. A further relay screen situated centrally in the park also displayed IMAG footage.
A pedestrian bridge across the Eco-marathon track allowed the visitors to walk from the entrance and paddock area to the main stage. Built into the side of the bridge, a further LED screen displayed the countdown clock for the qualifying heats and main race, as well as results, stats, and social media info.
IMAG footage was captured by several IP cameras installed across the site by Imagination, along with two wired and three wireless cameras from PRG XL.
Rich Pow concluded: “Once again, it was great to work with the Imagination team on Shell Make the Future London and the Eco-marathon Europe. Matt and the team made some small changes from last year’s event that had a huge positive impact on the build and the show itself. This is a magical event to work on from conception through to seeing it full of life on site. It’s a real family-pleasing event.”
(Jim Evans)

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