Bryan Leathem, head of SPS’s LED display department, explains: "Our brief was to take this important event that has been running for nearly a decade and bring something new and exiting to it, which we hope we achieved with this unique system. LED screens are often used as a back drop to events and conferences, but the feedback we had been getting from our clients was that they wanted to find a new way of staging their events. The way we used the LED screens is not a new idea in itself, the music industry hit on the idea a few years ago, and has most recently been seen on the ITV show ‘Pop Idol’. Because of the costs involved in hiring a video post-production suite to produce the images to fit the block of screens, this option remained closed to the corporate sector until now.
"We were able to create a template, which we designed in house, enabling the video or graphic images to be correctly positioned on each block of LED, and feed from one block to the next in sequence regardless of the position of the block within the set. Images displayed on the screens were generated on PowerPoint to fit the ready-made template. This process brings the costs right down, whilst still providing a professional solution to our clients needs.
"We provided a total of 7.2sqm of Barco Dlite 7mm LED screen for the IPC Awards, which was spread across six blocks measuring 896mm by 1344mm. Each block used 1.2sq.m of screen. We also provided two large video screens, positioned to the left and right of the stage, which displayed the names of the nominees and winners, along with video playback and camera pictures."
The position and structural support of the LED screens had to comply with strict health and safety regulations. Gerry Franke, key account manager at SPS, said: "We are very conscious of meeting health and safety standards at SPS, and the LED screens we produced for IPC were particularly challenging. They were supported by creating a solid H&S-compliant structure, which we then had to dress to look as though it was part of the set. Some of the set was pre-built, but most of it was constructed on-site, as we also provided additional sound and lighting to supplement the in house equipment.
"We provided a crew of 32 over a 24-hour set up period, including a caller to announce the 20 awards presented on the evening. We have worked with IPC before at these awards, and were very conscious of protecting the safety of both staff and the audience, and celebrity guests."
(Lee Baldock)
