Commissioned by event production company Aztech Productions, Screenco provided LED screens and crew for V2001 in both Chelmsford and Shropshire recently. At Chelmsford, two 32sq.m 25mm LED screens were used stage left and right, whilst two 32sqm JTS17 Jumbotron screens were used stage left and right at Weston Park. As an additional enhancement, a 21.5sqm Lighthouse 20mm daylight screen was used upstage centre as a backdrop for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers set.

In addition to live footage supplied by Mission TV and XL Video, pre-recorded programming for intervals was supplied by Blink TV. Blink also commissioned Screenco to provide LED screens at both the Reading and Leeds festivals this summer. Two 17.5sqm 15mm LED screens were used stage left and right for both venues, whilst an 8.5sqm 15mm LED was also situated FOH at Reading with pre-recorded footage again produced by Blink.

Screenco also provided Jumbotron screens and crew at both Creamfields and Gig on the Green. Commissioned by event management company Polar Arts, the screens were utilized as additional visual conduit for the Radio 1 stage at Creamfields and for the main stage at Gig on the Green. As well as live feeds, the screens were also used to output BT Cellnet’s SMS service, displaying text messages from audience members.

The recently expanded Creative Technology has quickly gained official IT and AV supplier status on a number of high profile exhibitions, including the recent Total Publishing 2001 show at Olympia in London. Contracted by organizers Quantum Business Media, Creative Technology supplied a semi-permanent network of PC hardware and iMacs for the Technology Theatre, which was used by numerous exhibitors for training workshops aimed at visitors to the show. Extensive use of sound equipment and IT data presentations were also incorporated for assisted product demonstrations.

Additionally, Creative Technology has gained official show status for numerous ongoing events, spearheaded by CT’s Exhibition Organiser’s account manager Beth Hathaway, recruited earlier this year. Based at CT’s NEC office, Beth covers the whole country and since joining has secured a number of exhibition contracts with preferred supplier status including BBC Good Food 2001, Interbuild 2002, Hotelympia and Sports Industry 2002, Trident Exhibitions, Dive Show, Sound Broadcasting Equipment and Speciality and Fine Food amongst others. Also secured with official status - by the CT London office - is TMA Ventures 2001, which takes place in Brighton on October 29-31. TMA Ventures is the commercial subsidiary of the CMA (Communications Management Association) - the business user association for communications professionals. TMAV provides a range of leading media and information services within the Telecoms and IT arena.

The LDI Show will go ahead as planned from November 2-4 in Orlando. In response to a number of enquiries following the events in New York and Washington, the organizers are keen to reassure people, through a statement posted on their website, that the exhibition will go ahead as usual. "We at LDI would like to express our deepest sympathy to all who are affected by the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Our thoughts are with you. We cannot let terrorists bring world business to a halt and we at LDI and Primedia Business Exhibitions feel it is very important that all businesses show their resilience. At this time, we do not foresee major disruptions for a smooth and successful show floor opening on Friday, November 2, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. LDInstitute is still scheduled to open on Monday, October 29."

If any exhibitors or visitors have any questions or concerns about the Show, they should contact any of the following people: Paul Stratton, LDI Show Director Tel: + 1 720-489-3118 pstratton@primediabusiness.com

Ellen Lampert-Gréaux, LDI Conference Director Tel: +1 212-229-2965 x 830 elgreaux@primediabusiness.com

Jacqueline Tien, Publisher, Lighting Dimensions, Entertainment Design Tel: +1 212-229-2965 x 815 jtien@primediabusiness.com

You can also look at PLASA Media’s LDI Factsheet at www

PLASA 2001, the Professional Lighting and Sound Association’s annual entertainment technology showcase, held at Earls Court from 9-12 September, received an overwhelming thumbs up from exhibitors and visitors alike.

Understandably, the horrific events in New York and Washington cast a shadow over the Show, not least because of the large number of American exhibitors and visitors who always support the event. The shock of the news was felt widely across the show floor, but it quickly turned to a resolve to keep the Show open and a determination that business should go ahead as usual.

Attendance figures were boosted 4.5% on last year’s event as 13,373 visitors (subject to ABC audit) attended the spectacular four-day show to witness the unveiling of the industry’s latest innovations. Of these visitors, an amazing 25% were international. Results of an exit survey showed that over 80% of visitors to this year’s Show felt that PLASA was the Show to view leading edge entertainment technology and new product launches. Highly respected as the international entertainment and technology exhibition, PLASA provided a platform for nearly 350 manufacturers, suppliers and distributors to present their very latest products, innovations and designs and to strike valuable business deals. From state-of-the-art sound systems, spectacular lighting effects, staging concepts and fog machines to audio-visual equipment, trussing and the very latest in DJ decks, PLASA 2001 featured something for everyone.

It represented more than just a place to see the latest entertainm

Apologies to the Stereophonics, but this is going to be an unsung heroes review. Unlike other shows, I’m going to concentrate attention on the peripherals, everything other than light and sound.

Following the appalling tragedy at Roskilde, crowd management has ridden to the top of all festival organiser’s agendas. This was the first big show at Donnington since the demise of the annual Monsters of Rock five years ago, and security arrangements were uppermost in many minds. Showsec, the contracted party, has much experience of Donnington, not least from Monsters, so in many ways choosing them was a given. Company founder Mick Upton managed a team of 250 Showsec staff from the control room, which he shared with local emergency services and licensing officials, monitoring events by radio and CCTV. Mike Harding, group operations director, was at the sharp end of crowd control, with responsibility for some 40,000 individuals. "As it happened, the event was very good-natured. The crowd tended to be younger and less intoxicated than the old Monsters crowds, and presented no major challenges, even back at the campsite after the show."

Harding’s low-key post show report belies the planning that led to this benign state of affairs. One of the key areas of concern was the front of the crowd and pit area. Following the commitment made by SFX director Stuart Galbraith at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) this year, where he said that SFX would "proactively discourage crowd surfing," plans were drawn up. A primary D barrier system (f

Cork-based lighting, technical design and production specialists LDPS has further expanded its team with the addition of two new project consultants - Joe Stockdale and Michael Hurley. Their specialist areas are stage technologies and mixed/multi-media respectively. Stockdale and Hurley join LDPS founder Grant Collie and will be based in the company’s new premises in central Cork. The appointments will strengthen LDPS’s position as a market leader in the field of creating practical technical solutions based on hands-on experience.

Stockdale’s role will include venue technical design, specialising in stage systems, site installation supervision, special projects, client liaison, training and recruitment. His diverse background includes the teaching of theatre studies, set design and construction and event production. For the last nine years, he worked as technical stage Manager at Cork Opera House, a demanding multi-purpose venue. Stockdale is also a master boat builder and a master of lateral thinking!

Michael Hurley will be LDPS’s multi-media project consultant, and his work on venue technical design, specification and installations will include the exacting areas of sound/AV systems and acoustics. His previous experience includes working as chief electrician at the Cork Opera House and running his own successful AV business. Hurley has extensive experience in the fast-moving worlds of computer graphics, video editing and projection systems, making him ideal to oversee this aspect of LDPS.

Collie comments, "I’m delighted that Joe an

PLASA is now just two days away and it looks like this year’s event will be the best ever. PLASA is where you get to find out what over 400 of the industry’s leading players have been doing in the past few months. It’s got to be better than leafing through hundreds of product brochures or trawling the internet for information. Aside from the exhibition, there are plenty of things to catch the eye, including the DJ Competition on the Sunday, the newly-introduced iDJ Talk Zone offering advice to DJs, a comprehensive seminar and workshop programme, the PLASA Awards for Product Excellence, the various Feature Areas, and the many events, press launches and on-stand receptions organized by exhibitors. If you still haven’t registered for the event, don’t worry, you can register on the day. All you need to do is turn up at Earls Court 1 and register on the door. See you there.

Metro Broadcast led the UK by providing state-of-the-art High-Definition multicamera equipment into Europe, on Saturday 11th August 2001. Produced by Done and Dusted and staged at the Mungersdorf stadium in Cologne, Germany, the Robbie Williams concert was captured using 15 Sony High-Definition cameras following Metro’s success in supplying the UK’s first ever multi-camera High-Definition shoot to an S Club 7 concert earlier this summer. Metro sourced six of the camcorders from the Continent using its global agency, Eurocrew Worldwide, whilst obtaining the other nine from various hire companies in the UK. Having managed the first multicamera High-Definition shoot, the main challenges were logistical. "10 camcorders from one country was exciting in itself, but 15 spread over four was certainly a challenge," reveals Mark Cox, facilities director at Metro. "There were also a few extra toys on this shoot, including an Akela crane and 300’ cherry picker to add to the excitement of the rig," adds Cox.

This highly mobile and compact 2.2 million pixel acquisition and recording solution offers superb picture quality efficiently packed onto a half inch tape. "As an alternative medium to film, High-Definition is a very strong competitor to 16mm at the moment and certainly more flexible," states Celia Blaker, producer at Done and Dusted. The concert will be post-produced by The Farm for release on DVD and video at a later date.

Firepower is the new Royal Artillery Experience, set in the historic buildings of the Royal Arsenal on the River Thames at Woolwich.

The attraction was designed by Event Communications, whose main challenge was to overcome people’s discomfort with the reality of war. They tackled this by highlighting the role in the fight for democracy and freedom played by the armed forces, especially the Royal Artillery, which has been present at all major theatres of war involving the British Army over the last 300 years.

The centrepiece of Firepower is the ‘ground-shaking’ Field of Fire - a spectacular multimedia presentation that recreates what it feels like to be in the middle of a real battle. On entering, visitors are surrounded by various pieces of artillery. Suspended above these are four 5m wide front projection screens. Projecting onto each screen is a Barco 6300 LCD Video Projector with the video sourced from an Electrosonic MPEG2 Server. Overall show control is from an Electrosonic ESLINX show control system, and there are 36 channels of dimming using Celco Fusion dimmers. The audio system, designed by Peter Key, uses Crown amplifiers and EAW loudspeakers with a Bose Acoustic Wave Cannon, Bose 402C controller and 2600 V1 Amplifier.

The historic site is being opened up to the public for the first time since the Regiment’s establishment in the early 18th century. Four listed buildings are being renovated in order to house the collection, including Europe’s oldest Military Academy.

The jewel in the British Film Industry’s crown, the National Film Theatre is generally acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest cinemas, offering the biggest and best choice of films dating back to the origins of the industry (it is the only public cinema that can still show inflammable nitrate film).

With three screens showing over 2,000 films, head of technical services, Richard Boyd knows that while they face a critical audience of purists, technologically times also move forward. The principal auditorium already boasted digital sound and recently the NFT decided to review its projection equipment. The 450-seat NFT1 boasts a 12.5ft high screen, and when it came to researching the market for the new generation of DLP digital video projection Boyd scrutinized the market closely before opting for a fully-featured, three-chip DLP Christie Digital Roadster X4, fitted with a 4-7:1 lens.

The NFT project manager, Ed Mauger and independent software programmer Tony Hay, along with control and display solutions specialists Planet Communications and Christie Digital support teams, designed a complex system that allowed for fast switching, cueing and parameter changing of the X4. This has been achieved via a Crestron CNMSXAV control processor and LC1600L 6" passive matrix colour LCD rackmount touchpanel, which has been integrated into an Ed Mauger-designed custom panel with faders. This takes care of the remote cueing and switching of all the theatre’s playback sources - DVD, VHS, S-VHS, Betacam and U-matic hi- and lo-band - as well as satellite, TV and

The Illuminated Video Workshop, the Screenco-led consortium that presented two days of innovative show magic at Three Mills Island studios last winter, is set to stage the successful workshop again at the PLASA Show. Situated in the ‘AV Gallery’ of Earl’s Court’s Top Deck, Screenco’s Mike Walker has pulled together the same top-flight technical support teams from the premier event. WAlker explained: "Judging from the number of calls from people who had been unable to attend the January event, the reputation of that two-day spectacular had really spread further than we could ever have imagined. We have been inundated with calls from people, who realising that they had missed out on something special, asking whether we would ever be running it again."

Walker’s first calls were to Edwin Shirley Staging, who agreed to provide their lozenge-shaped Orbit stage - with the dome at each end - and to Chris Beale at SSE Hire, whose provision of the Out Board TiMax sound spatialising system had been one of the highlights of the event. He also contacted Simon Whittaker at Stage One Creative Services - who will again be providing their Q-Motion system to track the 15mm and 25mm Screenco modules on vertical excursions and spinning rotations - and technical director Adam Wildi. Both instantly pledged their support. Peripheral AV equipment will be provided by Screenco’s sister company, Creative Technology, who will supply plasma screens, Electrosonic Vector image processing and Doremi digital video disk recorders.

The PLASA event will

For those of you not ornithologically minded, the Audubon Society describes eagles as ‘magnificent predators of the air, one of the most exciting birds to witness in action’ - but frankly, this particular Californian sub-species was rather dull to witness in action.

Have you ever seen a crocodile in a zoo? It sits there - an armoured monster so highly developed it hasn’t evolved for 60 million years - and doesn’t move. Something similar was going on in Manchester in late June. The performance, in terms of execution, was without imperfection, apart that is, from the interminable changes. Every time the show approached anything like the critical velocity so essential for momentum, they threw it away with a trip to make-up. The singing was crystal, even if Joe Walsh did look like a man recovering from a severe stroke when he sang, and the playing was note perfect. But it was lifeless. Tough job for the production then?

As video director Kate Ferris said, "this is strictly I’mag presentation." Kate is a veteran of concert video, though her work is infrequently seen in the UK. She regularly directs for Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan and Cher to name but three, and it was apparent that in terms of demand, this was fairly low key for her. The two screens (four when they play in-the-round), and all other video kit comes from Nocturne in the US. The projectors are probably of most interest, being DLP 10kWs from Digital Projection in Atlanta, which I’m assured are the brightest for their rating, and very straightforward and reliable.

Bookings are now well underway for the seminar and workshop programme planned for the PLASA Show. This year the emphasis is very much on knowledge with those signing up gaining an insight into how new technology is creating new opportunities, how individuals have pulled together highly complex projects, why integration is so important and how they can achieve more by picking up tips and techniques from others.

In a programme of seminars sponsored by Installation Europe, audio installation and integration is the theme under which issues of networking, control and the benefits of converging technologies are explored. Tuesday sees a Theme and Leisure Masterclass, presented by Leisure Management, in association with the TEA and TiLE, which focuses on how the leisure industry exploits special effects, lighting and audio technology to create unique environments to enhance the visitor experience. On Wednesday, the sessions move to consider the integration of audio and lighting into building design, the regulations facing those who install lighting, the increasing profile of new media such as LED technology, and the basics of video conferencing.

For the first time you can also attend any number of focused courses and workshops. The ISCE is running three sessions covering the issues associated with audio system design, whilst Loughborough College and the AETTI are jointly promoting a series of courses which offer those interested in theatre a chance to work towards BTEC certification.