Samsung Galaxy S4 launch

16 May 2013


Forming part of the Samsung Galaxy S4 World Tour, the Galaxy S4 was launched to the South African market at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg recently and was attended by some 2 000 guests.  

The elaborate event consisted of two parts; a formal conference followed by a spectacular surprise party where the entertainment included everything from aerial acts to ballerinas in LED tutus and popular DJs. Lighting was breath-taking.

    This was the largest event Victor Vermaak from AV Unlimited (AVU) had worked on as Production Manager. It was also the proudest moment of his career to date. AVU were commissioned to supply the full technical.  

The greatest challenge for Vermaak and Garrith Castelyn (AVU’s in house creative and designer) was designing a concept that would fit into the budget without losing the essence of the concept pitched. Top prize would be incorporating the extras that would change the look of the event completely, one of them being a cleverly designed LED “chandelier” that made up a part of the elaborate DJ booth and stage centre to the after party room.

  A mere two weeks prior to the event, AVU received the green light from their client, Mela Events, to go ahead with the full concept. “I actually knew from the beginning when I sent out the hopeful budgets that the show would be amazing,” said Vermaak. “When they signed it off and the Lighting Designer, AVU’s very own Renaldo Van De Berg, had all the fixtures on his dream list, I knew it could only go well.”    

On a show of this calibre, with innovative technical ideas, it made sense to call in the experts in the fields! The DuoLED LED screens were supplied and installed by LED Vision and LazerX was contracted to supply the lasers for the show.

    The Pavillion room at the Sandton Convention Centre was stratigically divided into two allocated areas. In fact, when guests attended the conference and reveal of the new smartphone, they had no idea that a curtain on a 35m electronic track, would open after the launch and they would escape to world of colour, music and sensation.  

“We had Sunday, 21st April for rigging,” said Vermaak. “There were five riggers and 116 points. All rigging and trussing was flown.”

  The kit was loaded in and set up on Monday and Tuesday, with a full day’s rehearsal on Wednesday and Thursday. The official event took place on Thursday evening.  

Conference Area

Dividing walls isolated the conference area. Mela Events, wanting to create an intimate atmosphere, added a ceiling made from Honeycomb mesh and brought in by Afresh, the contracted décor company. It served as a versatile surface onto which lighting could be projected.

    The cinema style seating saw presentations projected onto an enormous 34m screen, and the event was further complimented by musicians playing background music on either side of the stage – which was the same length as the screen. Feelancer Ligting Operator, Johnny Scholtz used soft colours with programming done on an Avolites Tiger Touch to create a clean corporate feel.   Entertainment / Party Area    

At a touch of a button, the curtains revealed the festivity zone.

“The best part of the whole event was setting up and seeing everything come together as we had planned,” said Renaldo van der Berg. He had chosen specific lighting fixtures, amongst others Robe and Clay Paky, for the event. The Clay Paky Alpha Spots, in particular, caught v d Berg’s attention and he loved the brightness, function and gobos of the unit.

  Initially the aim was to only utilize beams for the show, but due to the live acts, washes had to be incorporated and 24 x Robin 600 Washes performed faultlessly.

The show was run on a grandMA2. “The grandMA2 was fantastic and I wouldn’t have any other desk,” said v d Berg. “We included networking, VPU, NPU; the full MA in control.”

  In the centre of the room, a DJ booth had DJs Fresh, Euphonic, Roger Goode and DJ Luis playing. A full dance floor surrounded the DJ booth, and it was imperative to have brilliant lighting all around. The show incorporated marvellous flying acts, dancers and performers using CO² cannon guns to blast the audience. The rig was symmetrical and while often two acts would perform simultaneously on either side, each was lit with a totally unique look.        At the end of the day, careful planning saw Production Manager Victor Vermaak, strike gold.  “You’re only as good as the team you choose,” he said. “Everything was so well planned and executed, I almost felt like a third wheel. Each person knew what they had to do and they did it.”        

Conference Lighting Gear:

12        x          Philips Vari-lite VLX

12        x          Robin 600 LED Wash

12        x          Robin 300 LED Wash

18        x          Mac 700 Profile

14        x          Mac 700 Wash

12        x          Philips Selecon 2k Fresnel

12        x          Philips Selecon 650W Fresnel

1          x          Avolites Tiger Touch

2          x          Avolites Power Cubes

 

Entertainment / Party Lighting Gear

24        x          Robin 600 LED Wash

12        x          Robin 100 LED Beams

12        x          Robe MMX

4          x          Robe CitySkape Extreme

12        x          Clay Paky Alpha Spot

12        x          Clay Paky Sharpy

24        x          Mac 101

8          x          Martin Atomic 3000 Strobe

32        x          Martin LED Panels

204     x         DuoLed Panels

1          x          grandMA2

2          x          grandma VPU

1          x          grandma NPU

2          x          Avolites Power Cubes

2          x          MDG Hazer

1          x          MDG Low Fog

2          x          3W Lazers

2          x          22W Lazers