With the slogan “One World, One Dream” all nations were invited by the People’s Republic of China to the Summer Olympics 2008, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad. The Opening Ceremony has been held on August 8th in the Beijing National Stadium, – the “Bird’s Nest” – which can seat as many as 91,000 spectators. More than 2,300 DMX controlled fixtures transformed the stadium into a never before seen sea of lights.
Clay Paky’s Alpha Wash 1200 played a key role in colouring the extraordinary choreographies of the thousands of ballerinas, acrobats and performers who made this one of the most spectacular and exciting ceremonies of this new century.
The projectors were listed as Lighting Designer Mr Sha’s first choice during the planning stage. ACE – Advanced Communication Equipment, Clay Paky’s Chinese distributor, purchased the Alpha Wash 1200 to supply them to SMG – Shanghai Media Group, one of the leading TV and radio broadcasting networks in the China. In turn, SMG reported to the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) which carefully examined and screened all the necessary stage material before giving final approval.
Alberico D’Amato, Clay Paky general manager for China and most of South-East Asia, tells us how Clay Paky experienced the months leading up to the event: “After learning that LD had requested our products, I went on site several times with our project support manager, Giovanni Zucchinali, to assist local workers in fine-tuning the light design”.
In turn, for six months ACE included one of its technicians in the work group provided by the Olympic Committee in order to take the advantage of the full potential offered by the lighting system. In all, planning, staging and programming the sole lighting system took more than 2 years of meticulous preparation.
In a historic moment when many Asian markets were invaded by small manufactures who often focus on price policies without much care for product quality, it’s no surprise that Clay Paky considered China a key market, from both the sales and prestige standpoints, and Alberico D’Amato tells us why: “China is one of the most dynamic markets for Clay Paky where we can count on important references like the National Grand Theatre in Beijing – the most innovative and futuristic theatre in all of China – the fabulous Opera House and Oriental Art Center in Shanghai, the leading television studios, this year’s Olympic and Para-Olympic Games”.
“This is proof” – continued Alberico D’Amato “of how our culture and professionalism is appreciated and desirable, even in the country with the highest population and fastest growth in the world. Attentive customers know that Clay Paky is backed by a quality certificate that no other “emulator” will ever be able to give”.
Technical Staff:
Artistic director: Zhang Yimou.
Lighting Designer: Sha Xiao Lan
Control system and broadcast lighting: Paul Collison
grandMA programmers: Feng Bin, Wu Guoquing and Huang Tao
Lighting assistants: Quan Xiaojie, Zhang Wei, Wang Zhiyi, Ma Jiebo and Wang Tong.
Lighting production company: CCTV – Central China Television in conjunction with Quan Jiang, Shang Hai
Televison, Gong Ti, Bei Ao, and Feng Shang Shi Ji.
Technical realisation: ACE – Advanced Communication Equipment Co Ltd.