IN THE NEWS
32 APRIL 2020 • WWW.LSIONLINE.COMincluding 70 dancers, 12 actors/
singers and eight acrobats from
various nations - performed
choreography by Alissar
Caracalla, with the direction of
Ivan Caracalla. Here too, the
technical team was Italian.
To ship the 760m3 of set
components from Rome to
Al-Ula, 10 high-cube containers
were required. From Italy,
projection designer Sergio
Metalli, his son Mattia, who was
responsible for digital FX and
post production, and Andrea
Rossino (3D graphics and
modelling) brought a render
farm comprising 20 quad-core
PCs to adapt video content to
the set, along with a multi-
access NAS server for
centralised file management
and three graphic workstations
to process the images and
Dataton Watchout V6 playout
software.
Meanwhile, 250 Gloshine W
Pro 3.91-pitch LED modules
formed four 6m x 13m screens,
mounted in pairs on tracks
parallel to the stagefront and
controlled by two Novastar
processors and an Analog Way
Ascender multi-output 4K
seamless switcher and
processor. Metalli Sr. explains:
“Using seven Christie Roadster
HD20K-J projectors, we
projected on the set’s ‘rocks’,
plus we projected statues of
Adonis and Aphrodite in the
niches of the ‘museum’. We
also projected the designs of the
traditional Moucharabieh
latticework grilles used in Arab
countries to protect women
from indiscreet eyes. We built
a 3D version of Egypt in greatdetail, and invented
a Damascus with hundreds of
towers, on which we ran a long
3D zoom.”
Using a Blackmagic 6K
Pocket Cinema camera, Metalli
shot footage with a 45m green
screen in Baalbeck and Beirut,
filming gypsy dances, camel
caravans and a sort of
horseback ‘capture the flag’ for
the Al-Ula village festivities.
Meanwhile, drones equipped
with DJI Zemuse X7 stabilised
compact Super 35 cameras
were used to capture footage of
the areas around the historic
Dedan Lion Tombs, Mada’in
Salih, ancient rock writing,
camels in the desert, Al-Ula’s
lush mountains and palm
oases.
Metalli concludes: “Apartfrom the venue’s unique
location, from a technical
viewpoint, this show differs from
others we’ve done with
Caracalla Dance Theatre insofar
as this has been the first time
we’ve used an LED screen as
a backdrop.”
Maraya’s house lighting rig
comprises 180 moving head
fixtures, mainly Robe BMFL
Blades and Spiiders and
Claypaky Mythos 2s and
Sharpys, as well as some Aurora
V8 profiles from CKC, SGM Q7
floods, Martin Atomic 3000
strobes, four-lamp Molefays and
four Lycian 4K followspots. All
fixtures are controlled by a pair
of grandMA2 full-size consoles.
The LD for Jamil and
Bouthayna was Jacopo Pantani,
who began his career asa lighting technician in 2002 and
is now working in theatres of the
calibre of Sydney Opera House
and Covent Garden. “I added
a truss bar with a second row of
Robe Spiiders for backlight to the
standard rig, reaching a total of
around 240 automated fixtures,”
he explains. “This enabled me to
adapt a rig conceived for pop
concerts to a more theatrical
use. It was a race against time,
but in the end, the result paid off
perfectly.”
Towards the end of Jamil and
Bouthayna, the video screens
used for the production parted
to reveal the large upstage
window looking out on to
the epic desert landscape -
a reminder of this stunning
new concert hall’s incredible
setting. I“We created
a theatre in the
desert from
scratch, in an
area that aims
at becoming the
country’s cultural
hub and opening
up to tourism.. .”
- Fabio Pavanetto