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ARRImAX in China
Illuminating the grand gala on Tian’anmen Square
October 1 st 2009 marked the 60 th anniversary
of the founding of the People’s
Republic of China. The Grand Gala, featuring
a light cube performance engaging
more than 4,000 trees of LED lights and a
dazzling fireworks show, was the culmination
of a series of events celebrating this
special day. 12 ARRIMAX and 6 ARRI 18K
Daylight lampheads were selected for
illuminating the Grand Gala that evening,
supported by Zhonghe Studios and ARROW
Studios.
Ma Qingyuan, designer of film and TV
lighting for the Grand Gala and President
of Zhonghe Studios, who is working on
production for the upcoming Shanghai
Expo and boasts clients of famous brand,
shared his thoughts with ARRI NEWS.
How did you get involved in this event?
Ma Qingyuan: Sha Xiaolan, the Chief
Lighting Designer for the Opening and
Closing Ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics,
was also the Chief Lighting Designer for
this event. I worked with Sha at the Beijing
Olympics, and he invited me to help him here.
How big is the lighting area? Which lampheads
were used?
MQ: In addition to the lighting system for the
special effects, it was necessary to light the
entire main performance area. We tested
many ARRISUN 6Ks on the first rehearsal but
found the illumination was not enough and
Ma Qingyuan
the positioning of lampheads was restricted
too. As a consequence we had to reduce the
quantity of lampheads while at the same
time increasing the illumination. In this
scenario, ARRIMAX became a must!
To illuminate the main performance area,
200m x 500m in front of Tian’anmen Tower,
only 12 ARRIMAX and 6 ARRI Daylight 18K
lampheads were needed due to the light
output and the superb quality of illumination
with the ARRIMAX.
Besides a powerful and even illumination for
a big area, were there any other requirements
to be met?
MQ: As you can see from the pictures, a
special frame was set up to position the
lampheads on each side of Tian’anmen
Tower, very close to the leaders of the
L i g h t i n g
Central Government and important overseas
guests. Safety is always a vital issue
and so ARRIMAX’s German TÜV certification
was passed to Central Government officials
for approval. The safety issues were also
checked by ARRI whose quality was highly
praised by the Central Government.
How well did the lighting system cope with
the heavy Beijing rain?
MQ: The rain was unusual in Beijing at
that time of the year, but we had arranged
special plastic covers for each lamphead.
These covers protected the lampheads as
they warmed up and were then taken off
so all the lampheads were working from
7.00pm to 2.00am, without any shutdown!
That’s amazing, and a tribute to ARRI’s
products.
Pearl Guo / Jessica Choy
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