mep-Magazin December 2000

Spanish Night in Norway

Multimedia spectacle in the heart of Bergen

26 August, 22:30 pm, Bergen, Norway's Fjord capital: The earsplitting dark sound of a ship's horn interrupts the peaceful heart of Bergen city. Bright shining laser beams cut through the night. In the background, two frigates transparent like a Fata Morgana appear right in the middle of a lake

This is the opening of an event the city in the cold north has been waiting for for a long time. Thanking the Norwegian citizens for their order of three frigates, the Spanish shipbuilding company Bazan entrusted the Spanish multimedia artist Albert Ripoll i Coca and the Germany-based laser specialist LOBO to create a Spanish-Norwegian dream right in the center of Bergen.

Ripoll I Coca arranged a gigantic multimedia event combining laser, video, water and pyrotechnics as well as impressing dance performances. Maria Rosa, the Queen of Flamenco, came from Spain just for this event to bring Spanish flair to Norway dancing on a floating stage surrounded by laser beams.  In a composition of fireworks, video and laser, Albert Ripoll i Coca revealed the differences and similarities between Spain and Norway and created an experience appealing to all senses, which the city probably nevery experienced before.

As the show was dedicated to two countries whose culture and history are very much related to the element water, a 250 m long and about 150 m wide lake at the Festplazen was chosen as the venue.

For the projection of laser and video LOBO installed a floating rectangular water screen right in the middle of the lake, providing a homogenous projection of 30 m width and about 11 m height. In contrast to conventional approaches, which are typically only available in a semi-circular shape, LOBO's solution corresponds perfectly to the technical requirements of almost all projection media, enabling the realization of a wide screen laser and video projection that seemed to float in the air like a hologram. By means of two DLP video projectors of 11.000 ANSI-Lumen each, the light power required for the video projections was achieved.

For the creation of the laser effects, LOBO's unique laser truck system came into action. These large laser-scale mobile systems being installed in containers ready for operation are equipped with an integrated control station guaranteeing a maximum of efficiency and operational reliability. A concept that has proven its worth at countless international major events.

The chosen system offerring 60 Watts white-light laser power made it possible to realize giant projections and three-dimensional beam effects in every desired color and almost every dimension.

Furthermore, an entire backup system was running in parallel. Thus, in case of a system failure one single touch of a button would have been enough to switch to this completely self-sufficient and parallel-running system.

For the realization of the beam effects, LOBO installed special outdoor mirrors and 16 high-power fog generators. They were all installed on floating rafts or boats and have been equipped with large fans. LOBO's project coordinator: "One of the major challenges of this project is the problem of evenly spreading fog over an open area of about 40.000 m2 exposed to the variable winds of the evening hours. In order to be prepared for all eventualities we additionally have installed several pyrotechnical smoke generators around the lake."

In addition to laser, fog and Water Screen also the PA system with a power of 40.000 watts came from LOBO. This was controlled directly from the sound control station inside the Laser Truck. Due to the enormous distances of the venue, at least 250 m cable was required for one stretch. Therefore, LOBO had to mainly rely on radio-controlled systems

The public response to the project exceeded by far the client's expectations. This event already caused public attention months before it finally took place. Finally nearly one fifth of Bergen's inhabitants was present and the safety staff had a lot to do to control the masses. The technical director Bernhard Freyman: "About 39.000 spectators came to see the show. The enthusiastic response by the press on the title pages of the most widely read local newspaper was just overwhelming."