Utopium lights the way for the Hobbit premiere

December 11, 2014 at 11:29 AM

Utopium installed extensive lighting and truss support structures at the iconic Odeon cinema in Leicester square, as film stars gathered on a green carpet for the world premiere of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, 1^st Dec in London.

In line with the innovative design requirements from AD Events, Utopium worked closely with production manager Jimi Stone to install truss structures in three sections adjacent to the 140m of the green carpet. Thirty four LED video panels were suspended from the header truss, along with 140m x 7m high black drape, which masked the background to create a visually stunning effect.

The green carpet was illuminated along the entire length with a range of creative lighting elements including a combination of SGM P5 LED wash luminaires and Studio due LED City Colours. In addition, Chauvet LED Q wash 412z and 419z provided an eye-catching backdrop to the Empire and Odeon cinemas and around the stage where the world’s media captured the stars.

The installation was designed and project managed by Utopium managing director Colin Bodenham and implemented on site by Ian Evans. Colin said:

“The 70m single truss that spanned the north terrace was supported on eight masts, with a 14m truss spanning the North East corner on two masts and a 46m truss spanning the East terrace on six masts. The mast base structures were required to be as close to the ribbon seating that surrounds Leicester square gardens, to allow maximum room for the huge crowd.

“We utilised our custom designed mast support bases which gave a relatively small footprint and cantileverd the base plate behind the header truss. This provided a clear area in front of the mast and under the entire length of the truss, ideal for building video wall. This also allowed the screens to be raised in front of the masts, masking them and also allowing for a complete curtain to be suspended from the header truss in-between the screens and masts.”

In excess of 100,000kg of kentledge was required to stabilise the structures , which required careful site management implemented by Dikka Jones to accommodate the smooth running of the production.