Qlimax 2018
Concerts & Touring
WI reaches a Qlimax Q-Dance staged another incredible Qlimax event at the Gelredome in Arnhem, the Netherlands, a full-on visual, sonic and musical extravaganza featuring the best hardcore and hardstyle dance and trance… and right at the heart of the show’s production was a giant Geisha head comprising nine moving pieces and weighing 8 tons, designed by Dennis van Harten and Daan Jansen and sculpted by Brok Decor. To animate this visual masterpiece, Q-Dance’s technical director Hans Bokkinga called on our innovative and technical skills. We were also asked to carry out all the necessary structural calculations on the objects making up the Geisha once they were built and assembled by the set company.
Q-Dance events are known worldwide for their technical ambition, and their creative team already had a list of the basic moves and looks they wanted to achieve throughout the evening with the Geisha, so WICREATIONS applied experience and knowledge of automation and the venue to build a workable, safe and efficient system to transform it into the dramatic kinetic sculpture that all had envisioned.
MOTION GEAR
The movement system was utilizing items entirely from WI’s rental stock... which helped keep it cost effective to deliver this show-stopping effect!
We used our WIHOISTS and WI TRACK TO bring the Geisha's face to life.
Each element of the Geisha that moved and its corresponding flying points needed to be carefully calculated due to the weight loading of the Gelredome roof and the dynamics of the movement.
The entire motion set was directed from our WIMOTION DESK.
EFFECT
UPPERSTAGE
- Tracking Scenic objects SL and SR
- Scenic Object lifting
It was a challenge to realize the project in a short timeframe
FACIAL MOTION IN FIGURES
The most downstage section of the head was a circular scenic logo and behind it a video screen which was not actually part of the face but moved up and down in front of the forehead. Both these layers moved simultaneously as one object.
The logo was flown on 4 WIHOISTS and a 5th HOIST to pick up the cabling looms, so these travelled neatly and safely up and down in union with the Geisha's face elements.
For the mouth and cheek sections, to assist with the roof weight loadings, a ground support system was installed with 500Kg WIHOISTS and towers, which pushed these pieces up and down.
The two eyes were each suspended on 2 WIHOISTS that moved independently – tracking left and right on a 30m long WITRACK as well as flying up and down.
The forehead was the heaviest single piece at 1.25 tons. This moved up and down as one large piece using 4 WIHOISTS with the logo positioned centrally over the top of it when in the ‘home’ position.
In addition to all these pieces making up the head, the WI team flew 2 offstage scenic creations called ‘the armour’ (left and right), each measuring 14 meterss high by 9 meters wide which also tracked up and down, each utilising 4 WIHOISTS.
Behind the armour was the ‘hair’, another piece in this elegant creation, which was tracked via 4 HOISTS on 4 axes - up and down plus on/offstage - along a 51 meter WITRACK also installed in the roof.
WIMOTION CONTROL SYSTEM
All these motion elements were programmed and run via WI’s own powerful motion control system. The console was operated by Arjen Hofma and Lesly van Rompaey who worked on-site alongside two other WI technicians. The crew worked split-shifts during the programming period so they could keep going and maximise the window available to achieve some of the complex and unique moves requested by the client.
A massive amount of detail needed dealing with... like ensuring that no cables passed in front of or were visible on any of the other elements as they moved. This was also another reason that the final technical design had included ground support components.
CREDITS
Qlimax 2018 was production managed for Q-Dance by Jeroen Beverwijk, and lighting designers Pascal Parent and Robbert-Jan Vernooij added some final touches of drama and coolness to the Geisha and other scenics.
The Geisha was a hugely successful concept which left a memorable stamp on this year’s event and - for the thousands more fans not able to attend in person - it generated loads of comments and engagement in the press and across multiple social media platforms.
WI's key account manager is Koen Peeters.
