IPS provides Layher Structures, LED Screens & Lighting Equipment for the European Film Premiere
Working for Limited Edition Event Design, IPS supplied a range of Structures, Rigging, Lighting and Video equipment for the Superhero based premiere. Working in London's famous Leicester Square is always a challenge due to the high profile of the location, and the constant stream of public around the site - so the installation and derig had to be carefully planned. Matters were further complicated due to terrorist incidents in Belgium on the morning of the show date, and only due to the quick response from production team was the event still able to take place.
The structures supplied were fourteen individual 2m x 2m x 5m high Layher towers, which were constructed in two linked sections to spell out Batman and Superman with LED Screens. The towers were clad to the front sides with solid set panels, and incorporated large format prints of character artwork. The towers were interconnected with more Layher components, which were also clad with solid panels. Due to the location of the towers within the gardens, the rear of the structures were also dressed with black material so everything looked neat from all sides. Custom structural calculations were produced to ensure that everything was safe, with counterweight provided in the form of IPS 500kg concrete ballast blocks used in the bases of the towers. Each of the towers featured integrated ladder access to the LED Screen and Lighting positions, with a gated safe working platform art each level to provide safe and easy access.
Each of the Layher towers was fitted with a 1.5m wide by 2.5m high Chauvet LED Screen. This is the largest video project on a premiere to date for IPS, and an ideal application for the 6.9mm pitch Chauvet PVP X6IP LED Screen which forms the IP rated LED screen option within the IPS rental stock. Each screen was mapped using the Chauvet PVP drivers and signal distribution run from LED Studio control software. The custom content was generated by the client, and played back using a D3 Media Server. The cabling infrastructure for the screens was all run via TourCat ruggedized Cat5 cables.
A wide variety of lighting was specified by Limited Edition, and included Clay Paky Mythos, Sharpy and Sharpy Wash fixtures, along with Martin MAC Aura and a quantity of the new LED MAC Quantum Profile. Showtec Pixel Track Pro's and Lanta V1000 RGBAW LED Battens were also used, along with Smart Bat battery powered fixtures to uplight the 'V' structure. 
These were supplemented with almost 200 generic fixtures, comprising of a mixture of Fresnels, Source 4's and Parcans. The premiere was also the debut of the new Chauvet Epix Strip Tour fixtures – new to IPS hire stock. These are 1m long RGB LED fixtures with a 25mm pixel spacing that can be driven via various lighting protocols including Artnet, sACN & KlingNet. The Epix strips were used in multiples on the panels between the towers, powered by Epix Drive 900 drivers, and all mapped via the lighting desk. All the lighting was controlled via a Chamsys MQ100 desk with a playback wing. Multiple Artnet universes were used (sixteen in total) using the IPS 8 Way Artnet racks.
The premiere was a great success, and it looked great on the day as well as on camera. If you have a dry hire requirement for any of the equipment featured on this event, or would like some more information on any items, please get in touch. Alternatively, if you have any projects coming up that need bespoke LED screens and support towers, we can help – please get in touch to discuss the options we can offer you.
