In October, watch Harmony Under Water as the dome is submerged and octopus, tortoises and whales swim past at night.At the time, there was a lot going on in the world that I wanted to forget. “You can see the surprise in children’s eyes when suddenly performers appear or disappear on stage,” he said. The lift is strong enough to carry a car and continues to delight crowds during performances. “And inside, no one saw how the artists connected the globe in the dark as with the proper lighting, the cables disappear.”ĭesigners built a basement and lift under the revolving stage, used by performers such as Ellie Goulding to emerge in the central area. "Sometimes you need to play some tricks in order to keep audience attention. The Al Wasl dome is the crown jewel of a spectacular Expo 2020 Dubai. “It was supported with LED technology so for the naked eye the globe looked like it was rotating but it was only the content that was moving,” he said. Theatrical tricks created the effect of a rotating globe that was lifted with winches installed around the dome. “So when performers were dancing on the ground, the people on television saw drones flying into Al Wasl, they saw butterflies, white doves and towards the end the greenery that tumbled down and a waterfall,” he said. The crew worked with a broadcast director to plan every AI frame. “It was six cameras connected to filters of augmented reality in real-time renderings as we were shooting the event.” “The cameras would pass through the scene and add these elements. “This was one of the biggest installations of augmented reality for a live event in the world,” Mr Ghosheh said.
The planners created separate experiences for select guests who attended Expo's opening night and the millions watching on television.ĭrones diving into an enormous globe, a waterfall and butterflies fluttering in the central dome could only be seen by TV audiences. AI drones, butterflies and waterfallsĭancers perform at the Al Wasl during the opening ceremony of Expo 2020 Dubai. The crew also run through shows created for children and content supplied by countries who book the stage for celebrations. “There is always something new and when you see the reaction of the crowds it shows how special it is.”
“We have to tie together lighting, projection and audio and it’s all done with a time code so there is a specific sequence for all our synchronisation. “It’s the best view in the house,” said Mr Ainley of the team’s commanding view.Ī combination of live and timed sequences is programmed to play through the audio and light systems.
It is staffed 24x7 with engineers and software experts drawn from across the world who pull together the special effects.Īfter the Expo shuts for the night, co-ordinators rehearse the next day’s sequence.
Khushnum Bhandari / The NationalĪ quiet, darkened central control room with massive glass windows is the staging zone that fires up the content. William Ainley, vice president of technical events and entertainment at Expo 2020 Dubai. To boost the theatrical effect, layers of lighting were fitted with about 1,500 lights on the trellis, 30,000 LED lights across the garden, strobes and telescopic beams. “We needed to maintain audience engagement because if they are not part of it, they will get lost.” “In a dome there are no poles to hang things on so we had to create a truss, like a circle, that is suspended.