Projecting The Ceremonies, Part 1

[caption id="attachment_241" align="alignleft" width="191" caption="BC Place, where many Olympics ceremonies will be held. © VANOC/COVAN"]BC Place, where many Olympics ceremonies will be held. © VANOC/COVAN[/caption]

Technical and design teams working on the Olympic Ceremonies at BC Place stadium in Vancouver don't have to contend with the weather. For the first time in history, they are being held indoors. But even though they won't be battling the elements, the enclosed stadium presents a new set of problems. Patrice Bouqueniaux of E/T/C/ London Paris is doing the video systems design and controls for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, twelve Victory Ceremonies, and the Opening Ceremony for the Paralympics which take place after the Winter Olympics in March. He says the stadium makes the project "much more challenging because there is not a fixed roof."

BC Place is the world's largest air-supported domed stadium, and the roof comprises roughly 10 acres of woven fiberglass. Paris-based Bouqueniaux likens the roof to “a hot air balloon, supported by pressure, and it is always moving.”

Although the projections, which are thought to be a significant part of the Ceremonies' design, are under wraps until after the Opening Ceremony begins, Panasonic is the Official Audio Visual Worldwide Partner for the Olympics and have announced that they are supplying an ASTROVISION Large Screen Display System and RAMSA Audio Systems onsite. At BC Place, Panasonic has installed three LED video screens with a total display area of 2,615sq-ft.

We also hear that Solotech is supplying more than 60 Christie Digital Roadster HD projection systems for the Ceremonies. Video content is rumored to be coming from Australian company Spinifex Group, known for producing video content for giant sporting events like the 2007 Rugby World Cup, and we are betting that system design and control will be E/T/C/ Audiovisuel's OnlyView in3D.