As the facilities design branch of Nautilus Entertainment Design steams toward the 2003 launch of numerous cruise ships, including Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, Costa Cruise Line’s Fortune and Mediterranea, and Carnival Cruise Line’s Glory, principal Jim Tetlow and the production lighting design arm of NED entered 2003 with a full slate of corporate theatre and special event projects.
January 2003 saw the team working on the Porsche exhibit and Cayenne SUV introduction at the Los Angeles Auto Show, on behalf of Jack Morton Productions. INTEL had a huge arena show for several thousand of its Sale and Marketing personnel, produced by John Halloran Associates, while Kaleidoscope Productions oversaw the Glaxo Smith Kline business meeting in Phoenix; both relying on NED for lighting design services. In the spirit of the auto show season, NED designed the lighting for the Infiniti 2003 New Product Announcement Show at Dana Point, CA, working with producers Maritz Performance Improvement.
In February, INTEL conducted a Developers Forum in San Jose, again produced by John Halloran Associates and lit by the NED team.Glaxo Smith Kline continued their busy year with three more business meetings and banquets.
March saw Tetlow and the NED associates designing the lighting for a new summer show in Branson, Mo. for return client Shoji Tabuchi, and yet another Glaxo Smith Kline launch in Hollywood, FL. The busy trend in the pharmaceutical industry continued with a large Pfizer Pharmaceutical launch in Orlando, FL, for MJM Creative. The production included six actors in dramatic scenes and three singers plus a forty voice choir performing original musical numbers.
Looking forward to April, the NED team will be lighting the IBM Golden Circle Awards in Kona, Hawaii, for producers Strategic Events, the Pepsi national sales meeting in Las Vegas, and wrapping up the 2003 auto show season with a General Motors Special Event at the New York Auto Show.
When it comes to the cruise ship projects, NED recently completed the Holland America Zuiderdam, the first ship in the new Vista series. NED was resposible for the lighting, audio, rigging, video, stage mechanics, and special effects for the numerous performance venues and public spaces aboard the ship.
"The rigging and stage mechanics at sea are among the big challenges," says Tetlow. "The ship moves and flexes so everything is guided. You also have to take into account the fact that ships change shape a little as they go through the water. The steel might shrink a little in cold water and expand in warmer waters. There is also a lot of vibration and things can vibrate loose or start to make noise." To combat these kinds of problems, the NED team adds extra space and extra flexibility into the state-of-the-art technical systems that they send afloat.