INDIANAPOLIS – (For Immediate Release) – Commissioned to illuminate Super Bowl XLVI Village, Dodd Technologies, Inc. (Pendleton, IN) faced a challenge nearly as formidable as defending against the Giants' pass receivers: making a three-block area in downtown Indianapolis look exciting in the dead of a Midwest winter.
The idea was to transform the heart of the city into a family-friendly 10-day festival of fun and football, featuring attractions like food and beverages, concerts, interactive games, and an 800' zip line that took riders soaring above the Super Bowl crowds. To give the planned village some color – figuratively and literally -- Dodd Technologies worked closely with Super Bowl Committee CEO Allison Melangton.
“(Melangton) had some definite ideas about what she wanted to bring to this Super Bowl,” said Andy Meggenhofen, Lighting Designer for Dodd Technologies. “One of the big challenges was to create an exciting look for the outdoor village during the winter.”
To achieve this goal, Dodd Technologies had to work around some tough issues such as potential winter snowstorms and huge crowds, which wound up numbering 1.1 million—“twice as large as we were planning for,” acknowledged Meggenhofen. With all these challenges, “a lot of different lighting products were brought up and discussed,” he said.
The product that ultimately made it over the goal line was the Platinum Beam 5R, an extreme ACL beam effect from Elation Professional. With its distinctive powerful, sharp aircraft landing-style beams seen virtually everywhere in Indianapolis' downtown festival area -- shooting up, down and on concert stages in white and an array of colors -- the Platinum Beam 5R emerged as the defining fixture to light up Super Bowl Village. Ninety-six Platinum Beam 5R units were positioned along the street, while an additional 24 were installed on the tops of buildings.
An exceptionally compact unit measuring just 14.1” x '13.2” x 18.5”, the Platinum Beam 5R emits the brightness of a much larger moving head beam fixture, thanks to its advanced Philips MSD Platinum 5R lamp technology. It's also packed with features that allow it to produce a wide range of effects, including 12 dichroic colors, 8 rotating gobos, a 3-facet prism with 8-facet option, and a Frost Filter that can transform its tight 2.5° beam into a wash-like effect.
The Platinum Beam 5R was selected over larger units for a number of reasons, said Meggenhofen, including the fact that it could be used without building any additional support structures. “We talked about placing 7K lights down the street every 40' or 50' and building towers and trying to run power distribution 1,500 linear feet from one end to the other. But the physical street did not allow for that, with its curbless design, the large crowds and the potential to have to do snow removal,” he said. “The idea that we could accomplish what we wanted with a small light that could be mounted on the pre-existing structure, which could literally be plugged into a 110 source, was pivotal in making the Platinum Beam 5R functional. It was just so much easier to use than anything else.”
Another factor in choosing the Platinum Beam 5R was its value, according to Meggenhofen. “When we put the Platinum Beam 5R next to (a more expensive light), we looked at the ROI side of it and couldn't see enough difference to justify making that jump. Elation is a good quality product that meets what we need to do.
“After almost a month of being outside in our domes – and even when you look at the units on the main stage that weren't in domes – we only had one light that had a tilt error,” added Meggenhofen. “Under stressful demands like that, it was amazing that there weren't more problems.”
Dodd Technologies also used two other Elation fixtures to illuminate Super Bowl Village: the ELED Tri Par 56, a Tricolor RGB LED par can; and ELAR 108 Par RGBW, an IP65-rated outdoor LED par in a die-cast aluminum case.
In one of the more visible applications, 64 x ELAR 108 Par RGBW units were used to uplight the huge 800' zip line. As the largest temporary zip line ever to be constructed in the US, it was one of the most popular attractions in Super Bowl Village, said Meggenhofen. “People would start lining up about five hours before they could ride on it. Every day it would sell out in about one and a half hours.
“The ELARs really did a fantastic job of lighting up the zip line and adding to its excitement,” Meggenhofen added. “Their IP rating was critical to this application. Here again, Elation proved its quality.”
Crew credits for Super Bowl XLVI Village include:
Andy Meggenhofen: Lighting Designer
James Lederman: Lighting Director
Jason Greene: Programmer
David Seitz: Programmer
Scott Renick: Technician
For more information contact:
Elation Professional at 866-245-6726 or visit www.elationlighting.com
Dodd Technologies, Inc. at 765-221-5010 or visit www.doddtechnologies.com