VMworld 2007 STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO

SUMMARY

Tom Bercu of Tom Bercu Presents brought the project to DaVinci Fusion Inc. His vision was to make a WWII airport hanger into a nightclub crawl for 10,000 people, while featuring some name entertainment in the parking lot.

THE LOCATION

An empty, old, gigantic airplane hangar and parking lot on Treasure Island in the heart of the San Francisco Bay.

THE OBJECTIVE

Transform the site into a Streets of San Francisco party for 10,000 people. DaVinci Fusion proposed an urban club district on a Main Street setting lined with San Francisco palm trees.

THE CONCEPT

Seven club vignettes centering on a middle thoroughfare inside the hanger. Create a truss outline for all structures to facilitate lighting, wall and drape support. Club vignettes would be defined using theatrical flats to form over 470 linear feet of unique façades left and right of the center concourse. Each façade would consist of a double-sided surface comprising more than 20,000 square-feet of finished scenery. Façades would range in height from 12' to 26' and in width from 50' to 80'. Interiors would be defined with brick wall scenic drops, various draperies and white projection surfaces. We would use DL.2s as scenic projectors and street lights and park benches for street definition. It was important to bring to the project projected scenery, for interest as well as cost reduction.

THE PRESENTATION

DaVinci Fusion provided creative services that included 3D renderings of sample facades, artwork, and suggested projection images.

Upon client approval, DaVinci Fusion got busy furnishing complete production support for the mammoth event. They supplied turnkey key support for all décor and realization.

THE REALITY

Party guests arrived at the Streets of San Francisco entry topped by seven billboards capturing the essence of the San Francisco experience awaiting them within. Through that entry was a San Francisco Street Fair complete with a multicolored string light canopy over carnival tents filled with food, activities, and games. A main stage played host to Bay Area bands Wonderbread5 and headliner Smash Mouth.

THE FINAL INTERIOR VIGNETTES

SFAsia had a karaoke bar and restaurant as well as a projected bamboo forest wall and select gobos.

Mission Mariachi taqueria employed a projected scenic mural with gobo enhancement.

The Giants Sports Bar employed numerous projection screens for sporting events and news.

North Beach Jazz and Blues used enhanced photos of jazz greats to help set the scene, an elegant supper club.

Haight-Ashbury Coffee House used DL.2s for liquid light projections, as well as a special scenic tie-dyed fabric project from a fabricator of tie-dyed hot air balloons.

SOMA Games, a high-tech video arcade had an in-house created video of crackling electricity shown through a DL.2.

Downtown Comedy Exchange had live entertainment in a classic comedy club environment of brick and mortar.

Each vignette had a custom façade and interior surround treatment designed and provided by DaVinci Fusion Inc.

CATEGORY CORPORATE EVENTS

DESIGN TEAM

Solomon Rosenzweig: Executive Director, Design

e. Ernie Ernstrom: Senior Designer

Andy Cress: Project Manager

Simon Lally, Rachel Vaughn: Lighting Designers

Kevin Stirling Lighting: Designer/Digital Media

Joseph Natale: Shop Manager

Dylan Lipari-Maxson: Construction Lead

Eric Mulligan: Video Lead

Amy Heiden: Audio Lead

SELECTED GEAR

10 High End Systems DL.2

1 Jands Vista T2 DMX Control

348 Sticks of Total Structure Truss

98 CM Chain Hoist

28 Martin Professional MAC 600

26 Martin Professional MAC 500

8 Martin Professional MAC 250 Entour

8 Martin Professional MAC 250 Wash

4 Rosco X-Effect

128 ETC Source Four Ellipsoidal

80 Elation OPTI RGB

5 Hitachi CP-X1250 Projectors

2 Eiki LC-XT4 Video Projectors

254 Theatrical Flats (ranging from 16'×4' to 8'×4')