In July, much of the world was glued to its televisions for the FIFA Soccer World Cup. Millions of those watching in the UK, and the many countries that took the BBC feed around the world, had the chance to see the studio sets designed by Gina Parr for BBC Sport, featuring Total Structures’ new wave truss.
Aluminum Truss has long been a feature of studio design for BBC Sport, but when Parr saw new wave she new that she could create a new and exciting look while maintaining continuity and recognition.
A total of three sets were designed for coverage of the FIFA event, one for the main studio in Berlin and two additional remote sets that toured Germany set up inside the soccer stadiums. The largest of these was the main studio in Berlin where the set was built on the balcony of a library overlooking the main square and Brandenburg gate. Each match was covered from this studio, and each evening the set was reconfigured for a daily highlights and news show.
With new wave framing almost every shot, and being truss toned with various colors depending on whether it was an evening or daytime production, the visual effect was stunning. New wave was the ideal product for the application because it is extremely versatile and flexible in confined spaces and looks exceptionally bright and sharp. The World Cup was the BBC’s first high-definition broadcast.
“New wave exceeded all expectations on every level,” said designer Parr. “I had seen only small samples of the product prior to delivery, but the truss was certainly star.”
BBC Sport now intend to continue to use new wave on the flagship program Match of the Day once the English soccer season starts later this month.
