PHOTON delights 18 million+ viewers with technical support of projections on Buckingham Palace.
Every show is important.
But when it’s is celebrating the historic reign of Queen Elizabeth II and being watched by millions around the globe, nothing short of perfection will do.
That’s why long-time partner Creative Technology and BBC Studios turned once again to VYV and eight PHOTON servers for support of the monumental projection onto the iconic Buckingham Palace that transformed the building into a lush greenhouse, a billboard celebrating women’s strength, and even a disco for the Platinum Party at the Palace with stunning content created by NorthHouse Creative.
This joyous outpouring of thanks and admiration for Her Majesty The Queen’s 70 years of whole-hearted service to her people was interwoven with a jaw-dropping lineup of performances by music legends like Queen, Alicia Keys, Sir Elton John, Duran Duran, Sir Rod Stewart and Diana Ross.
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The canvas was Buckingham Palace’s neoclassical east wing façade, with its fluted Corinthian columns and over five dozen windows. With so many potential shadows and reflections on the ornate building, ensuring proper calibration was especially important. Luckily, PHOTON’s calibration priors made working with the Palace’s complex geometry a cinch.
Preparing for a show designed to delight and surprise the public yet being held in such a public space meant that onsite rehearsal time was limited for PHOTON specialists Richard ‘Biccie’ Thomas and Anthony ‘Bez’ Bezencon, who’s also the VYV UK Director. To get ahead of the game, they turned to PHOTON’s previsualization feature to support the Creative Technology team by running full 3D simulations of the show right in the software.
Said Bez of the experience:
“Hearing the collective gasp from the crowd as the palace dripped with molten light during Alicia Keys’ ‘Girl on Fire’ and seeing Sir David Attenborough offer a message of hope for the future of the environment are moments that will stick with us for decades to come.
And so will the words of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, addressing the crowd, ‘It’s so wonderful to be here with you on this incredible night, and great to see Buckingham Palace turned into an IMAX screen!’ We agree and we’re proud that our PHOTON tech made that possible.”
Production Company:
BBC Events
Stage Design:
Stufish
Video Content Design:
NorthHouse Creative
Project Management:
Paul Seeger, Will Harkin