The National Day of Singapore is an annual event held at The Float at Marina Bay. The day holds deep cultural significance for the country and is a reflection of its rich values and culture as a community. This year, Singapore’s 56th year of independence celebration was held on 21 August, witnessing a soaring display of performers, the Red Lions, and F-15SG fighter jets. Keeping the pandemic precautions in mind, a limited crowd was in attendance at the 20,000-capacity stadium.
For this special ceremony, PixMob partnered with the event production managers to make the event come alive. After several creative discussions with the team, their innovative product team designed and delivered custom objects that elevated the event experience.
Australian design and production company Lightology were asked to help with the National Day Parade by representing PixMob because of the international border and travel restrictions that were preventing their team from entering Singapore. The Lightology team consisted of Aaron Thomas (Programmer), Shaun Cook (Head Rigger) and Zachary Powson (Assistant).
“We were given an (SNH) “Stay Home Notice” upon our arrival in Changi,” explained Aaron Thomas of Lightology. “When we left Australia we had a green line with Singapore which enabled us to enter and remain isolated until our arrival PCR test returned a negative result.”
Pixmob Pixels were across the entire Float, as well as pixels at the National University of Singapore satellite site. The Float holds around 25,000 people and although there were only 2000 essential workers and volunteers in attendance for the broadcast, each seat was fitted on the night with a Pixel that would represent an audience member who wasn’t able to attend this year.
Some of Pixmobs newest technology was on display this year including three Nova Pixels fitted to each of the umbrellas during Act 2 to illuminate the umbrella with a soft glow from within. The Nova was also used in ACT 1 Finale and at the NUS satellite site with the PixMob Blister Pack fitted to the palm of each of the dancers.
Each week at rehearsal the team would deploy the exact number of wristbands across the seating gallery for the creative teams to make their decisions about programming and camera locations. Each of the smaller audiences present for rehearsals was each given PixMobs newest addition to their product line – the Maraca!
The total number of Pixels across the nine weeks were:
PixMob X2 Wristbands: 65,000
Maracas: 26,000
PixMob Nova: 1326 (825 Umbrellas, 112 Dancers, 89 Blister Packs, NUS 300 Blister Pack)
“PixMob is great fun to work with, I always have so much fun working with it!” commented Aaron. “This project was one of the most complex PixMob shows that I have ever programmed. It required a level of finesse especially when using the PixMob moving head!”
Across the site, there were 26 PixMob Transmitters and four PixMob moving head fixtures used to create the dynamic movements and heart motifs used in Act 2, all being controlled by an MA Lighting grandMA2.
Aaron notes that his main challenge was the weather something that is always a challenge on any site especially on an open-air site the size of The Float at Marina Bay. The team needed to make sure that their system and Pixels were up to the challenge of whatever the weather threw their way.
“The National Day Parade was a fantastic success that was well-received by all,” said Aaron. “Singapore’s NDP is a fantastic example of how others can manage a return to larger sized events – without sport needing to be involved!”
Production Equipment was provided by the Showtec Group & Hexagon Solutions – Singapore.
Immediately after the event, Aaron flew to the US to look after another project for PixMob – programming the halftime show with the Michigan Marching Band, for the Michigan State Spartans game on 9/11.
After that Aaron has to find his way home saying even the most carefully made plans sometimes go wrong!
“Returning to Australia is not without its challenges – it is frustrating, expensive and the amount of support from Australia to travellers in this position is grim!” he added. “Leaving Australia, there was a set of return flights secured for each member of the team. However, with Singapore’s decision to postpone the event due to a surge in cases our plans shifted from being pro-active to reactive. Immediately we began searching for alternate dates to fly home, getting most of the crew back with only an additional eight days past the event. However, this was at an eye-watering expense.”
Lightology Team:
Programmer: Aaron Thomas
Head Rigger: Shaun Cook
Assistance: Zachary Powson.
For PixMob Canada
Executive Producer: Sophie Blondeau
Creative Consultant: Rafael Linares
For National Day Parade
Producer: Benjamin Tan
Creative Director: Boo Junfeng
