Professional Lighting & Production - Fall 2017 | Page 21
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For the 2017 Grandstand Show, the content creation and cueing
was once agan handled by Sean Nieuwenhuis of B.C.’s Sensory Overload
Productions – “a master with [Dataton’s] Watchout” multi-display software,
according to Cane.
As stated, much of that content was relayed to the massive downstage
video wall, which this year featured fully automated motion thanks to a first-
time collaboration with Drifter Rigging, a new Toronto-based rigging firm
with a Kinesys Elevation 1+ kit.
In previous years, the centre portion of the downstage video wall was
essentially the backstage door that allowed for set pieces to change and
performers to enter and exit the stage. Johnson admits it had long been
a struggle to reliably raise and lower the screen and its plywood backing.
“It just hadn’t worked the way we wanted it to,” he says. “They’ve tried
different ways of rigging it and nothing was totally satisfactory, because it
wasn’t failsafe.”
One year, it was on basic chain motors; in 2016, it employed a coun-
terweighted system with people simply pulling ropes – not as fancy, but
at least effective.
This year, with significantly more – and larger – set changes than in
recent years, it was absolutely essential that the screen be raised and
lowered without issue. “It was one of the few elements that kept me
awake at night,” Johnson says. “I know this stage in and out and know
how everything works, but this was an ongoing challenge. If it didn’t
work, we wouldn’t be able to get things that are absolutely necessary to
certain acts onto the stage, so we’d really be compromising the show.”
“The mobile stage can be very challenging. It’s a big living and
breathing thing,” Cane says, explaining how the sta ge moves in and out of
place each day and, even though it’s on hydraulic levelers, is still suscepti-
ble to variance from day to day by way of cresting and bowing. “Because
of that, it’s incredibly difficult to get this guillotine to go up and down
smoothly and accurately, and Drifter’s system allowed them to do that.”
It was actually Ploss, who’d worked with Drifter Rigging’s Mark “Drifter”
Desloges for a few years in Halifax, that suggested his former colleague to
the Stampede as a potential solution to their problem.
“It was exhilarating because this was our first project as a company,”
says Desloges, “and everything moved pretty quickly from the beginning.”
Based on the requested outcome and the required weights and
dimensions, Desloges calculated that they’d need four half-ton hoists and
headed west with his kit; however, upon arrival, they realized there were
some unforeseen factors with the stage that simply couldn’t have been
predicted until everything was onsite.
Basically, a team of engineers and fabricators employed a brace
bar with a wire rope threaded through it instead of a channel guide,
ensuring the structure would be stable even in less-than-ideal weather
conditions. Desloges had to fly to Winnipeg for another project, during
which the team of fabricators amended the steel structure of the Queen
Mary to increase its tolerances. “It was really impressive,” Desloges says,
looking back. “They were very committed to making it work.”
Johnson notes that the circumstances were simply beyond every-
one’s initial control, but that in the end, hard work and collaboration
saved the day. “When that door went up in total sync with the video
for the first time, we were all just like, ‘Yesss,’” Johnson shares with a
laugh. “I can’t say enough about this team, as this was really proof that
when you bring together so many skilled people, it really just elevates
everybody’s game.”
“
The mobile stage can be very challenging.
It’s a big living and breathing thing.
While Drifter Rigging supplied the system, it was the Grandstand Show’s
crew chief, Matthew Gault, who oversaw its operation.
“Every year, there’s something big and bold we try to incorporate to
keep things fresh and kind of one-up the year before,” Gault says, though
for 2017 and Canada 150, that was especially the case, with the automat-
ed wall being just one of those components.
He says that while this was his first experience with Kinesys equip-
ment, he found the learning curve relatively painless and was more
than impressed with the results.
“Even though I say it was pretty linear and straightforward to
operate, there were parts that were very complicated to get set up,”
he continues. “Drifter was very level-headed and focused on getting
the job done, and made the Stampede feel like we were his one
and only client.”
As impressive as the TransAlta Grandstand Show is from a technical
perspective, what’s even more impressive is the camaraderie that exists
between the various collaborators from top to bottom.
“[The collaboration] was great, and quite frankly, it’s crucial,” Cane
asserts. “There are some shows we do where we can work on our own
little island and not really pay much attention to what other people are
doing, but here, you’re constantly working with the other trades. You’re
constantly looking out for other people as well as your own environment.”
“This group of people is spectacular,” adds Ploss. “I remember the
way they came together to put on the 2013 show [after the flooding in
Calgary] and that’s always stood out. They’re incredible and have proven
that they can overcome virtually anything.”
“They’ve told me there’s a certain culture here, and they often use
the metaphor of needing to ‘drink the Kool-Aid’ when you join the team,”
says Desloges, recalling his maiden voyage on the Queen Mary. “Colleen
made that comment, and later told me I’d come pre-Kool-Aided (laughs).
Basically, there’s an atmosphere of professionalism, but you need to be
helpful and understanding and positive and realize that everyone’s work-
ing towards the same goal, which was definitely the case this year.”
At the end of each performance, the perennial crowd-favourite fireworks
spectacle lights up the site. (In true Stampede fashion, it’s considered the
largest of its kind in the world.) For everyone working behind the scenes,
the bright flashes signify something of a congratulatory moment –
another show for the books.
Onstage, it was the performers from various Canadian cultures and
communities coming together in celebration that comprised the 2017
TransAlta Grandstand Show at the Calgary Stampede, and yet the profes-
sionals behind the production are just as integral to its success. Like their
performing counterparts, this is a team of people of various specialties
and disciplines coming together from different places to ensure their
audiences truly get “the greatest outdoor show on Earth.”
Andrew King is the Editor-in-Chief of Professional Lighting & Production.
Fall 2017 | 21