grandMA3 for Spectacular WorldSkills Lyon 2024

Leading French production design studio Concept K provided a full creative solution – including scenography and lighting design – with grandMA3 control – for the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 WorldSkills Competition, staged in the 60,000-capacity Parc Olympique Lyonnais (OL Stadium) at the Eurexpo complex, Lyon, France.

This eye-popping extravaganza – for event production company La Franco European Image and client WorldSkills France, the national organising committee for this year’s event – included breathtaking lasers, co-ordination of video content and art direction, complete with show calling.

The Concept K team was led by the company’s creative director Frédéric “Aldo” Fayard who was also this Closing event’s show director. The lead lighting programmer was Theo Broche Cannone who was also acting as lighting DoP, ensuring that all 21 cameras did exactly what was needed so broadcast director Philippe Letourneur could get outstanding shots for the 8 simultaneous broadcasting streams. 

Additionally, Aldo, Theo and the team ensured that everyone watching live in the stadium enjoyed the full emotional impact of the drama and spectacle unfolding in front of them.

When it came to lighting control, Concept K had already made the switch to grandMA3 in 2022, for pre and mid-match shows they created for the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar. Frequently at the forefront of pioneering and new lighting technologies, they own several grandMA3 light consoles which are in daily use at their Paris studios, so naturally it was the console and platform of choice for this show.

With some serious grandMA3 system experience now under their belts, the team is “very comfortable” with the platform, and familiar with the time-saving and efficiency-boosting advantages it brings to programming.They used four grandMA3 light consoles to control approximately 16,000 parameters of lighting, across approximately 400 fixtures, plus set practicals including LED tape, all of which filled the venue with colour and excitement for the 4-hour long show.

While they utilised powerful grandMA3 features like Phasers as they needed to create effects engines, programming was “relatively straightforward” stated Theo, assisted greatly by what was achievable in pre-viz.

Offset was a lifesaving feature when it came to integrating the pre-viz showfile with the real life scenario once in the stadium, with just 3 nights of general lighting tech / programming time and only one with the show set up in place. 

While time was the biggest challenge, limited access to the pitch due to the need to preserve it as much as possible for the football compounded that, with only one full rehearsal before everything went live on the Sunday night.

Depence R3 coupled with the grandMA3 included 3D visualiser was used for all the advance work and hardcore programming, a combination that streamlined their workflow and enabled swift and accurate adjustments to be made once they were in the stadium. 

In fact, this MO, that so much of the programming could be locked in beforehand and the accuracy of the process resulted in the only positional changes needing to be made on site were in adjusting some of the key lighting fixtures and levels. This would not have been possible without utilising grandMA3.

In the stadium, Theo worked with two junior programmers – Paul Biencourt and Paul Simon –and around 6 others who were involved at various stages of the pre-viz programming. “We usually find it very conducive to share this process and get input from different people,” Theo explained. 

A grandMA3 system is the go-to lighting and visual tool for all Concept K projects, and the consoles in their studio are in use daily, allowing their programmers to maintain their speed and skills and quickly learn new features as they become available. For this show, two grandMA3 light consoles were positioned at FOH plus one as a backup, with a fourth used in different positions as a mobile tech desk during test / tech phases.

Lighting for the jingles and various other broadcast play-ins and bumpers was also programmed in the Concept K studio, and in situ these were triggered by timecode from the audio department.

The show was a huge success. It saw some excellent teamwork and great communication as everyone rose to the creative challenge of producing a memorable and entertaining large-scale production so soon after the Olympics which had the whole world watching … but on a fraction of the budget!

Photos: © Your Wolf Agency

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