London

2012 Olympics

The London 2012 Olympics marked the biggest British sporting event in living history, and ER Productions was beyond thrilled to be involved both the Olympic Games opening ceremony, and the Paralympic Games opening and closing ceremonies.

ER Productions supplied LOCOG – the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games – with a list of laser requirements for all three ceremonies, totalling more than 790 watts of laser power, and also provided a health and safety officer.

Around 900-million people around the world watched the London 2012 opening show, which featured a large-scale lighting projection around the main stage during the ‘neural network’ explosion scene, which celebrated Briton Tim Berners-Lee’s invention of the World Wide Web.

Yellow and white sparkling lasers shot out from the centre of the stage, tracking across an enormous video screen into the audience. To carry this out, ER Productions used eight Excellent 21 OPSL systems rigged to the stadium roof, which was controlled by a wireless solution owing to tight security regulations.

More than 18-million viewers tuned into the Paralympic opening and closing events combined, and ER Productions kicked off the event in collaboration with lighting designer Jonny Gaskell. Together, they masterminded a radar-like green beam for the ceremony’s performance of Where is it Going? by Orbital, featuring Ian Dury and the Graeae Theatre Company.

To bring the most-watched Paralympic Games in history to an epic close, ER Productions rigged the length of the Olympic Stadium track with eight Tripan systems, and a further six Excellent 21 laser systems above the central stage.

This special occasion was also a fitting moment to debut a Nova 400 laser, which was directed straight into the sky and activated during an unforgettable live performance of Coldplay’s anthem, Clocks.

Products we used

EX25

High powered, full colour, OPSL laser system with high speed X/Y scanning and DMX grating effects.

EX10

Full colour, all OPSL laser with high speed X/Y scanning and DMX grating effects.

Pangolin LD

Ideal for tours, these control racks are designed to make laser show installations quick and easy.