51st UAE National Day Show

Luke Halls Studio took audiences on a journey connecting all space and time for the UAE’s latest National Day celebration.

In 2022, Artistic Director Es Devlin asked Luke Halls Studio to design and create visuals for the United Arab Emirates’ 51st National Day Show at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC). Devlin, along with the executive producer and directors of the show, wanted to showcase the nation’s past, present, and future, highlighting how its historical journey has helped form its goals for days to come.

With a projected “time tunnel” at the show’s centre, the Luke Halls team created video for four main surfaces, aiming to join them harmoniously. The runway–a projected floor–bridged the two other main projection surfaces, the “past” and “future” portals, which were made up of circular doorways at each end of the runway.

Throughout the show, the doorways would open and close to reveal cast and props from different moments in time. The team used LED pixel tape to form a ceiling throughout the show and connect the portals above spectators’ heads. The studio’s main goal was to extend the stage’s runway into the screens as much as possible and create the feeling of an endless road.

The team used Notch to generate an underwater seascape and a colourful hyperdrive animation, iterating and rendering quickly despite their massive canvas. They also used the VYV Photon media server, pre-rendering everything except for a few live effects generated by Photon. In the words of Video Designer Charli Davis, both the audience and creative team were impressed by the detail and immersive nature of the video.

“Generating water effects with traditional 3D render engines can be cumbersome, but Notch quickly gave us a great set of complex looks we could use on huge surfaces.”

Charli Davis, Video Designer, Luke Halls Studio

Additional press coverage:
Khaleej Times, The National News.

Credits
Artistic Director & Production Designer: Es Devlin
Creative Executive Producer: Rawdha Al Qubaisi
Show Direction & Choreography: Francisco Negrin, Bryn Walters, & Gavin Robins
Production Company: People Creative
Camera Direction: Hamish Hamilton (Done+Dusted) & James Merryman
Set Design Associates: Scarlett Moloney & Will Brown
Lighting Designers: Bruno Poet & Max Narula
Sound Design & Music Composition: Musicom, Polyphonia, & Mohamed Al Ahmed

Projection Content & Broadcast Video Design: Charli Davis, Luke Halls Studio
Animation Team: Barbora Giliute, Chris Homer, Jan Urbanowski, Jason Moss, Keanu Desmet, Leo Bubani, Rob Hales, Ross Marshall, Suzan Kotski, Uzo Ozoigwe, & James Francis
Video Producer: Bridget Vuillermin
Video Tech Manager: Alex Ramsden
Projection Tech Direction: Anthony Bezencon (VYV)
Programmer: Nicolas Dupont (VYV)
Video Supplier: CT