Doha Tribeca Film Festival 2011

This year’s rush of excitement included the opening night’s world premiere of Jean Jacques Annaud’s Black Gold coproduced by Tarak Ben Ammar’s Quinta Communications and the DFI. The red carpet was heightened by the truly romantic setting of the main screening venue - Katara Open Air Theatre (KOAT) - being under the stars of the city’s Katara Cultural Village, overlooking the sparkling azure blue Arabian Gulf. Aesthetically, it was a case of drive-in movie meets modern industrial masterpiece.
    A massive technical production operation created and delivered the 2,000 capacity Katara Open Air Theatre (KOAT) - DTFF’s main screening venue and one of nine movie spaces, seven of them temporary, used over the five day event. It was the result of an incredible collaboration utilizing the skills, talents, resources and experience of a diverse range of dedicated creatives, engineers, technicians, labourers and administrators.  
    They were united in one aim - to build a truly unique, environment that made visiting the Festival a memorable experience. A remarkable work ethic pervaded the site on all levels. The build started six weeks before, but as with most events, it was the final 48 hours under intense pressure that saw the details materialised.  Michael Petrovich - DFI’s Head of Event Production - a charming and unflappable American now living in Doha, is the man on the top of the project delivery pyramid.
KOAT’s massive arched bespoke temporary structure was a spectacular feat of architectural ambition. It was designed by Jeremy Thom, a colourful Englishman living in New York State whose background encompasses theatre, circus engineering and imagination. It was built by Dubai based Al Laith Event Services - the region’s unparalleled experts in large one-off temporary structures - and Serious Stages from the UK.
    Drive-in movie meets awesome aesthetics was defined by KOAT’s main steel arch, which traversed the space majestically at 43 metres high and 86 metres wide. Its facilities surpassed the wish list of most permanent structures, and numerous other engineering challenges included the stage and screen end being built 25 metres into the sea.
DTFF 2011’s event production resources were 70% sourced from Qatar and the Middle East region, but also featured a strong contingent of  international talent from Europe and the US plus individuals from South Africa and Australia. Some incredible teamwork and great camaraderie saw up to 500 people working onsite at peak times.

CONSTRUCTION
Al Laith Event Services worked on the 2010 DTFF event, for which they created the first groundbreaking KOAT venue on the same site. This year, the position of the stage / screen and the grandstand was flipped 180º to allow the audiences - of which 400 seats were VIP - to appreciate the fantastic ocean backdrop and the twinkling clutch of skyscrapers across the water on Doha’s evolving cityscape.
    Heading up the Al Laith team this year was Jo Marshall - Director of Al Laith’s Event Services division, Project Manager Ross Cameron, Construction Manager John Wilson and Production Coordinator Karen Jordan. The advance team moved on to site in Katara in mid September, six weeks ahead of the opening. Here they worked alongside John Adkins, Production Manager for KOAT and his crew.
    The pair of 26 metre high arches - which caused such a stir in 2010 - were again incorporated into Jeremy Thom’s design for KOAT - this time dwarfed by the elegant 43 metre high double Galaxy arch towering above.
    Once Thom had decided on the architectural look he wanted, Marshall asked Structural Engineer Dragan Kusmanov to design the components needed to build the main arch.
    This resulted in the manufacture of a phenomenally strong new trussing component by Al Laith and Serious Stages - the Galaxy truss - of which 54 pieces of this were used, each measuring five metres, all at slightly different angles. Riggers climbed through the Galaxy truss standing up, a great advantage for anyone involved in hanging technical elements from it. The S355 grade steel for the Galaxy truss was sourced in the UK and flown to Dubai where sections were milled and welded, and then trucked to Doha.
    They formed part of a 94-truck contingent of road freight organised by Al Laith, together with four sea freight shipments and one air lift from the UK. This gave them the capacity to build all the KOAT elements plus an arched box office structure and two 20 metre dome stages positioned along the esplanade to the side of KOAT, all hosting DTFF events and receptions.
    The Galaxy arch - it was a double arch, with 7.2 metre steel purlins bracing the two curved edges - weighed 26 tonnes. Each of the 54 five metre sections of Galaxy truss was pre-rigged by KOAT lighting contractor CCG’s crew and marked up - Al Laith’s riggers bolted these together in the right order.
    To erect it, the top sections were joined together on the decking below and it was lifted into place with the aid of three cranes - a 500 tonne, a 450 tonne and a 350 tonne.             The top pre-joined sections were lifted first - gradually - by the 500 tonne crane and  other sections added by Al Laith’s crew as it went up, with the other two cranes kicking in when it reached a certain width.
    Underneath the stage decking, this and the lower two arches were ballasted with 80 tonnes of concrete and extensive cross bracing. Ten staging and structural crew from Atlantic Enterprises and Serious Stages in the UK came out to assist in constructing the Galaxy arch.  The two night mission to lift it into place was co-ordinated by Shane McCarthy of Atlantic.
    Being able to rig lighting fixtures on the arch before it was constructed proved hugely convenient and efficient, as opposed to the task being done when it was in place. To reach the summit of the Galaxy took about 25 minutes for an experienced climber, and it was required to have four aircraft warning lights installed on the top, a great testament to its presence and impact on the local landscape.
    While the Galaxy took the visual glory, a number of other practical, innovative and equally detailed elements were incorporated into the whole KOAT structure. This included a staggering 1,600 sq metres of covered air conditioned backstage and an additional 1,100 square metres of underworld space of which 800 square metres was built from TSG HeavyDeck.
    All the staging, scaffolding and steel components used above or near the sea were double dipped in oxide paint before use, and underwent thorough daily checks for beach erosion. Throughout the structure - from the grandstand seating to the backstage - was a labyrinthine network of walkways and rat-runs so all areas could be accessed at any time by technical crews. There was a full set of dressing and green rooms, offices, toilets and at 40cm above sea level (calculated on the highest tide) a very cool juice bar terrace for crew.
    Three lifts were integral in the structure. The first one was backstage - above the sea - for equipment access between the stage and underworld. Then there were two at FOH - the first for VIPs to reach the top of the grandstand, and the second, a plush funicular style elevator running on a 54° slope, for key guests.
    The grandstand seating also incorporated a fully integrated garage space and park-up for OB trucks, keeping them neatly and tidily concealed within the venue. The 10 by six metre projection booth was built 22 metres high on a completely independent support system - made from ladder beam and steel soldiers - to minimise vibration.
    Al Laith also designed and manufactured a striking set of industrial style curved steel steps - complete with five landings - to link the stage to the VIP seating level. Despite their enormity, these wrapped the whole auditorium space and introduced a feeling of cosiness that was central to Thom’s vision for the guest experience.
    The stage itself was a 36 metre Al Laith off-the-shelf Space Building with a half dome added onto the back. The 20 metre long by 8.66 metre deep perforated screen, supplied by Showtex, was focussed into the stage floor trapdoor - as the stage also had to function as a performance area - and flown into position when needed via four motors.
    A total of 30 Al Laith scaffolders came out from Dubai and worked for the duration alongside about 40 locals from Qatar, all supervised by Al Laith’s foreman, Suresh Thapa. Al Laith’s crew numbers peaked at 120 during the most intense periods of the build, one of the advantages of Dubai being just a 45 minute flight away.
    In addition, there were 12 of Al Laith’s top carpenters from Dubai and two master carpenters from the UK, who dealt with adding the many essential details and finishing touches. Al Laith also had a lift specialist on hand.
    The sheer scale of the operation and the logistics were the real brain-teasers, together with working out transportation, scheduling, etc., and accounting for hold ups and curve balls like the time taken for trucks to complete the journey from Dubai, which could be anything from four to eight days, depending on how long it took to clear the border.
    Said Jo Marshall: “We are extremely proud of being involved in DTFF, we built on all the things we learnt in 2010 and I think achieved a truly spectacular result. It is a great experience to work with individuals like Michael Petrovich and Jeremy Thom who have the imagination and confidence to push the technical and production envelopes and enable all of us to become part of creating something completely different.”

PROJECTION
Projection experts Boston Light & Sound from the US supplied a crew of 19 technicians for the festival set-up. They supplied the 35mm projection systems for KOAT as well as the film and digital projection rigs in the six other temporary DTFF screening venues, and were also responsible for the systems permanently installed in two other venues.
    The KOAT 35mm projectors were two highly customized Norelco FP20’s with Strong 7KW xenon lamp houses, operated as a redundant pair. The digital cinema projection consisted of two Barco 32B 4K enabled projectors with 6.5K xenon lamps, outputting 35,000 ANSI lumens - and considered to be the brightest digital cinema projector on the market.
    The source material was stored on DoReMi digital cinema 4K enabled servers and Sony HD cam video decks, supplied via K2 Imaging in New York together with the digital projectors. All the DTFF cinemas were equipped with an Alcon McBride flash player for HD flags, stings, trainers and short movies.

A GREAT ENTHUSIASM
Two audio systems were installed in KOAT - one for the cinema surround and one for the live system that was used by pre-show artists and Leona Lewis, who performed on the closing night of the event. These were both supplied by Doha’s leading lighting and sound rental company CCG, run by Jalal Dudin, who, like everyone, shared a great enthusiasm for the event.
    The cinema system’s 5.1 surround sound system was a combination of L-Acoustics and EAW elements that was designed by Boston Sound & Light, and installed and engineered by CCG.
    Upstage of the screen were three hangs of L-Acoustics Kudos, and ensconced under the stage were 12 L-Acoustics LA18 subs, all driven by LA8 amps.
    The first surround and second surround stacks each comprised four EAW 760’s, and at the back were eight arrays of two EAW 730’s, all the way along the back of the top levels of seating, where they utilised the 100° dispersion of the cabinets to fill the space evenly. The EAWs were all driven by Lab.gruppen PLM 10000Q amps.
    On the stage were 36 wedge monitors, a mix of EAW and Meyer, and the cinema soundtrack was supplied by a Dolby system. With a total of 128 cabinets, it’s one of the largest outdoor cinema surround systems ever built.
    The concert audio system was two left and right flown arrays of six Meyer Milos arrays, complete with EAW 850 side fills and NT29 front fills and two HP700 subs a side, which is a massive sounding speaker and offered more than enough coverage. These were ground stacked either side of the stage, together with four additional SL 1000 subs.
    There was also a centre cluster of EAW 760 line array cabinets for the presenters and announcements, which again, offered heaps of headroom. The consoles were two DiGiCo D5’s - for FOH and monitor mixes - and CCG  supplied two Optocore fibre cables - one for lighting and one for audio control.
    CCG also supplied a substantial amount of sound kit for the backstage and underworlds areas, and systems to many other festival venues. The KOAT challenges, explained Dudin - who prides himself on offering the very best sound in Qatar - was being flexible enough to provide two very different but rich, high clarity sounding systems as well as to accommodate changes that came on-stream as the venue evolved.

GARGANTUAN ARCHITECTURAL TASK
The gargantuan task of architectural, interior, show and effects lighting design, site wide, fell to UK based Adam Bassett - who has worked on the DTFF from its start in 2009. The lighting statistics were fairly mind boggling and included 5600 lighting fixtures in total - supplied by CCG from Doha and PRG from the UK. This broke down to around 700 moving lights, 3,100 conventionals and 1,500 LED sources, with which they illuminated 17 different areas of the site.
    The scale and complexity of overseeing so many simultaneous installations was the galvanising element of the project - and this was easy to appreciate once on site. Bassett’s assistant LD was Miriam Evans. They worked with Associate Lighting Designers Seb Williams and Gary Collins plus a team of 20, together with 69 PRG crew from the UK, 38 from CCG, local crew supplied by Gulf Crewing from Dubai and additional Doha local lighting crew.
    All of KOAT’s lighting equipment was supplied by CCG (Creative Communications Group), just short of 800 fixtures in total, with another 124 illuminating various bits of the extensive red carpet area in front.
    The design had to be dynamic enough to cover all the pre-show and on-stage entertainment, intimate enough to set the scene for movie screenings and bold and big for Leona Lewis’s concert performance that closed this year’s DTFF.
    On top of that, the all-important architectural lighting requirements added a totally different spatial dimension for lighting, requiring its own special treatment. Much emphasis was put on lighting the Galaxy arch, which was visible from up to 20km away.
    Overall, Bassett also wanted KOAT to have an epic Hollywood Bowl feel - a fusion of excitement and anticipation. The two sides of the Galaxy arch were lit with a total of 72 Martin Professional Atomic strobes and 144 PAR 64’s. At its feet, Griven Powershine D LED floods were installed to graze up the lower sections, with more on the centre and mid-way sections of the lower arches, pointing upwards to the Galaxy. The two lower arches were each toned with 22 PARs.
    Bassett created a 45-minute sunset lighting sequence that ran daily, with fixtures starting in CTO and morphing through a series of graduated deeper ambers to red-orange, and this ran site-wide as the sun dipped down over the horizon, after which all lighting reverted to the standard blue look.
    KOAT’s low arches were used as rigging points for the main FOH moving light system for the stage and audience - a combination of Clay Paky Alpha Spot and Wash 1500’s and 1200’s - 27 in total on each arch - with Source Four profiles for task lighting the VIP stairways and for additional onstage key lighting.
    Further moving lights were installed on the three stage arches - again a mix of CP Alpha Wash and Spot 1500’s Alpha Beam 300’s, CP Shot Lights and Sharpies. The Sharpys and 2-lights making a pair of contrasting beam/blaster circles around the first stage arch, really delineating the space - which was one of the primary objectives.
    A complete floor moving light package was supplied. It varied according to what was happening that evening, with static features including a row of 16 GLP Impressions alternated with 17 silver MR16 birdies across the front lip of the stage.
    On the back corners of the decking each side of the stage was a cluster of Griven Imperial 4K xenon searchlights. KOAT’s exterior walls were lit with Alpha Beam 1500’s rigged along the base and top, which shot narrow, dramatic slices of coloured light - with searchlight style movement - up and down the front of the building that was finished in sand printed vinyl. They were augmented with an iridescent colour wash from a selection of Griven Stroker LED floods along the floor.
    KOAT’s arena lighting was programmed by Alex Passmore using CCG’s grandMA2 full size console, with another running in full tracking backup and an MA Lighting grandMA2 ultra-light which was used as an onstage tech desk.
    As the excitement and hubbub of the opening night took hold, and the sweet smell of newly dried paint, sawdust and cut carpets gave way to expensive fragrances and the elegant flow of the glitterati on the red carpet, so the transformation from construction site to world premier event was complete.
    It was a world class moment in which the entire production team could take a few precious seconds to stop, draw breath and appreciate just how much collective efforts and energy was able to achieve.

TPi

Photography by Louise Stickland
www.allaith.com