Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce

The GPCC William Penn Gala is an awards ceremony that over one-thousand Philadelphians attend. “The William Penn Award is bestowed annually upon an outstanding business person in Greater Philadelphia. Recipients are selected for their significant contributions to the business and civic advancement of the region, their professional accomplishments, their leadership experience and their commitment to volunteer efforts.” In 2012, Comcast Executive Vice President, David L. Cohen was bestowed the prestigious honor of the civic based award.

Client Needs

• Pristine audio support for presentations and live entertainment
• Scenic décor that recreates a city scape with sky tracking lights and fog emulating a movie premier
• The client wanted something dramatic, yet subtle for atmosphere effects; something continuously moving and changing, but not distracting.
• PowerPoint and video playback
• Live image magnification and video recording
• Architectural and ambient LED lighting

The IMS Solution

• We created a film-noir ambiance mimicking the cover of the Gala invite and program (this was a grainy black and white photograph of center city Philadelphia skyline, with wispy clouds and two searchlights hitting the sky)
• A 15’ x 25’ truss support for a 25’ x 2’5” spandex scrim at the rear of the stage was erected to support LED and robotic lighting
• A 3- dimensional reconstruction of the Philadelphia skyline 10’-14’ high and constructed of plywood was placed as a backdrop on stage
• A large empty space was designed to the upper left of the scrim which was utilized for a picture-in-picture effect for the various video rolls throughout the evening. This strategy allowed the space to show the moving clouds and stars in the HD background loop when no videos were playing
• Two MAC 700 intelligent lights were used to simulate the SkyTracker lights seen on the program cover.
• A fog machine was brought in to create atmosphere against the moving lights
• Christie 10k Roadster projectors were used for HD projection output of backdrop and picture-in-picture video rolls
• Four JBL SRX and Mackie 10”s for main area and balcony audio coverage
• Pond5.com for HD clips. Final Cut Pro/ Adobe After Effects for onsite editing
• A six-drop wired headset Comm system for communication between camera, audio, lighting TD and producer roles

Result

• Exceeded clients expectations from concept to completion and secured the event for 2013 

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