Eclipse Supplies Full Production for 2014 Catey Awards

Eclipse Presentations supplied full technical production, design, and equipment--including lighting, sound, video, and staging--for the 2014 Catey Awards, the flagship event of The Caterer magazine which was staged in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.

Eclipse's own winning creative concept for the presentation included an eye-catching set design based around an edge-blended video projection, which included mapped images onto two large scenic replicas of the Catey Award statue flanking both sides of the stage.

Started in 1984, the Cateys recognize individuals, teams and business within the hospitality sector.

It was the first time that Eclipse Presentations has won the contract to supply technical production for the event, on which producer Andrea Witt comments: "As soon as we saw the artwork for this year's Catey's we knew it would translate to a fantastic design concept for stage and screen. To be able to work with the Caterer team for the first time on this particular event was an exciting prospect for Eclipse and we were over the moon with the end results."

The Eclipse technical team was co-ordinated by technical production manager John Gibson and worked to a tight timescale, getting in, setting up, focusing, sound-checking, and rehearsing ... the same day as the show.

Their experience of working in the venue and meticulous pre-planning helped everything run smoothly on site, with each department having to fit into the equation like a carefully executed jigsaw puzzle!

An ArKaos media server was used for the projection mapping that brought the statues to life.

A 3-D look was created by simultaneously changing the backgrounds on the screen, and the overall effect was further heightened by atmospheric haze which was tumbled down on to the two statues from Jem Glaciator foggers, the company says.

For IMAG relay, Eclipse provided three Sony DSR450 cameras. Two were positioned at the front-of-stage and one on the balcony, fed into a Black Magic vision mixer which output to the screens.

Seven 50 and 55" plasma relay screens were positioned around the room to ensure good sightlines and that everyone had a clear view of the onstage action from everywhere in the room.

Out in the foyer, Eclipse dressed the space in white including printed canvass banners and a high gloss white floor, all lit with more Alpha Spot 700s on stands, together with Core 20 wireless LED up-lighters.

For the drinks reception area, six plasma screens were installed to show sponsor logos, messaging, and branding.

The house lighting rig was augmented with Eclipse's LED floods and PARs plus six Clay Paky Alpha Spot 700 moving lights--used together with the house fixtures of the same type. The lighting was run on a combination of the house consoles and Eclipse's Avo Tiger Touch.

Eclipse utilized the venue's d&b Q7 sound system, to which six Q7s were added around the edges of the room to ensure even coverage of high quality audio to every seat in the room, the company says. Eclipse also provided a full mics-and-stands package for the band and a Yamaha LS9 32 channel console to facilitate the FOH and monitor mixes, complete with engineers.