Red Bull Creates Psychedelic Driving Range for Fowler with kayneLIVE and 4Wall DC

Event agency New Creatures was recently tasked by Red Bull to provide a "Hero's Journey" for PGA golfer Rickie Fowler as he trained for the 95th PGA Championship.

This challenge led the unorthodox company to create a "psychedelic" indoor driving range by teaming up with lighting and audio design firm kayneLIVE. kayneLIVE in turn chose 4Wall DC to provide lighting for the event, which came complete with mysterious creatures, magical islands, and even a talking moon that challenged Fowler's mastery of golf.

The event was staged at the historic Washington Coliseum, a building that played host to the first Beatles concert in America, yet remains in use today only as a parking garage.

Benji Kayne says, "The co-executive producers / creative directors of the event, AJ White, and Jason Naumoff, had previously scouted the Coliseum for another event but couldn't quite decide on its usefulness. In taking another look at it, they determined it would be the perfect size for an indoor driving range."

After deciding upon the concept (one loosely based on Joseph Campbell's idea of monomyth- a pattern of story involving a hero venturing forth into supernatural wonder), the creative team took to the chore of turning the historic arena into an area of golf wonderment.

In tackling the design, Kayne and lighting designer Ben Carlson considered the venue and its challenges carefully.

"The Washington Coliseum / U-Line Arena presented a unique historical canvas to present out story on with lighting and audio" Kayne says. "It also presented artistic and logistic challenges. The Beatles played their first US show there in the '60s, and it feels like it hasn't been touched since."

Kayne utilized concert style moving heads to fill the massive space, while still prioritizing the theatricality of the show. Different fixtures were chosen to paint each individual element of the arena.

"We used [Martin] MAC Auras to highlight the architecture of the venue, bringing out the rich patterns in the run-down concrete of the space. MAC 300 Washes turned the floor into a living ocean, while the [Philips Vari*Lite] VL3000s turned the ceiling into the night sky over a lagoon."

The team also added Clay Paky Sharpys front and center, giving an added sense of dimension and giving Fowler a bright contrast that served to disorient the golfer -- an additional challenge as he faced the journey. Color Kinetics ColorBlast LEDs surrounded the entire floor while Reel Fx DF-50 Hazers and Aquafoggers completed the effect of the lagoon.

"Our fixtures needed to all serve three purposes. One was to highlight the venue itself. The second was to work with the audio and projection to tell the story of the sea creature, the island, and the taunting moon. Finally, they needed to make a huge visual impact for our reaction shots, such as a quick flash when Rickie struck the ball or when he hit or missed a target."

In the end, Fowler was able to conquer each challenge presented, sending LED lit golf balls hurtling towards each artificially created bull's-eye with amazing accuracy. It would seem both the golfer and the event's creative team were right on target.

See 4Wall at PLASA Focus: Nashville, February 18 - 19, 2014.