We’ll cut right to the challenge—which is obvious when you realize Dodd Technologies was one of the companies handling a four-day event that required 14 days of setup and strike during a Midwest February: “You’re always battling the elements, so you have to hope for the best and plan for the worst,” says Andy Meggenhofen, Vice President & Senior Account Executive of the Indianapolis area-based company. On Friday of the NBA weekend event, there was a snowstorm. They powered through that and were rewarded with better weather by the big day, Sunday; though it wouldn’t have mattered to this team. “Fortunately or unfortunately, we’ve gotten quite good at doing outdoor events in Indiana’s winters.”
Dodd had three main clients, the NBA, the Indianapolis Pacers basketball team, and the Host Committee; plus something special for PepsiCo. They ended up with 22 show sites to provide for. One of their biggest events for them was the Tip-Off Celebration with special guest T-Pain on Thursday night. “In addition to that, we did a lot of Host Committee and city-wide events, which were similar to what we did when the Super Bowl was here in 2012,” Meggenhofen explains.
Lighting the Crossroads
Downtown’s main corridor, Georgia Street, was turned into a party venue. “We had 80 Ayrton Cobras, and then put in place 16 Claypaky Skylos. We also used a lot of the new Elation KL Spot IP and custom Apollo MFG gobos for projecting team and All Star theme logos on the buildings.” They also placed portable LED screens all over downtown highlighting different events using a fleet of Insane Impact LED Trailers.
Indianapolis is the state capitol and that area around that building is known as Crossroads, which is where they did a significant amount of work. “There we had a 15’ tall NBA logo with search lights and provided lighting and audio for a DJ.” ROE Visual Strip Elements with custom Star Frames were also used. Out of a nearby three-story window they erected a cantilevered, custom “basket” for a DJ; they also took care of another DJ who was placed at the other end of the street in a Stageline SL100 mobile stage along accented with a giant mirror ball.
Meggenhofen says the biggest difference between working this event and the 2012 Super Bowl comes down to IP65. “The ability to put IP65 fixtures outside wherever we need them makes a big difference. Typically, we’d have to connect umbrellas or plastic covers and put them underneath mobile stage roofs—it’s such a big relief to not worry about that.” Their wide range of IP65 rated products included Ayrton, SGM, Elation, Claypaky, and Ephesus. “I think we took the first delivery of [Ayrton] Cobras and [Claypaky] Skylos, and we’ve been very happy of both of those and the impact they’ve made. The versatility of having something that can reach far above buildings, literally seen for miles, has been fantastic.”
Starry Activation
Another important aspect was working with the recently rebranded PepsiCo’s Starry soda (previously Sierra Mist), which involved creating an LED basketball half-court and environment filled with fan engagement opportunities. The scenic, rigging, lighting, video, and audio for this involved 12 Dodd team members alone. For the video they relied on ROE Visual Black Onyx for the walls and their Black Marble for the LED floor system. On those screens, the Starry figures, including some new lemon and lime characters, were brought to life.
Building Lighting
There is a lot for the team to be proud of, including Dodd’s work on three major architectural elements. One was Lucas Oil Stadium, a last-minute addition involving lighting up the building’s iconic windows on the north side. “They wanted the 200’x 100’ graphics to be seen during the day and then have those pop even more at night,” Meggenhofen says. “People really became excited about that, and it became a selfie moment.” For that they used the SGM P10s, primarily because of its 10° lens. “They work so well and had such a great throw.” Then there was Gainbridge Fieldhouse, where the All-Star game took place, which they dressed up with just six SGM Q-10s.
Another was the JW Marriott, the tallest hotel in town featuring a front of concave glass. Here they had to light a logo that wrapped the front and side of the building that included a huge QR code printed graphic that people could capture from their phones on the ground that would entice fan engagement, winning prizes, etc. “It created challenges, but we just chose fixtures that had a lot of horsepower that could really punch through and bring it to life against the skyline. It turned out beautifully.” Bringing this to life were 48 Cooper Lighting Solutions Ephesus LED Stadium IP Lights driven by two Swisson Playback units.
The whole added up to something greater than the sum of its parts, Meggenhofen concludes. “We’re happy how it all just pulled the people in—like moths to a light.”
PRODUCTION TEAM
Overall:
- Designer: Andy Meggenhofen
- Programmers: Justin Bennett, Jason Lenhart
- Lighting Crew: Trystan Adams, River Gehlhausen, Nic Claypool, Jason Lenhart
- Stage Manager: Elissa Eckstein
- LED Techs: Justin Douglas, Mick Newport, Mike Sonneman
- Video Tech: Jeremy Fliss
- Video Playback: Joseph Lehman
Starry Booth:
- Scenic Lead: Jeremy Adams
- Scenic Carp: Jon Bond
- Scenic Painter: Akara Adams
- Rigging: Nic Claypool
GEAR
Lighting:
- 8 Ayrton Domino-S
- 25 Ayrton Perseo Profile-S
- 32 Ayrton Cobra II
- 8 Claypaky Skylos
- 16 ROXX Cluster B2 FC
- 16 SGM P-6
- 28 SGM P-10
- 12 SGM Q-10
- 4 Elation KL Panel XL IP
- 4 JEM Heavy Fogger
- 2 DF-50 HAZER
- 2 grandMA2 full-size Console
- 2 grandMA2 NPU Unit
- 1 grandMA2 8-Port Node
Video:
- 114 ROE Visual CB5 w/ Airframe
- 2 Insane Impact 1710 Mobile Screen
- 2 Insane Impact 2313 Mobile Screen
Georgia Street:
Lighting
- Ayrton Cobra II
- Claypaky Skylos
- Elation SIXPAR 200IP
- PixelLine Micro W w/ Wide Lens
- SGM P-10
- Elation KL Spot IP Fixture
- Elation CW Profile HP, IP Leko
- grandMA3 Processing & Control
- W-DMX Units
Video
- 60 ROE Visual Strip w/ Custom Star Frame
- 2 Insane Impact 2313 Mobile Screen
JW Marriott Façade:
- 48 Cooper Ephesus LED Stadium IP Light
- 2 Swisson Playback Unit
Lucas Oil Stadium:
- 24 SGM P-10
Gainbridge Fieldhouse:
- 6 SGM Q-10
Starry Booth:
Lighting
- 32 Ayrton Khamsin-S
- 36 Ayrton Zonda 9 FX
- 8 Ayrton Diablo-S
- 16 Claypaky Stormy CC
- 12 Astera Titan Tube
- 1 grandMA3 full-size Console
- 1 MA3 Replay Unit
- 1 MA3 L Processing Unit
Video
- 247 ROE Visual Black Marble LED Floor Panel w/ Matte Cover
- 432 ROE Visual Black Onyx 3.4mm LED Panel
- 4 Watchout Media Server
- 1 Spyder X-80 Processor