7 minute read
THE LIBERATION OF IZMIR
AN ESTIMATED TWO MILLION PEOPLE PACK THE STREETS OF IZMIR TO CELEBRATE THE 100-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE CITY’S BIGGEST PUBLIC HOLIDAY WITH AN ENORMOUS IN-THE-ROUND PRODUCTION BEFITTING THE SPECIAL OCCASION.
Nestled on Turkey’s Aegean coast, the historic city of Izmir is Turkey’s third largest behind Istanbul and the capital, Ankara. The city celebrates the end of the Greco-Turkish war on 9 September every year, and with 2022 marking the 100th anniversary, the Izmir Municipality wanted to make a major splash.
“The main goal for the municipality was to create the biggest and most sensational celebration ever made in Turkey,” began Işıl Evgin Gündüz of Imagina Productions, which was entrusted with the ambitious project by AB Kolektif. “This was a goal repeatedly stated by the mayor in his interviews during the process, which created huge levels of expectation not only in Izmir, but all over the country.”
On receiving this extremely bold brief, Imagina put together a team to brainstorm a concept. “We got together to decide on the elements we wanted to use for this project, with the clear intention that it needed to be something unique in Turkey,” Evgin Gündüz explained, noting that live performers were a key element of the production. “We dug into the history of the city and tried to create a storyline that could both include key moments from history but also put forward the core DNA of Izmir.”
Joining Evgin Gündüz on the brainstorming team was Production Design and Management Director, Sedat Gündüz and Creative Director, Denis Astakhov. For Creative Director Astakhov, the biggest challenge was to dive into modern Turkish history in search of inspiration. “Since I am not a Turk, I needed to immerse myself in local culture, history and national ideas and, of course, the deeper I go, the more interesting it gets,” he commented. Having worked on several largescale events with the Imagina team, Astakhov is becoming quite the Turkish history buff. “We have this joke with Sedat and Işıl, that I could pass any Turkish history exam there is,” he laughed. “This time, we carefully watched through the history of the events prior to Izmir’s liberation and thought about how we could recreate them in a massive performance utilising all the tools at our disposal.”
With up to two million people expected to attend the celebration, the team opted for an inthe-round production, which had a capacity for the maximum number of spectators possible. “We decided we should push our limits and go with a stage design that has never been used in Turkey,” she said. “We looked to 360° concert stages from around the world for inspiration and combined that with inspiration from the city, which has a
distinctly Aegean culture that is rooted in the public’s heart.”
Throughout the project, the production team utilised the new CuePoints software, which was developed by TPi Breakthrough Talent Award Winner, Morgan Evans, and industry software designer, Matt Peel. “CuePoints helped us immensely in terms of planning and synchronising the live performances with pyro shots and balancing mapping and real-life footage,” Evgin Gündüz stated, adding that there were several pre-programmed settings throughout the show where screens were switched to live footage.
“We first planned everything in the programme, then ran the show from this planning during rehearsals and perfected it.
“The show was broadcast live, so the camera angles were immensely important,” she added. “We had a director of photography work with us for the last 15 days, pre-planning all the right angles for the show and entering that data into CuePoints, so, even during rehearsals, we knew what picture we would be putting out on show day. It made a big difference in terms of the success of the show.”
The ability to previsualise and display an accurate representation of how the project would look to the client was also vital – something for which Syncronorm Depence² came in particularly useful. “We used it so the client could watch the content, hear the music and the voiceover, and see the lights and pyro all in 3D,” Evgin Gündüz recalled, adding that even with these elements, the fact that the show was driven by the performances on stage meant it was difficult to showcase the full effect before rehearsals. “It was a difficult process, but as soon as the client saw the first rehearsal, they were thrilled.”
‘THE MAGIC OF THE SHOW’ The production called upon Giga Solutions to supply the stage structure, with set structures handled by Karizma. The unique stage was a circular design with several thrusts of different shapes and sizes emanating from the central point. The main focal point was a massive cylinder clad in LED and adorned with hundreds of lighting fixtures, which formed a backdrop for the on-stage performers. The stage was also encircled by six towers, which provided more flown lighting points and were fronted by large, curved LED screens.
“The design was extremely challenging technically,” said Evgin Gündüz. “A lot of calculations were required to take the concept from drawings to reality, but we achieved it thanks to Sedat’s immense experience and him working together with Production Managers Ibrahim Kandemir and Meriç Dündar, as well as the technical companies and technical production teams.”
EMN supplied 1,200 sq m of AET 3.9mm outdoor LED, with control systems including 16 NovaStar 4K LED processors, four Dataton WATCHOUTPAX60 servers, and an Analog Way Aquilon C+ provided by SK Production. Video
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Işıl Evgin Gündüz, Imagina Productions.
content was produced by Milyway Studios. XRT Studios produced several augmented reality moments for the live broadcast using a Zero Density AR System, with designs by Musa Çakır.
“We knew there would be some budget issues, so we thought we could incorporate AR for some of the things we wanted to include in the project but there was no budget for,” Evgin Gündüz revealed. The AR System Operators were Mert Şahin, Halil Yağlı, Mehmet Sönmez, Aziz Kadıoğlu, Asım Yıldırım, and Kerem Mavi.
Designed and operated by Çetin Türkmenli and Burhan Sezer and provided by Ego Technical, the lighting rig featured Claypaky Mythos 2, Martin MAC Encore Wash CLD and Viper Profile, Robe Robin 800 LED Wash, CHAUVET Professional LED Batten 32, as well as a whole host of ADJ fixtures, including Focus Profile, RX7 Beam, Vizi Beam, Jolt LED Strobe, and HEX 32 IP LED Bar. Control came courtesy of two MA Lighting grandMA3 light consoles, with six MA NPUs. A healthy dose of pyro was added to proceedings, with Galaxis wireless flame units provided by Efektif Production utilised in Özgür Yörük and Can Oettermann’s pyro design.
The massive audience was covered by an L-Acoustics K-Series PA, supplied by Altın Çizme, featuring 72 K2s and 36 KS28, with delays of 36 K2 and 18 KS28s ensuring maximum throw. A Soundcraft Vi6 console was used for control, with a QLab Station running from a MacBook with Presonus Audio Interface also utilised.
According to Evgin Gündüz, one of the biggest challenges of the project was the fact that it was to take place in the middle of the city in its busiest square. “Of course, there is a huge curious audience and we wanted to keep the magic of the show until show night, so we had to try to control the area and limit our on-site technical rehearsals to the quietest periods,” she commented.
Equally challenging was managing the huge crew – both during the initial phases when the production team was scattered in various locations around the globe, and in the build-up to showtime, when everyone arrived on site. “The creative and production team on site was around 50 people, the technical teams were more than 200, and we had 180 performers, so you can imagine what it was like backstage!” she laughed.
“Once the two million people showed up to watch the show, it became very challenging to even move around. The cell service didn’t work, so we were thankful for our wireless and corded intercom systems.”
Looking back on the project, Evgin Gündüz couldn’t single out a favourite moment, instead reflecting on “the scenario, the stage, the music, the performances…”, describing them all as “beyond satisfying”.
She concluded: “Everything came together just as we dreamed and worked in perfect harmony. It was absolutely crucial for us to create one big show where no one part outshines the other, and we feel we succeed in that. The reaction from the crowd was amazing.” Photos: Emre Dörter www.imagina.com.tr
