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MAINSTAGE DESIGN
ENTERTAINMENT DESIGN
TEAM PROJECT
OBJECTIVE
Design the main stage for What? Music and Arts Festival. 6 month duration.
Background
DESIGNING THE STAGE
What? Music and Arts Festival was developed by What? Productions LLC, a team of Columbus naties who came together in late 2017 based on a shared passion for the arts, music and their community.
They questioned: "What could they create in Columbus?"
"What could they create that would inspire collaboration?"
"What could they create that would disrupt the way others think about events?"
By questioning what? (literally), the team decided to host an event that spotlights the arts and serves as a launching pad to inspire others to ask how they too can make a positive impact on their communities.
DESIGNING THE STAGE
EASY ASSEMBLY
- Can be easily understood and assembled by a crew of volunteers the day of the event.
Budget friendly
- Constructed economically best finish with least expensive or reclaimed/reused materials.
Modularity
- After final construction, can break apart into several large sections for transporting from the warehouse to the event.
Working closely with local artist Kyle Dineen, plans were created which re-used elements from the previous years design, while increasing the overall scale and providing several geometric elements to be projected onto. Design requirements were developed early on, and played a role in the design of the stage.
Design Brief
Assembly
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STAGE ASSEMBLY
The major stage components are supported by two 4-chord aluminum stage truss stabilized by 48" steel base plates.
Five more aluminum stage truss was configured into a square which was suspended by two lift genies. Water ballasts were used to stabilize the suspended frame.
General Construction
CONSTRUCTION
The overall construction of a majority of the stage involved creating paths from the CAD design that we could use to CNC various elements to scale, sand down rough edges, paint white, and then glue together in layers before assembling and mounting to OSB.
Cheesebrough truss mounts were then attached with hardware to the foam elements to secure to stage truss.
SCREEN FRAMING
Frames were constructed with black-out curtains to affix to the square aluminum truss arrangement.
After this stage the projectionist could set up the two 12k projectors to make sure the entire surface area of the front of the stage was illuminated.
Screen
LED Panels
ARDUINO DRIVEN LEDS
Two large diamond shaped pre-assembled elements which were constructed out of layered MDF were hung on either side.
They're backlit internally with LEDs which are driven by code from a Raspberry Pi and are modulated with a 3D printed controller. The 3d printed controller allows the adjustment of brightness, animation speed, color, and selection of 9 different LED animations.
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