48th National Day, Abu Dhabi
Flying moons for a spectacular ceremony
We were engaged by Betty Productions to design and deliver twelve illuminating moons for the UAE’s 48th National Day ceremony at the Sports Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Providing poignancy to the central narrative of the show, it was essential that our moons were truly spectacular. Each glowing sphere, two metres in diameter, rose from the stage and seemingly levitated in an entrancing display.
Composed with blown acrylic and hand finished with images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the lustrous forms were designed to transition through the moon’s phases as they ascended over the audience. With a custom internal automation and LED design, we displayed the complete lunar cycle as the signature moment to the National Day celebrations.
— Client
Betty Productions
— Location
Abu Dhabi, UAE
The shells were created from blown acrylic spheres and were hand finished and coated in a high resolution vinyl graphic sourced from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The single point rig involved in their flying meant that a motor driven slewing ring mechanism had to be invented to keep them in the correct rotational orientation via an electronic compass built into the control board.
