THE BRIEF
The Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry, Scotland is an award-winning sound and light show which has been running since 2002. The annual event attracts tens of thousands of visitors who come to see the dazzling visuals and innovative design in the stunning autumn woodland setting of Faskally Wood. Using the forest as a natural backdrop, visitors experienced a lighting show that was, quite simply, out of this world.
NL Productions were our client – the events arm of leading installer Northern Light, and provided the full technical installation of temporary sound and lighting equipment in the forest.
WE SUPPLIED:
CHALLENGE
Our involvement in this project was relatively small as we only supplied and installed the fountain system, but NL Productions took responsibility for the programming and control of the whole system. An outdoor event of this scale requires a huge amount of equipment, including 469 lighting fixtures, 6.6 kilometres of cable, 81 power circuits, eight generators and 2.1 kilometres of DMX/control cable.
The challenge for us came when NL Productions requested that the fountains be positioned in a circle with a much taller jet in the centre. Firstly we didn’t have a taller jet, so we had to source one. Secondly, the circular format was something we hadn’t done before – all our previous installations had been in a straight line.
RESULT
We purchased what we now call our ‘Monster Jet’ which is capable of reaching 25m in height and draws our regular 8-10m high jets. Our Monster Jet pump is very large and heavy, weighing in at 100kg’s, so we had to build a new floating frame with extra buoyancy to keep the pump afloat on the lake. Getting that weight in and out of the water also probed very difficult and the pumps required their own 32-amp three-phase power supply.
To secure the fountains in the circular formation, we used the Monster Jet in the centre as an anchor point. Securing each of the surround frames to the centre, we then secured the outer perimeter to the bank so that the whole piece became locked together as one.
As you can see from the images below, the outcome was simply stunning.
