From Sky to Sea – Devonport Light Show

The original concept design saw the show presented in a linear form – with pillars flanking both sides of a waterfront pathway. During consultation with local stakeholders, this concept was moved to takeover a little used rotunda area in the park – the site of an original railway turntable from a past industrial era.

Mandylights provided ongoing design support with realistic renders and plans that were used for consultation, council discussions and media opportunities as the project was brought to life.

A full animatic of the show was also produced which was used for promotional and funding applications.

Images in the adjacent gallery shows renders generated by Mandylights from both the final design and initial early concepts.

From the outset, the Mandylights design team sought to create a design that was both sympathetic to the surrounding environment and free of the unsightly infrastructure that often accompanies light shows. To do this, the team created a series of “pillars’ that would be both functional and highly creative.

Each pillar was designed with one of five themes – representing First Nations culture, the Snowy Gums of the mountains, contour lines of the farmlands, maritime and railway symbols from the city’s foreshore and finally, the unique hexagonal rock formations found at the head of the Don River on the edge of Bass Strait. The pillars were designed to be laser etched with these thematic elements, and backlit with pixel-mapped LED lighting from inside the structure.

The pillars are designed to rust, and their appearance will change over time.

While stunning to look at during the day or night, the pillars also support lighting and video fixtures that are integral to the design of the show – but do so in a functional, discreet way.

Each pillar was designed to incorporate a strip of high resolution creative LED video that would display ever-changing content throughout the show. The video initially extends the physical design of the illuminated pillars; echoing the etched designs with colourful extensions of content. The clear highlight however is the playback of stunning drone footage captured from around the Devonport region which showcases the alpine highlands and farmlands of the foothills in spectacular detail.

As part of Mandylights’ collaboration with RANT Arts, dozens of unique First Nations by artist Caleb Nichols-Mansell were utilised as both video elements and physical gobo projections in lighting fixtures. These were animated in house at Mandylights to create a series of moving textures that accompany various sections of the show.

Throughout the show, each of the sixteen video surfaces display different content to encourage visitors to watch the show multiple times and experience new content and details from different perspectives.

Lighting design required a perfect balance of practicality and creativity; where fixtures would need to survive in the harsh, maritime environment while also offering a vast array of lighting effects to keep audiences enthralled.

Mandylights specified a number of proven outdoor fittings; including gobo projectors and new laser-based moving lights that could withstand the difficult operating conditions. The design team leveraged learnings from our permanent installs at the Auckland Harbour Bridge and in central Australia’s Alice Springs to recommend fixtures that Mandylights knew to be reliable for long-term outdoor operations.

Over 300 custom ‘gobos’ were designed and produced – featuring an array of local artworks, pillar designs and creative elements to support specific scenes of the show.

Finally, Mandylights employed a reliable, global-standard lighting control platform that would not only allow for remote monitoring and reliable show operations, but also offer future expansion possibilities where local operators could include the lighting system in park-wide festival programming or additional shows could be added at a later date.

“From Sky to Sea” features a diverse soundtrack that accompanies the fifteen minute show that shines a light on local artists.

The opening of the show centres around the Palawa story of creation, with narration and a soundscape developed in conjunction with RANT Arts from Devonport. As the show progresses, the mountain dawn and farmlands sequences are underscored by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s The Magic Island – from an album of compositions that celebrate Tasmania’s beauty. Local chart-topping band Sumner have leant their hit Stranded to the show, which features during a focus on the city’s maritime and rail history. The finale – a spectacular storm sequence – was developed by Mandylights as a driving, rhythmic finale that introduces yet another musical style to the show.

The entire soundtrack was put together by the Mandylights design team and curated to provide a meaningful backdrop to the visual elements of the show.

During the six year project development, Mandylights’ project management and design teams worked closely with Council to design the show, contribute to applications for state and federal funding and then to tender the construction of the show elements ahead of the on-site delivery phase. Mandylights created construction documentation, multiple video and static renders and then oversaw the installation process before our team worked on site for two weeks of programming and commissioning.

Mandylights worked closely with Degree C, an excellent local construction firm, to oversee the build and delivery of the project and maintain creative integrity throughout the delivery process. The two companies have worked together to ensure that control and maintenance systems can be looked after both locally and remotely; with the Mandylights team able to refresh content and programming from mainland offices, and Degree C able to conduct routine maintenance activities on site in Devonport.