https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7Uxd3NMeo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urb2jZMVWME
Imagine were asked to tender back in 2011 for the supply and operation of 4 giant helium clouds to be used for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games.
After a long drawn out process we learnt of our success with the tender and it soon became a huge project for us to manage in terms of design, logistics and manufacturing.
LOGOC expressed their desire to have the clouds looking 'fluffy' so a series of experiments began to ensure the required look was achieved. This resulted in us sourcing bobbinet (wedding dress netting) and completely covering the surface of the 8m clouds with it.
Several prototypes were developed to ensure that the clouds would 'fly' when filled with helium with the additional weight of the surface material.
Each cloud was of a different design and shape.
We took a prototype to 3 Mills Studios in East London to show Danny Boyle and his creative team what we had achieved. Luckily for Imagine, they were very impressed with our efforts and the look we had achieved.
While the development was underway for the helium clouds we were also asked to design a cloud that would have an internal mechanism to actually produce rain.
With the designs all approved production commenced and logistics organised for the 13 rehearsals we had to attend. This involved complex scheduling of deliveries into the stadium and our team undergoing extensive accreditation and security checks.
Eventually all was in place for us to undertake the final rehearsals and to meet the volunteers who would be handling the clouds while being managed by Imagine's staff.
LOGOC invited a number of Imagine staff to the final technical dress rehearsal 2 days before the event to say thank you for their hard work.
The night of the opening ceremony arrived and all went better than we could have expected with all clouds behaving superbly (even though there was rain which could have made things much more difficult!)
After a lot of hard work to ensure the rain cloud design would work it looked brilliant on the night!
Here is a picture of our main operators Julian and Roger enjoying the Olympic cauldron after a lot of hard work over many weeks!
Alongside the clouds Imagine also produced many point of sale PVC products for crowd interaction.
Check out out you Tube Link below
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