Project:
Finnish National Opera
Location:
Helsinki, Finland
Manufacturers:
Green Hippo
Lighting / Visual Designer:
Mikki Kunttu
Project Submitted By:
Green Hippo
Mikki worked with grandMA2, which helped him concentrate on the creative elements of the show, right through from the stage rehearsals to opening night. Hippotizer Media Servers were controlled and programmed by MA2 lighting consoles. Lighting Technicians, Saviranta and Riihijärvi, also took care of the video.
Green Hippo’s Hippotizer Media Servers – one main and one backup – controlled a brace of Barco HDQ-2K40, one handling front projection on to gauze, the other providing back projection on PVC. Mikki and his team also used Notch, the game-changing real-time visual creation tool that keeps up with your ideas, which seamlessly integrates with Hippotizer Media Servers – as well as Hantmade’s Stage Plugin for Cinema 4D. Additional key gear in his Land of Kalevala inventory included the venue’s MA Lighting grandMA2 console, as well as further lighting gear.
The performance was about Finland in which the epic 19th century Kalevala poem takes root. Kenneth Greve’s Land of Kalevala is a thank-you to, a celebration of and a wake-up call for the Finnish nation. The story touches on milestone moments in Finnish history and culture with a bold combination of diverse art forms. The main concept of the stage design was 38, 12m tall pillars flying through space, creating different three-dimensional scenes and transitions. Mikki’s wish was to create lighting and projection content to compliment the ‘mass’ of the pillars, creating a single, visual entity. One that, in Mikki’s vision, represents the weight of Finland’s history and subconscious memory, which carries from generation to generation.
The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (FNOB) marked 100 years of Finnish independence with a number of exclusive events. Taking place in the FNOB’s home base, the Opera House in Helsinki, Kenneth Greve’s ballet spectacle explores the very essence of Finland and the Finns through dance. The crack team behind this occasion was very carefully assembled, with Mikki Kunttu taking charge of set, lighting and projection design.
