When you think of sporting events that set pulses racing, golf is not the first sport that immediately springs to mind. However, having gained a reputation as something of a disruptor to the sport since its first season in 2022, LIV Golf provides an all-action antidote to the clichéd, buttoned-down perception of golf. Throughout the season, some of the world’s top players compete in 14 locations around the world, backed by engaging entertainment and spectacular scenography that brings the game to new generations of fans.
With the season opener held in Riyadh in early February, the event took place at night, providing an unusual opportunity to put on an audiovisual spectacle that would be simply impossible to produce during a regular daytime event. Having worked with LIV Golf since its inception, Behind The Volt was entrusted by LIV Golf with what the company’s Managing Director, Alan Muller, described as “redefining the visual language of live sport”.
Catching up with TPiMEA after the show, Muller recalled the ambitious brief: “Our mission was to transform a championship golf course into a fully choreographed night time entertainment environment that felt more like a cinematic experience than a golf tournament,” he commented. “We didn’t just light a golf course; we built a 1 sq km scenographic ecosystem.”
Moving beyond simply lighting the venue, Behind The Volt aimed to create a unified design language that purveyed the whole event, where lasers, lighting, projections, LED and water effects operated as one coherent system. A crucial undertaking in this endeavour was the establishment of a well-planned and robust fibre network throughout the site. “We are well versed in installing high-end networks for live events, including covering broadcast requirements,” commented Muller. “This is always the starting point so everything can be controlled from one timecode.”
With the network established, the Behind The Volt team set about placing the vast arsenal of lasers and lights throughout the 1 sq km course. “We even lit over 1,000 palm trees, each with a light in warm white, which looked great on camera alongside the green grass,” Muller recalled. “We could then control the tree lighting, so it pulsed, creating a wave effect along the course and making the trees come alive.”
Part of the remit was to produce the world’s largest ‘shotgun start’ – a timecoded audiovisual spectacular synchronised across the entire site to mark the start of play, with all groups of players teeing off from each hole simultaneously. “The shotgun start came with its own set of challenges,” Muller remarked, recalling how the team had to adapt the laser and lighting show timecode to fit in with last-minute changes to the video content and audio track.
Lasers were a prominent feature of the show throughout, with the Behind The Volt team adopting a three-tiered approach to their use within the overall design. “We looked at the laser deployment in terms of three levels – high altitude, mid-level and lower-level,” Muller commented, describing the setup.”
Kvant lasers were deployed throughout. Four Architect W500B fixtures were positioned to create a high-level pyramid of beams directly over the 18th green. “Architects must be used correctly,” Muller noted. “You can’t use them like you would use a normal laser. They’re designed to create massive effects at high altitudes.” Six Epic 280W lasers were used to create a large frame grid, firing “juicy” beams from four main locations around the course, while a further 17 Atom 60W and 43 Atom 42W lasers filled the space on a lower level close to the action.
There were also 84 of Kvant’s new 600 Prestige Beam moving head fixture specifically placed across the site. Muller recalled the first time he witnessed the fixture in the flesh: “When I saw it in action for the first time being used on the Burj Khalifa, I had a silly grin on my face andI thought ‘this is going to change everything’,” he smirked. “The images don’t do it justice; seeing the power of this fixture in person is simply breathtaking – and is why Behind The Volt acquired an initial 24 of these lights to have exclusively in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
A long-term Kvant user, the Managing Director was pleased with the ongoing partnership with the company. “Not only could Kvant deliver the additional quantity and quality of lasers we needed, but they also brought in a great team of riggers and laser programmers to ensure that the process was smooth and comfortable for everyone,” he stated. “It’s that kind of flexibility that we value in a partner.”
Behind The Volt’s General Manager, Tim Manton, agreed: “We want to partner with people and companies who share our vision, have good work ethic and strive to deliver to the very high standards that we set ourselves,” he added, also praising the other suppliers who supported the operations, including the event’s power supplier, Aggreko: “They provided a dedicated project manager for the laser power supply, which enabled smooth collaboration considering the complexity and scale of the setup.”
In addition to the lasers, a further 1,000 lighting fixtures were spread around the site, including Cameo Zenit SMD Pix Bars, which were used to light every tee box. Muller recalled the “constant consideration” that was required to ensure that the rigorous broadcast lighting requirements were met. “Golf is generally lit from behind, but cameras are facing the players, so that leaves them in silhouette. To combat this, we had to uplight and sidelight all the surrounding branding,” he explained. “We also had to always consider where the players would be when placing any lighting or laser fixtures. It’s all good and well to light the palm tree, but if that light spills through and is blinding a player trying to take a tee shot then you have a serious problem.”
A gigantic 145m by 6m LED screen served as the backdrop for the Fan Zone, with Behind The Volt providing scenography services to sister agency Reddoor Live that included producing content – including several anamorphic videos that created the illusion of the content jumping off the LED canvas – designed to attract the audience’s attention and maintain engagement.
Henre Pretorius, Creative Lead at Behind The Volt, explained the brief: “The Fan Zone had to draw the crowd and keep their attention,” he stated, noting the client’s desire for an immersive experience. “We see immersive experiences as activating as many senses as possible, so it was important that everything from our audio track to the video content, lighting, lasers and special effects were all on point.”
Content was produced in Adobe After Effects in half scale, before being scaled up to full size. Some was filmed in 360 and digitally ‘unwrapped’ to suit the rounded V-shaped screens before being run on Dataton WATCHOUT media servers.
Looking back on the project, Muller recalled the challenge of a load-in conducted under a typically compressed timeframe. “There was still heavy construction in the build-up, so we installed the cabling but decided to keep the fixtures packed away until as late as possible,” he revealed, noting that Syncronorm Depence was helpful in the previs stage while the fixtures were being held back. “We also had to be off the course within 48 hours following the event. It was intense, but everything was down and back in the compound within just 36 hours, before being cleaned and prepped for the next job.”
The most pleasing aspect of the project for Muller was the way the Behind The Volt team utilised technology to create a cohesive production. “Anyone can dump a load of technology onto a golf course, but the real skill is in bringing it all together to create something that makes sense in its environment,” he commented. “We are practicing scenography here – every piece of technology was used for a specific reason and was pulled together to create an experience for the audience and set the stage for the sport to play out.”
Photos: Behind The Volt
