Human Pixels Create Stunning Crowd Scenes For Paris Closing Ceremony | Live Design Online

The artistic director for the Closing Ceremony of Paris 2024, Thomas Jolly, has said of the Summer Games, “Humanity is beautiful when it comes together,” and with the help of PixMob’s Moving Visual Transmitter (MVT) technology, the audience in Stade de France came together with the performers and athletes as part of the celebration. More than 70,000 members of the crowd and the athletes lit up with PixMob’s high-powered X4 LED wristbands using MVT to paint the stands. The silhouettes in light depicted the story of the Games from the early days up to the modern rings icon, moving around the stadium incorporating the spectators into the show. While LED wristbands are not new, having a horse and chariot chase around the crowd with MVT represents a big step up in immersive storytelling.

Rather than using a controller that casts a single infrared beam, Moving Visual Transmitter technology uses a moving head fixture with a redesigned interior to project multiple infrared commands simultaneously. This enables very precise visualization and programming for animated graphics. Live Design talked to PixMob’s Director, Entertainment & Touring Experiences, Hila Aviran, about the Paris 2024 project and MVT.

Live Design: Did you develop this upgrade of wristband technology for the Olympics?

Hila Aviran: Not really, we've spent years perfecting the sweeps and chases that sync with the music in the crowd and have gradually incorporated moving effects, like a heart and a snake that moves through the crowd. We kept working on that technology until we developed the Moving Visual Transmitter where we can then create the graphics you saw in the audience. We had been testing it for at least a year so the technology was ready. It just happened that the Closing Ceremony, and a couple of the athletic events we worked on, were the big reveal, which was amazing.

The special thing about Pix Mob is that we have an in-house engineering team who are always trying to figure out how to push the envelope a little bit more to give each show something that makes people think, How did that happen?

LD: The images were stunning, you could absolutely recognize a horse galloping and players from the ancient games even on the TV broadcast, what was the biggest challenge?

HA: We always keep in mind this is human resolution, not 4K or television screen, so we design for “human pixels.” We also need the very bright LEDs on the X4 wristbands for a large stadium. But the other big factor is the surrounding light. We were very lucky that we worked with our creative partners on the show who understood the importance of darkness in the venue so that the impact of the special effect would be the largest. At the moments we needed, the show was really dark except for the key elements like the spots on the performer and some very precise lighting. There were no floodlights on the audience and that's magic to us. If we can get darkness in the crowd, that's where our effects shine the brightest and the impact is the greatest, because our goal is to bring fans closer to the stage and into the show.

Another challenge was that the Olympics is as big of an event as it's going to get and there are a lot of crews, a lot of different elements that have to come together for the show. Making sure that communication flowed smoothly was key and having multiple back up plans even though on the night we didn’t need them. We are a slightly obsessive bunch!

LD: PixMob has always been proud of its sustainability efforts. What steps did you take to green the 70,000+ wristbands on this project?

HA: We haven’t used single-use plastics for a long time and so everything used on this project supported sustainable goals: sustainable fabrics for the wrist wrap and the pixel casing is made of sustainable materials and recycled plastics. We also implemented our recycling program for this show. There was no branding on the wrist band, making it less of a souvenir and really easy for people to recycle. Fans are used to returning wristbands now and it is pretty standard practice for them to recycle them in the bins provided on the way out. Actually, many clients don't ask for branding or sponsorships, they see it as part of the lighting package and an authentic part of the experience for the audience.