I've often felt that because engineering is logical, scientific and practical, people view it as 'dull'. That they don't see the creativity, imagination and fun. After all, what comes under boring in the Yellow Pages...
But what if I was to tell you that without engineering there would be no film industry, no theatre productions, no sports events, as we know them? What if I was to tell you that not only are they important for enabling these things to happen, but that engineers are an essential part of the design team in deciding how and what will be shown?
I have been an Astaire and Rogers fan since I was tiny, and was so excited to be in L.A. and get to visit the Paramount Pictures Studio where a lot of their films were made. It was great to see the history of the business, the studios and sets, the fake New York streets, and the Bronson Gate. But as I looked around more it was the riggers working away in the studios, the structures built bizarrely to give the right perspective for camera, and the other weird and wonderful set design techniques that really interested me. They even have a car park with a concrete wall that is turned into a mini reservoir when they need to film an ocean scene (see below).
Taking things to a new level, Paramount produced Titanic, for which a full scale replica boat (over 700 ft long) was constructed on a custom built support system that would allow raising and tilting of the entire set. I think i'm safe in saying without spoiling the ending, that to simulate the sinking, the fore section of the ship had to be suspended on hydraulics to enable a 34ft lift and tilt range.
It was incredible to see this kind of staging in action when we got to Las Vegas and saw Cirque du Soleil's LOVE, set to music by the Beatles. To set the scene, within the first 90 seconds of the show's opening sequence there are 18 people flying through the air, all 11 of the stage lifts moving, and about 25 dancers on the stage. The entire stage is only really visible when the show isn't running, there are that many moveable parts.
During a show, parts of the stage rise and fall (up to 30ft), fold down, and retract under the stage to be replaced by complete sets or allow performers to fly in on wires. There are trap doors that open and close and move around in the stage. And between all of these pieces there is 3/8 inch tolerance so that when they are together it looks seamless. Added to this are the moving gantry cranes, decks, bungee jumps, wire rigs, and projector installations, not to mention the lighting and sound rigs, and the performers' props. Fancy a go at choreographing that?
In 2008 McLaren Engineering won the THEA Award for Outstanding Technical Achievement for their renovation of the MGM Grand showroom for the new Cirque du Soleil show 'KA'. This $19,000,000 project (apologies, this is only the construction cost as I can't find the whole cost) encompassed the construction of several of the largest custom made pieces of theatrical machinery in the world. As well as this, their studies of conceptual machinery solutions helped to select the best systems for the show based on geometry, weight, speed, and power requirements.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying that this is necessary, give me a good play with no set change and minimal cast and I'd be happy. But it is interesting and exciting to see the developments in entertainment engineering, and it looks like they're set to continue. Back in 2005 it was estimated that shows on the Vegas strip brought in $2 billion to the casinos with theatres, and since then even more spectacular shows have been opened. I don't know how much they bring in now, but they all have engineers on their payroll, and the work sounds anything but dull.