MAC 700 Proves Golden at IAAF World Track and Field Championships

Martin’s new MAC 700 profile spot was quickly out of the blocks at the recent IAAF World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki, the world’s largest sporting event this year.

Held at Helsinki Olympic Stadium in Finland, host of the 1952 Olympic Games, lighting designer Jussi Kallioinen used 34 of the new 700-watt fixtures for the Opening Ceremony on August 6th. A host of other Martin gear was also employed including 135 MAC 2000 Wash, 68 MAC 2000 Profiles, 2 MAC 2000 Performance, 8 MAC 600 washlights, 54 Atomic strobes (24 with Atomic Colors), and 24 Jem ZR33 Hi Mass foggers. All Martin gear was supplied by Eastway Sound & Lighting Oy of Helsinki through Lightinen Ltd, Martin Scandinavia’s sole distributor in Finland.

Jussi, lighting designer at Eastway, commented, “Lighting was a huge element of the show. We used the MACs for big washes on the field, for animation effects and for some aerial effects. The MAC 700 performed very well – it is a very good light and we had no problems with it or any of the MACs. I’m using the MAC 700 on the Finnish Millionaire TV show as well and it has worked very well on that too. For the Opening Ceremony of the World Track and Field Championships we used 34 of them and positioned them on truss pillars on one side of the stadium. The animation system is very nice and the output is almost as good as the MAC 2000 Profile. It has a lot of power.”

Creating rigging for the lights proved to be a problem however because of the age of the stadium, which is now 50+ years old. “Stadium officials kept saying that we couldn’t do things,” Jussi states. “So the size of the MAC 700 was important. Because of the stadium roof being so low it was hard to find places for fixtures but we managed.

“It rained for a week leading up to the event and rained at the Opening Ceremony which was hell for the load-in but good for visuals and the light beams. There were 8 truss pillars and on each we placed three MAC 700s and a MAC 2000 Wash (all MAC 2000 Washes were equipped with PC lenses). The MAC 2000 Profiles we had on truss on the field and on the roof. The same for the MAC 2000 Wash although we placed some of those on the edge of the field as well. The fixtures held up well, despite the weather. The Martin technician that was on hand had very little to do.”

Jem ZR33 Hi Mass foggers were located on the field and on the edges of the field. “There was no roof so we needed to continuously supply smoke,” Jussi continues. “Actually, because of the rain we didn’t need to use as many fog machines as we had planned.”

Eastway’s Sales Director Olli-Pekka Kallio commented on their newest light acquisition, “These were the first MAC 700s used in Europe and we had no problems with them whatsoever. What you have created is a light with great output – a light with a good combination of power and graphics.”

He concludes, “We have a very strong relationship with Lightinen. This was a world class opening done by local boys and was the largest single job done by Eastway. And although it rained the day before the event, we were surprised by the lack of service needed. The Martin technician was mostly busy buying postcards.”

The MAC 700 is already being specified for shows around the world including “Lennon” on Broadway and the upcoming Paul McCartney tour as well as the aforementioned Millionaire TV show and more.