To celebrate the end of 2020, I thought of the city of Edinburgh as being very special and would allow 150 drones to climb.
Every country and every city has its own way of ending the year. While it is customary in Italy to wear red underwear, grapes are eaten in Spain and white roses are tossed into the sea in Brazil. Scotland is a country rich in tradition and has a colorful past. New Year’s Eve also has its own name: Hogman. It is one of the most important Scottish festivals and the Scottish capital Edinburgh hosts a major festival every year. This year it was not possible. Everything was different in 2020. So the Scots rescheduled and told the old year in a different way to sin lit (goodbye in Gaelic).
Largest flock of drones
Spanning three evenings, a total of three videos were released from 29 to 31 December 2020, capturing the landscape of Scotland and important messages from the previous year and culminating in a presentation on New Year’s Eve.
150 drones, poetry by Scottish poet Jackie and the breathtaking landscape of Scotland were added not only to greet the new year, but also to all those who have achieved incredible things in the past year. The largest choreographed flock of drones ever traveled together in Britain is formed by a galloping deer at speeds up to 150 meters and speeds up to 25 km / h, in addition to the Scottish flag and various lettering. AI software was used to display images.
The sky as a canvas
The entire choreography was coordinated by the Celestial Company. Akash is the only drone display company in the world that combines advanced technology with breathtaking organic displays. They are a collective of award-winning filmmakers, musicians, developers and storytellers. His skytheater performances at Hogmanay, Edinburgh are dynamic and awe-inspiring. You see the night sky as an epic 3D canvas that offers unlimited possibilities.
Laborious process
John Hopkins, director of Celestial Labs, describes how the spectacular event came about: “The show had to be scripted first. To do this, we brought on board Jackie Kahn, who wrote the words that lead us through the video. Then I and my team looked for pictures that underlined these words. Visary designer Gary Wilson took this script and first sketched the various ideas in his sketch book and then transferred them to the tablet. There they were animated. “It is a very special feeling to see these ideas in heaven, on screen or on paper,” says Gary Wilson. The recording began in the Highlands of Scotland and then proceeded towards the capital, Edinburgh.
artificial intelligence
“I have never worked on a project like this before. It is a mixture of film, poetry, design and logistics and we had to find a new way of working together. The technology is new and there is still no routine. The drones we have worked with are not camera drones but drones and they fly not as individual figures but as a large creature. Director John Hopkins explains that Artificial Intelligence is built into drones to prevent them from flying against each other. (sgl)