Large format projection specialists /ETC/ London returned to Malta to project onto the dramatic Fort St. Angelo in Valetta Harbour for the opening ceremony of the HotelPlan conference.

Working for the Malta Tourist Authority and the Malta Fairs & Convention Centre (MFCC), the event was staged for 250 invited guests.

/ETC/ London have worked in Malta several times, designing and co-ordinating large format projection shows, including for the Welcome Malta celebrations in 2004, when 10 new member states joined the EU.

For this latest project, /ETC/ UK's Ross Ashton was commissioned by Maltese production company Sign-It to create a special 15 minute narrative illustrating the history of Malta from its discovery 6000 years ago to the present. Ashton researched, wrote and produce the storyboard and originated all the artwork. The soundtrack was edited by Karen Monid.

/ETC/ projected a massive distance of 500 metres across Valletta Harbour onto the Fort from the projector position located at the Old Customs House.

They used eight 6kW PIGI projectors with double rotating scrollers, all overlaid to optimise the image brightness, complete with special Barco 125 cm lenses. The image was divided into two halves, with four machines covering each half, soft edged together using ETC's proprietary OnlyCue software, which was also used to programme and run the shows. The OnlyCue programmers were Karen Monid and Erlwin de Gans, with support from Chris Richardson and Ewan Guichard.

Sign-It were also heavily involved with the Welcome Malta show. The projections onto the Fort then proved such a great hit that Sign-It's MD Ruben Caruana wants to repeat the spectacle as-and-when the opportunities arise for more people to enjoy. "Projection makes such a bold, dramatic statement and is hugely entertaining" he states, adding that a projection show is an ideal focus for a corporate event that also involves entertainment elements for its guests.

The projection show was part of a full evening of activities planned for the delegates including fireworks over the harbour.

Once again, the shows were a huge success. Ashton comments "It was a great privilege to be asked back to Malta again, and also to produce a show from scratch, undertaking all elements of the process in-house."

It was actually the sixth time that /ETC/ London has worked in Malta, following the 1999 launch of the Malta Freeport Container Dock and the Malta Millennium celebrations in 2000 as well as Welcome Europe.