HOLLYWOOD, Calif. – As some may remember from the latest telecast, Madonna arrived on stage at the Staples Center in a rhinestone stretch limo to open the 43rd Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. What you may not know is that the Staples Center could not accommodate such a large vehicle due to weight, size, and a 90 degree turn of the back-stage ramp.
Madonna’s production team, one week before the Grammy rehearsals, came to Design Setters production facilities in Burbank, and asked if we could achieve the following:
Cut the limo into three sections; reduce the weight of the vehicle by nearly 3,000 lbs; design a system whereby the limo, in under 20 seconds, be made to come apart and go together with a ‘quick release’ mechanism to appear on stage as one whole car; be able to support Madonna’s weight and her 12 member dance troupe inside and out; apply a sequined finish to the car; fabricate the customized SNATCH’D license plate; design and install a spinning mirror ball hood ornament.
From the depths of the Ocean in the movie “The Abyss,” Design Setters created the futuristic alien underworld, to Madonna’s Grammy Awards 2001. For 25 years the Design Setters Corporation has forged a reputation as being one of Hollywood’s foremost companies in the entertainment industry in design, construction and fabrication of sets, stages, scenery and custom props for
motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and themed environments.
Design Setters provides services from initial renderings to working drawings, utilizing the most sophisticated machinery and computer technology available today; fabrication in wood, metal, plastic, fiberglass, sculpting scenic, painting, machining, transportation and installation.
Next time you plan to have Madonna or James Bond on stage give DesignSetters a call.
