Our brief was to put the cherry on top of one of the most joyous and professionally organised FIFA World Cups ever, in a 30-min night-time extravaganza. Our challenge? Not one blade of grass could be harmed, nothing built or driven onto the turf, and we would have to clear the pitch in thirteen minutes for the warm-up to the final.

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Our solution was to tell a uniquely South African story with massive projections on a ground cloth, a world first. Eighteen massive video projectors mounted behind the seating were ‘stitched’ together with software to create one huge, seamless image. A cast of 750 interacted with the pictures, tearing a giant newspaper, ‘playing’ virtual marimbas and drums by dancing on their images.

Thirteen life-sized elephant puppets and a cast of South Africa’s best talent completed the line-up, headlined in the conclusion by Shakira, singing the iconic tournament song.

South Africans across the world were filled with pride, and the ceremony received rave reviews from the international press.