This display was the work of Carson Williams, a Mason, Ohio, electrical
engineer who spent about three hours sequencing the 88 Light-O-Rama
channels that controlled the 16,000 Christmas lights in his annual
holiday lighting spectacular (from Christmas 2004). His 2005 display
includes over 25,000 lights that he spent nearly two months and $10,000
to hook up. So that the Williams' neighbors aren't disturbed by constant
noise, viewers driving by the house are informed by signs to tune in to
a signal broadcast over a low-power FM radio station to hear the musical
accompaniment.
The rough quality of the video has led some viewers to believe it was
put together in stop-action form from still photographs, but that is an
artifact of the high compression used in the clip circulated via
e-mail.Mr. Williams has posted
instructions for recreating his "Wizard in Winter" sequencing, and
another of his choreographed Christmas light music shows can be viewed
here.
Carson's Christmas display proved so popular that it was featured in a
Miller Lite beer commercial in December 2005. See that
video here.
TV Interview with Carson Williams
(The Today Show)
After a 6 December 2005 traffic accident in his
neighborhood, Carson Williams agreed to indefinitely
discontinue his 2005 Christmas light display because it was causing
severe traffic congestion problems.