|
Anyone who has seen the laser show projected onto Stone Mountain in Georgia, or the movie “Avatar” in 3-D at an Imax theater, can certainly attest to the spectacular visual appeal of giant-format projections.
Recent advances in technology have contributed greatly to the improved quality and heightened impact of these images. New-generation projectors offer higher lumen outputs, translating to greater image resolution. High-definition projection provides greater pixel clarity. Improvements in 3-D mapping— the charting of three-dimensional points to a two dimensional plane—allow the very appearance of walls, buildings, and even mountains to be completely altered, often to the point of being unrecognizable.
Even with these improvements, the impact on audiences depends upon what attractions do with this technology. Funworld looks at the spectacular application of giant format projection in four areas: large-screen cinema, structural projections, water screen projections, and natural formation projections.
Imax Capitalizes on 3-D Boom
As noted in this month’s cover story, “Avatar” ushered in a new era for 3-D cinema, with the blockbuster film’s cinematography and special effects created especially for the medium. Perhaps nowhere were these attributes more stunningly showcased than on the gigantic Imax theater screens (www.imax.com) that are several times larger than those found in standard cinema houses; the tallest of these tower almost 10 stories high.
 Imax spokesman Jackson Myers says, “Imax screens are uniquely shaped—curved to fill more peripheral vision—and coated with proprietary high-gain silver designed specifically to maximize light reflection. Customized theater geometry maximizes field of view. The combination of these elements enable the images to come off the screen and into the audience in a much more realistic and lifelike way.”
In addition to the screen size, Imax invested significant resources in developing its projection system to maximize 3- D quality. The enormous, sophisticated Imax projectors reportedly weigh some two tons, and the film they use is approximately 10 times larger than that strung through standard movie theater projectors.
Imax theaters have begun making upgrades designed to further enhance the presentation of 3-D films. “Our latest upgrades include our newest state-of-the-art projection system and our latest-generation sound system, which offers 10 times more dynamic range than conventional theater systems,” says Myers.
Disney Turns Cinderella Castle into a Photo Album
Cinderella Castle may be the signature symbol of Orlando’s Walt Disney World Resort, but even that icon isn’t beyond the reach of an occasional refresh. Over the years Disney transformed the castle into a birthday cake, a lighted Christmas ornament, and an icicle-draped “Ice Castle.”
This year Walt Disney World is using the castle as a photo album, of sorts, as a salute to its guests’ memorable experiences at the resort. Each night about 500 photos of guests— taken that very day from all over Walt Disney World—are rapidly projected onto the castle’s surface in giant size. And the performance doesn’t stop there.
The 19-story castle’s appearance changes throughout the show, becoming a vibrant spectacle of images. Using the same technology employed for the guest photos, producers are able to make it seem as if vines grow up the building, bricks burst out and “fall” to the ground, turrets transform from train whistles to rocket ships blasting into space, and the whole structure appears to catch fire.
Creating the show’s highlight feature—the guest photos— starts early in the morning. Photographers head out into the parks charged with taking thousands of pictures from which 500 to 1,000 will be selected for that evening, depending on whether there is one or two shows scheduled. If sorting through those shots doesn’t sound daunting enough for Disney’s half-dozen-member Show Central team, the challenge is actually even more involved than might originally appear.
“It’s actually double that because here at Walt Disney World, we do the shows for Disneyland, as well, so we’re doing up to 2,000 photos,” says Alan Bruun, the resort’s associate creative director, speaking of a very similar show displayed nightly on “it’s a small world” at Disneyland in California. “We’ve also created custom animation of some of our characters and pulled from some of our classic cartoons, as well. We put [virtual] scaffolding up on the castle, and Mickey and Goofy paste photos onto it.”
Bruun says the colorful, crystal-clear visuals are created by 16 Christie projectors fixed in four different locations, wrapping the castle in 180 degrees of imagery and providing tremendous illumination. Each area is double covered in case of a projector lamp failure.
For the audience, the show’s most special feature is the guest photos. Says Bruun, “Photos are our way of capturing memories, and when we view a photo, we open our lives to that memory and allow ourselves to live it again.”
Water Screens Add a Level of ‘Magic’
Water screens seem to fascinate audiences because they generally conceive of water as a clear substance through which light passes, not as a projection surface. This is especially true if the water is moving, like water in a fountain. But water can make for a surprisingly good cinematic medium, perhaps better in many ways than a solid surface.
“Water is very reflective, so you can get an awful lot of detail,” says Alan Fuehrer, production manager of Lightwave International in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania (www.lasershows.net), which specializes in laser and water screen shows. “A water screen will also give a 3-D character to the projection compared to say, a building surface, because the water has depth, and it also has a visual excitement to it because of the movement of the water.”
Dominique Formhals, general manager of Aquatique Show International of Strasbourg, France (www.aquatic-show.com), agrees: “Projection on water screens is more magical because you don’t see the surface of projection or any structure. When we stop the water screen, the projection disappears and there is nothing left. You can also see through the projection; this technique gives you the impression that any projected object is in levitation.” He says Aquatique can project onto water screens as large as 55 feet high and 130 feet long.
Fuehrer is careful to note there are both indoor and outdoor water screen projection shows, and they are quite different because the indoor screens are more controllable and not subject to weather. High winds are a problem for outdoor screens if they completely disrupt the water’s surface.
He also says water screens have a more limited location area for the audience: “If you’re projecting on to a solid surface, you can see it from a long distance away, but with water projections you have a more limited angle for the best viewing effect. The more perpendicular you are to the screen, the less you see.”
As for what’s coming in water screen projections, Fuehrer reveals, “Real 3-D projections on water screen will certainly be a new way to astonish people. We are working on real 3- D projection on water curtains, without [the need for] 3-D glasses, and hopefully we will have this ready before the end of the year.”
 Giant Projection Taken to the Extreme
For 28 years, Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta, Georgia (www.stonemountainpark.com), has been putting on a nightly seasonal laser show it says is the longest-running of its type on Earth, seen by more than 25 million guests. On Memorial Day weekend, the park rolled out “Lasershow Spectacular in Mountainvision,” a major overhaul of the old production with some truly spectacular enhancements.
The backdrop for these new projections is not a theater screen, a building, or a water curtain, but the most massive and impressive surface available: the mountain itself. The projection area of the granite Stone Mountain face is as tall as the Statue of Liberty—five times the size of an Imax screen. Throw in pyrotechnics and special effects, and it is quite a show.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen on the mountain before,” says Jeanine Jones, public relations manager for Stone Mountain Park. “We’ve been using static [projections] and they were very clear, but they were still static images. But now we have full-motion video, and the entire show is touched by it.”
Full Spectrum LLC of Stone Mountain, Georgia (www. fullspecllc.com), created and operates the show. Company president Paul Creasy tells Funworld about the changes that made the show enhancements possible: “The technology has evolved, and there are better lensing capabilities, better light engine capabilities, brighter outputs, and capabilities to throw projections over longer distances. If you went back just a few years, we’d have a very large pixel size. But now, HD gives us much better pixel clarity. We started looking at what we could do with all this and decided to do 3-D mapping, which gives us the ability to visually manipulate the mountain.”
This manipulation is perhaps the most astonishing effect of all because it actually changes the appearance of the mountain. “It’s not just a laser show or a video show,” says Creasy. “We have lasers interacting with the video and maybe cutting holes out of the mountain. There are waterfalls and lava flowing, making the mountain come to life. A crevasse or crack can suddenly appear that‘s not really there, or disappear if it is really there, or have water run over a ledge. We don’t just want a TV screen displayed up there.”
The 3-D mapping technology also allows Full Spectrum to take advantage of the mountain’s most famous feature— the Confederate Memorial Carving depicting three Confederate leaders from the U.S. Civil War on horseback. “The carving is recessed 42 feet in the mountain, so there is depth and character to the surface we’re projecting on,” Creasy notes. “We can add and erase certain elements on the mountain; for instance, a horse in the carving that didn’t have legs can suddenly have legs! The venue makes all this possible.”
Contact News Editor Keith Miller at kmiller@IAAPA.org.
|
