The IAAPA Cams
Event production design and Opening module production
Creative Engineering
AND FUN
This was one of those, "Need to shake it up" projects that came across my desk. When it had the budget had been established and they knew they wanted something fun. Well, considering the subject matter my creative side started to grin. The AE was great and let me do my thing. And as I explored the idea more, things started coming together.
The concept was a central wide screen and thrust stage with a curved back wall.
From there we overshot and projection mapped the entire from wall of the venue.
(Imagine looking down on a 2D football shape, you enter at the laces and the set was on the opposite wall)
The Theme
...was "Game On" with one of the graphic treatments being a candy land style playing board path. (You'll see that build in at the end of the opening module as it resolves into the main look) For the Game-On, I wanted to tell the story of the parks and attractions preparing for the day's customers. Stocking, clean, safety checks, etc. Then, on cue, its Game-on and the audience is meet with a breathtaking action shot to kick off a wild ride through all the various aspects of the client's membership.
The Challenge
Right off the bat I knew that visually, what you see is what I wanted to create. The question was how. At the time professional, ultra-widescreen, water-proof, and rugged, hand held cameras were rather expensive and well, since the budget had been set... Plan B. It was at this point I started to play around with a fun idea. And soon a foam board template went to the scenic department and became an engineered solution complete with case. As I locate those picts I'll share more.
(more detail to come)
The Rig
Attached to the camera mount on the Titan at Six Flags over Texas.
The main shot I wanted to get was this ride. And in Reaching out to Six Flags for some preproduction questions I knew this was going to have to be well made. The Titan features a mammoth 255-foot drop with a top speed of 85 mph. So, it had to be able to make the trip.
And, it easily did.
(Check out the production test
of the ride below)
Mr. Freeze
And How!
I remember this Sunday because it was one of the last, large shoots of the production. It fell on one of those North Texas fall days when it's cold. I mean COLD, misty, and like 34 degrees. The production team had a call for pre-dawn. This way we could get the shots we needed before the park opened.We brought in about 2 dozen actors/coaster enthusiasts and ran them back and forth in the cold all morning. And considering that this thing uses electromagnetic technology, to launch from the station, hitting 0-70 miles per hour in a mind-crunching 3.8 seconds!
At one point we actually had to stop the shoot because the temperature dropped to the cut-off minimums. Hot coffee for the Actors! (I mean crew)
Heres an interesting note about the video. At a certain point in the music track this ride appears and while we cycle through various configurations of actions in the frame, the ride itself remains intact as you go through the circuit.
electromagnetic technology, you’ll be launched from the station, hitting 0-70 miles per hour in a mind-crunching 3.8 seconds!
Hand-Held
One of a few different configurations
Here's a closer look at the camera mount. And DP extraordinaire, Mike Salter. (He did all his own stunts!)
This was the chest mount / hand held configuration. You wore a rigging harness and the platform was mounted to your chest. In this setup we designed an attachable chest pad and handle grips for better control. This is what we took on a few small rollercoaster and down all kinds of flumes in the waterparks.
It worked out great!
In the video there is the obligatory camera splash shot and then some water flume action I shot those.😏
Below is one of the early proof videos.
This of course is standard size to preview but the final pixel size was along the lines of 9,000x1080. It was at this point in the production that we realize we were going to be able to hide parallax issues in the gutters and correct other with the edit.
The concept for the opening was to play things off as a normal screen setup. As our guests entered the space the walls all around were white drape with lighting and gobo effects moving around the room. No sign of the large format projection to come.
Then, when the moment was right. Go big!
As I recall we were set for just over 2 thousand but it was easily more. Word had gotten out that there was something special happening and the place was packed. With this as the open and a week full of custom looks for each special session.
This one is one of my favorites. ~RT