Project
Description
Produce a video for an exhibition on Pearls for
The american Museum of Natural History.
The project involved creating a video experience to be projected at
the entrance of the exhibit. The video helps to set a surreal and meditative
mood for the exhibit and abstract the stereotype of pearl divers, which
the remainder of the exhibit will disprove.
The video shows pearl divers peacefully descending and ascending through
the water - but from a slightly different perspective. The point of
view is as if the visitor is immersed in the water, with the divers.
Challenge
This project presented a series of challenges whose solution were
aided by our experience in previous trials and tests for the Museum.
The projection
requirements for the project were quite specific. Two large rectangular
and translucent scrims will be hung from the ceiling, separated in-line
from each other by about 18 ft. Projectors in the ceiling will then
play the looped videos onto the scrims.
And to
achieve the effect of the divers swimming down the water column against
the darkly lit scrim, the background would need to be keyed-out to black.
To create
this effect, we needed to shoot the video in a deep pool. We decided
to use the pool in Montreal's Olympic Stadium, which allowed us the
proper distance and depth to create the effect.
Production
Design
To facilitate the planning, we used Nemetschek's VectorWorks MiniCad
for the production design. This allowed a precise picture of the setup
to emerge well before the shoot.
VectorWorks
was also used to create a monitor overlay which enabled us to correctly
position the camera for the two scales needed.
Chromakeying
We contracted Bob Kertesz of BlueScreen
LLC to handle the keying for the shoot. He brought the key material,
a giant 30 X 20 ft. sheet of Digital Green® green screen from Composite
Components Company.
These solutions,
together, amounted to what would be the first-ever application of underwater
high definition chromakeying.
For on-site
confidence, Bob also brought an Ultimatte system that allowed us to
pull a live key and see the final effect of the keying - right on-site.
This aided us greatly in the positioning of the lights.
"The
most important issue for me was being confident that the key
worked. We were spending a good deal of time and money on the
effect and if it didn't work, we could not repeat the process.
The Ultimatte system was ideal in this situation. We were able
to test the lighting and make adjustments on site. I could go
back to work confident that we could obtain the effect we wanted." Geralyn Abinader, Media Producer for the Museum.
Post-Production
After the shoot, Christy MacKarrell, Systems Administrator for the
Museum, keyed out the green using the Piranha
HD Visual Effects System. Then, Mindy Weisberger separated the individual
dives and created a new composite using Adobe AfterEffects. Each of
the two final videos contain several divers composited together running
in a loops a little over a minute and a half each.
Audience
Attendees of the Pearls Exhibit at The Museum.
Press/Awards SEGD
Award
Recently, the exhibit was presented with an Honor Award in Interpretive
Design from the Society for Environmental Graphic Design (SEGD) 2003
Design Awards. Click
here for more information.
Markee
Magazine
Mention
of the production has also appeared in the December 2001 issue of Markee
within a feature covering specialty shooters, which included Anthony
Lenzo, of Air Sea Land Productions who appeared on the cover.
