Montreal-based Moment Factory projection-mapped Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia with a show seen by 113,000 people. Photos courtesy Christie and Moment Factory
Ode à la Vie
Montreal-based creative studio Moment Factory was commissioned by both its own hometown government and that of Barcelona, Spain, to produce a special video mapping show on a prominent façade of the latter city’s Sagrada Familia basilica, a mammoth but incomplete structure designed by the famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, who died in 1926.
The basilica was illuminated for three nights as part of a special show tied to Barcelona’s La Mercè Festival in 2012. Moment Factory’s 15-minute show, titled Ode à la Vie, helped realize Gaudi’s dream of bathing the church in brilliant colours. The visuals were focused on the basilica’s intricate nativity façade, transforming its shape, morphing colours and adding whimsical flourishes.
From concept to execution, the project took four months of planning and creative development. Audiences were estimated at 113,000.
Warner Brothers International TV Gala
In 2012, projection designer Bart Kresa’s team transformed an urban streetscape on the backlot of TV and movie studio Warner Brothers in Los Angeles, Calif., into a futuristic, Japanese-style neon strip as part of a massive gala for the studio’s international TV division.
The gala attracted 1,500 people, who were treated to a rotation of performers and visual spectacles, ranging from aerialists to African dancers. Kresa’s company, BartKresa Design, had been commissioned to digitally ‘paint’ the two- and three-storey façades along the backlot’s New York Street
A light and sound show at the Temple of Horus in Edfu, Egypt, is viewed by up to 1,000 people every night. Photo courtesy Christie and Horizon for Trading & Contracting
in vivid light, starting with neon effects reminiscent of the 1982 Ridley Scott movie Blade Runner and shifting with the evening’s events to red and then a cacophony of colourful symbols, including skulls and bones. During live performances, fire appeared to pour from the façades’ windows.
The event went on to win awards for its lighting and overall concept.
Temple of Horus
The Temple of Horus is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient structures of its kind in Egypt, dating back to 200 B.C. In 2010, the historic site in Edfu was brought back to life with a new light and sound show that uses giant columns inside the temple and the massive reliefs of the pylons at the gateway as dynamic projection surfaces.
The AV show depicts the building of the temple, presents a day in life of an ancient resident and tells the mythological story of the Egyptian gods and goddesses, Isis, Osiris, Horus and Set. The project team at Horizon for Trading & Contracting has used the lines, curves and scale of the temple for inspiration, accentuating the reliefs on its walls with light and making them appear to grow.
The 37-minute show has become a key attraction at the temple grounds, viewed by a nightly audience of up to 1,000 people equipped with multilingual headsets.
