The tunnel's unique environment disorients the senses and allows visitors to be fully immersed in the storytelling and sound design. The bespoke soundscape has been composed to amplify the effect, reinforcing the impact of the storytelling with frequencies used to evoke fear, anticipation and heighten engagement. Ben Hickingbotham, Creative Director of The Observatory said: 'It certainly captures people's minds as they walk through the space, and we've deliberately left room within the narrative for people to draw their own conclusions. Rather like the tunnel environment itself, it's open-ended - as all good storytelling should be.'
Delta Production Services Director Cristin Bouchet added: 'This synchronised 8-minute immersive audio visual experience of graphics and CGI spanning both sides of a 4.5-metre parabolic tunnel took extensive projection technology. We used a high spec Apple Mac Pro and two TripleHead2Go graphics cards to feed the projectors' DVI signals with all show control, edge blending and geometry adjustment handled by QLab software. The high ceiling and lens shift allowed the six projectors - three for each side - to be mounted near face to face, projecting under each other to achieve the specified 3840 x 800 resolution on each 8 metre-wide wall. Using NEC PA range projectors helped ease the setting up, the off axis short throw wide angle lenses and ample lens shift made for a cost effective but flexible solution. The Bezier blend within QLab allowed full manipulation of the images and gave a high level of control over areas where the projection surface was more curved, and QLab's gamma control on the edge blended zones enabled the adjustment of the level of brightness at the crossover in order to give a near perfect blend.'
Watch the 'Making Of' edit at vimeo.com/121445535
