The show consisted of a 40 minute audio-visual performance, featuring a challenging series of projections mapped to the building's surface synchronised to pyrotechnics and a bespoke sound design. The show was a collaboration between seeper.com, who created the projections, and specialist pyrotechnics company The World Famous, with the project produced by Culture Creative and the technical aspects production managed by White Light.
Evan Grant, founder of seeper.com, explains, "The show was the first time that intense 3D motion graphics have been combined with synchronised pyrotechnics with such precision. It was also a successful debut for our new, bespoke in-house projection system which we have named SEEserver."
Mike Roberts from The World Famous adds, "As well as designing a spectacular firework display we are using pyrotechnic effects to create moments where the images burst out of the building drawn in coloured sparks. The synchronization between the projection, the fireworks and the music was technically challenging but added a breathtaking new dimension to the event."
Event producer, Zoe Bottrell of Culture Creative notes, "Seeper has taken its creative influence from the RMS Titanic itself, its construction, engineering, its journey and transformation, which is embodied in the continued life and spirit at Titanic Belfast. The audience will be plunged into an extraordinary immersive experience and public engagement with the project will be unparalleled. This unique and iconic building will set sail on a wave of anticipation and will set a tone of optimism for the future of Belfast."
"We were delighted to continue our long partnership with Culture Creative," says White Light's Dave Isherwood, "formed during the Northumberland Lights projects and continued more recently with the Electric Forest transformations. The Titanic launch was a spectacular event providing a well-deserved celebration of this landmark new building and the historic story it commemorates, with the work of both Seeper and The World Famous quite something to behold."
Towering above the original Edwardian drawing office in which Titanic and her sister ships were designed, Titanic Belfast contains nine galleries that combine special effects, dark rides, full-scale reconstructions and innovative features to explore the story of the Titanic from construction and launch to her infamous maiden voyage, the aftermath of her sinking and on to the discovery of the wreck.
(Jim Evans)
