Rancho Cordova, Calif., USA – 4 April, 2013 – Visualization pioneer Barco supported Sundance Film Festival’s presentation of a unique 3D projection mapping show created by immersive video entertainment producer Klip Collective. The vignette completely wrapped the venue for the 2013 edition of “New Frontier” at the Festival, bringing an innovative twist to the iconic independent film event.
As movie exhibitors strive to differentiate themselves among a crowded, competitive marketplace, they are employing innovative, immersive cinema technologies like 3D sound, 4K and high frame rate presentation on giant screens to capture a larger share of the entertainment dollar. One of the latest trends takes the show beyond the auditorium, into the lobby and outside the theater: video projection mapping.
Cinema Innovation Beyond the Auditorium
Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier program showcases films, media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences and panel discussions that explore the convergence of film, art, new media technology and storytelling. The Festival’s fans look to the organization as a leader in cinematic innovation and breakthrough film artistry, and companies like Barco enthusiastically support their efforts to highlight the latest visualization technologies available to filmmakers and event promoters.
Festival organizers commissioned Klip Collective to create the stunning 3D projection mapping display for the venue’s exterior. Klip Creative Director Ricardo Rivera envisioned a “man vs. machine” steampunk-styled vignette entitled and inspired by the Tom Waits song “What’s He Building in There.” To fulfill the technical demands of the concept, Sundance Film Festival used Barco’s HDX-W18 large-venue projectors to deliver the ultra-brightness, high reliability and simple, seamless operation to present the show in its best light.
A Seamless Blend of Art and Technology
“New Frontier offered the opportunity for unbridled creativity, allowing us to seamlessly blend art and technology to create a truly surreal, mind-bending experience," comments Rivera. “We’ve used Barco projectors on many of our high-profile, national advertising projects and we love them because they’re small, smart and pack a punch like no other brand. We often position projectors in extreme angles and they’re the only ones robust and versatile enough to handle our requirements.”
Barco’s compact and powerful HDX-W18 projector combines full source flexibility with ImagePRO scaling capabilities. With Xenon illumination and a high contrast optical engine, the 3-chip DLP projector reproduces rich colors, crisp and vivid images. The simple user interface enables fast and easy set-up, and a built-in LCD provides quick preview and status updates. The HDX-W18 offers easy control through smartphones and tablet computers for the ultimate in flexibility.
Elevating production quality with projection convergence
“We were honored that our technology was used at the Sundance Film Festival, building upon our digital cinema relationship to contribute our industry-leading large-venue projectors to New Frontier,” comments Scott Stremple, Vice President Sales for Barco North America. “We are seeing an exciting convergence of projection technologies in the market, which is elevating the production value of event promotion in many areas of entertainment. Barco is proud to be at the forefront of this movement and will continue empowering our customers with the tools to make it happen.”
Barco has been an ongoing contributor to the Sundance Film Festival, providing a wide array of digital cinema as well as event projectors, on a growing basis for the organization to elevate the presentation quality of the event’s cinema showings.