Media - White Papers
by Steve Kosakura, Technical Manager
Everything is moving faster. Technological advances are making devices that we used to amortize over five to ten years, virtually obsolete as soon as we take them off of the store shelf! Devices like projectors have gone from film, to video, to HD in what seems like the blink of an eye. There is a growing concern in all areas of technology that we will be unable to sustain many technology dependent show designs into the future due to equipment obsolescence.
More and more we are basing shows on highly technologically based devices. Projection, large screen, specialized display devices, media servers, high-end (multi-core) computers and specialized graphics cards which used to be prohibitively expensive, are now both commonplace and ubiquitous. As we continue to push the envelope with customized guest experiences, virtual characters and real-time rendered interactive graphics, it necessitates that we take advantage of the higher-end hardware and devices to realize these cutting-edge shows. Continued
by Steve Kosakura, Technical Manager
In traditional theatre venues there is a typical proscenium, thrust or arena configuration where the physical facility elements rarely, if ever, change. The shows come and go, and the same infrastructure supports many diverse and varied productions. Why has this paradigm not carried over into the Theme Park dark ride business model?
There will always be the “anchor” and “signature” attractions that define a Theme Park, but not all attractions should be considered with a twenty year life-span or as shows that virtually never change. With that in mind; wouldn’t it make sense to design at least one space within a given Park for that inevitable change? Granted, the initial facility costs would be more, but if intelligently designed, future modification costs could be significantly reduced. Continued
Why The Simpsons Ride and Cirque du Soleil’s LOVE make odd bedfellows.
by Craig R. Hanna, Chief Creative Officer
July 30, 2008
Books, motion pictures and theatre can elicit strong emotions in their readers or viewers because the creators have the benefit of time to deliver compelling stories and characters with emotional resonance and plots that can tug at your heartstrings and provide the audience a rare opportunity to care. Dimensional experiences—things that happen off the screen or pages of a book—have a harder time eliciting emotion because the medium is much more short-form (certainly in the case of museum exhibitions, theme park attractions and brand environments).
Cirque most definitely falls into the theatre category, but they also offer productions that border on dimensional experiences, particularly with a show like LOVE that is in the round and delivers theme park-style effects and immersion. Further, Cirque shows are hardly narrative in nature and therefore can lack an emotional resonance that other forms of theatre can deliver.
by Craig R. Hanna, Chief Creative Officer, © 2006 Craig R. Hanna
Master planning for a theme park involves many elements of the theme park master plan effort. Land use planning, infrastructure development, site development (grading, etc.), traffic and circulation are all traditional components of theme park master planning. Specific to theme parks, theme park master planning includes program development to determine a projection of how many people will visit the park per year, during the peak month and peak day, and how many people will be instantaneously in the park on that peak day. Those projections are done in conjunction with operational consultants, economic feasibility consultants, architects, park planners and the creative team. On top of all that, the theme park master plan includes a matrix of attractions that comprise the total ride, show and attraction mix for the park. There are expansion zones for future development. There is facility programming that informs how many restrooms, ticket windows, retail venues and food and beverage outlets will need to be built in order to provide adequate services for all those visitors. These elements make up the traditional theme park master plan.
by Michael Finney, Vice President, Production & Technical Design
Introduction
As the number of available entertainment opportunities continues to increase, many museums and educational institutions are finding themselves fighting for an audience.
One of the options that have become available is touring exhibits with a significant “entertainment” component. Different from “edutainment” attractions, these exhibits attempt to respect the integrity of both the entertainment and educational aspects of the project – rather than creating an artificial hybrid.
At Thinkwell Design and Production, we believe that this trend towards touring exhibits for the museum and educational market will continue to grow in the near future – presuming that all of the involved parties can recognize the unique collaborative aspects of these projects and work together in the development of these types of attraction.