MONTREAL — Moment Factory’s interactive urban art installation, Megaphone, is commanding attention at the Promenade des Artistes, in the heart of Quartier des Spectacles here. The installation runs from Sept. 4-Nov. 4, 2013. Along with the amplified sound of their voice, speakers’ words are converted into large-format visual projections. All photos provided courtesy of Moment Factory.
More details from Moment Factory (www.momentfactory.com):
At a time when cities are looking for new ways to bring life to their streets and public spaces, the interactive Megaphone installation invites Montrealers and visitors to gather downtown to explore the festive side of public speaking. It is presented by the National Film Board of Canada and Quartier des Spectacles and was created by Moment Factory.
Megaphone was created as a mouthpiece to let Montrealers’ voices be heard, loud and clear! Inspired by the city’s early 20th-century history of popular assemblies as well as the 19th-century British tradition of the Speaker’s Corner, the installation gives everyone a chance to speak out and air their concerns.
Megaphone, an art installation about re-appropriating public space, gives everyone an opportunity to join in on the discussion. As participants speak, their voices are transformed, in real time, into images projected onto the facade of the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), leaving their visual “footprint” on the urban landscape.
The speaker’s words also are transferred to a voice-recognition system specially developed for Megaphone by the Centre de recherche informatique de Montreal (CRIM). A transcription of the words is then used to enhance the visual space as well as feed the database that informs the video content being projected when the megaphone is not in use. This effectively reflects what has been said while providing an overall picture of the sound clips that have been stored.
Moment Factory is a new media and entertainment studio specializing in the conception and production of multimedia environments combining video, lighting, architecture, sound and special effects to create remarkable experiences.
With over 300 achievements since its inception in 2001, Moment Factory has developed a unique methodology in the production of multimedia experiences. Productions span the globe and include such clients as Cirque du Soleil, Disney, the NFL, Madonna, JayZ, Sony Pictures, Microsoft, Euronews, the Atlantic City Alliance, the City of Barcelona and the Los Angeles International Airport.
Megaphone Crew
CREDITS
Producers: Hugues Sweeney (National Film Board of Canada) and Pascal Lefebvre (Quartier des spectacles)
Conception and Direction: Alexandre Lupien, Étienne Paquette
Production: Geneviève Forest, Marie-Ève Meilleur, Johanna Marsal
Artistic direction: Léa Behr Stage design: Maryline Thibault
Interactive content: Pascal Michel, Sophie Midavaine, Arnaud Spulher, Jacob Dufossé, Marc-André Baril
Technology and Innovation: Vincent Pasquier, Guillaume Lévesque, Samir Ounnoughi, Marouane Sahbi, Dominic Audet
Sound editing: Cassidy Lerman
Voice recognition system designer: Computer Research Institute of Montreal (CRIM)
