Smyrna, TN based video production and projection mapping company DWP Live had a busy September, applying its talent and technology to projects both secular and spiritual, both earthly and heavenly. The company played a pivotal role in the United Nations’ weeklong celebration and humanitarian awareness campaign called Global Goals for Sustainable Development in New York City. In Philadelphia, the company also provided the video crew and gear to transform the look of the Philadelphia Museum of Art with a large-format projection backdrop for the visit and Mass by Pope Francis.
The UN’s Global Goals
The Global Goals launch week came about through the partnership of Global Citizen, a content, events and campaigning platform for the movement to end extreme poverty by 2030, and Project Everyone, the brainchild of Richard Curtis, a filmmaker and founder of Comic Relief. The aim of Project Everyone was to share these goals with the world’s seven billion people in seven days. The UN’s Global Goals are a series of 17 ambitious targets. Along with the push to end poverty and hunger, Project Everyone is striving to reduce inequality, improve education and health and subdue climate change by 2030. According to the initiative, meeting the goals will ensure the health, safety and future of the planet for everyone.
For the project, DWP Live projected content designed and produced by London animation and projection design firm 59 Productions onto the UN’s distinctive headquarters building and general assembly wall. Beneath the 39-story, 505-foot-high tower, the structure itself spans six city blocks between 42nd and 48th Streets along First Ave in Manhattan. That projection, in turn, was filmed and used at the concluding Global Citizen Festival at week’s end, which drew 60,000 people to Central Park’s great lawn and featured performances by Pearl Jam, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay. Hosting the event were Stephen Colbert, Salma Hayek Pinault, DeborraLee Furness, Hugh Jackman, Kerry Washington and Olivia Wilde. The public in New York, world leaders, UN staff and television and online audiences saw the giant display worldwide. You can see the full video on DWP Live’s blog.
The 10minute animated show took nearly a year to develop. It introduced each of the 17 Global Goals, presenting them in an accessible and visually exciting way. Each was illustrated in three stages: an impression of the problem, the goal in action, and a desirable outcome, so it was actually 17 individual stories. The piece featured a vast amount of 3D modeled animation, 2D graphical content and live action green screen footage. The London agency’s creative director Leo Warner selected AV vendor DWP Live to look after the projection needs. This included the use of two of DWP Live’s d3 4×4 Pro VFCequipped media servers, a Pure Master d3 4×4 Pro, a Designer d3 4×4 Pro and two Designer laptops to size and play back all the media content. Sixteen Barco HDF W30 and 20 Barco HDX W20 projectors were brought on site for the actual media projection. Luckily, DWP Live owns one of North America’s largest inventories of media servers and projectors, which are available for rental via the company’s cleverly named new subsidiary, DWP Rents. Their website lists the complete inventory and lets visitors get quotes and rent online.
The UN event marked the world debut of d3 Technologies’ new user-replaceable Video Format Conversion (VFC) output card. “DWP Live is the first video production company in the world to use this new technology for a live event. It reduces production costs, rack space, setup time and complexity,” says Ben Ryle, DWP Live’s chief technology officer. “We equipped four of our d3 4x4pro machines to work with the newly designed card.”
“Programming was a whole lot easier this time around. The d3 servers with the new VFC card reduced the number of machines needed to output to the different projectors,” adds Justin Crutchfield, DWP’s director of communication and administration. “Formerly, a server could output just four HD feeds; the new card makes possible 16 output feeds. And their latest software update allows three techs to work within a program at the same time.”
Pope Francis’ Visit
On his last stop in the U.S. before heading back to the Vatican, Pope Francis visited Philadelphia on Sept. 25 and 26. (See related story, page 68). DWP Live’s video production team delivered a projection mapping show that formed the backdrop for the Festival of Families, which was broadcast live and attended by over one million festivalgoers. The event was an international celebration of family, community and faith and featured a concert by Andrea Bocelli and other pop stars. The Festival included two days of speeches, celebrations and communion. Following Saturday’s festivities, the stage was turned into a sanctuary for a Sunday papal Mass.
DWP Live deployed 12 Barco HDF W30 and 12 Barco HDQ 2k40 projectors, collectively generating 840,000 lumens projected across the museum. Santa Monica, CA-based projection mapping studio BartKresa Design produced the content and provided the media servers for the project. Philadelphia-based event production company ESM Productions organized the event, which included more than 100 vendors, 500 theater lights and miles of wiring.
According to DWP Live president and founder Danny Whetstone, the company had only 12 days to put all the gear together and overcome some very daunting logistical challenges, including transportation in a city that was practically shut down. “This was the tightest security I’ve ever seen, and that includes past presidential events I’ve done,” says Whetstone. “Our team pulled off a tremendous feat, projecting a bright, beautiful show that looked fantastic live, in wide-angle television broadcast reports, and photos.”
Concluded DWP Live general partner Rick Boot, “Projecting larger-than-life shows to capture the imaginations of the biggest audiences is the core of our business. It’s a technology that can bring people of every culture and age group together. We were very honored to play a part in helping these meaningful events achieve their goals.”
More details at www.DWPLive.com
