To help celebrate its 200-year milestone during the school’s 2017 homecoming festivities, the University of Michigan turned to Maxin10sity, a Budapest, Hungary-based projection-mapping design firm founded by Tamás Vaspöri. The end result, HAILstorm, was a 10-minute spectacle that transformed the Rackham Building on the university’s Ingalls Mall into a creative array of trompe l’oeil imagery marking the university’s highlights and the passage of time.
The projection-mapped visuals, accompanied by music, appeared at 7, 8, 9 and 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 27, capping a day of festivities that not only looked back, but ahead to the school’s “third century” with various exhibits, tech demos and live performances. It all served as a fitting kickoff to the 2017 Homecoming Weekend, and despite rain, the shows were seen by close to 5,000.
Ann Arbor to Budapest
“Architectural mapping on this kind of scale is almost unknown in the USA — so we were thrilled when the University of Michigan got in touch with such a fantastic project. It gave us the opportunity to really showcase not only what we as Maxin10sity can do, but also take European art and creativity over to North America,” says Maxin10sity’s Tamás Vaspöri.
The University of Michigan first approached Maxin10sity in April 2015. Partnering with U.S.-based technical provider Bluewater Experiential Live Events to manage logistics for the RFP and production equipment, and supported by U.S. producer Keith Oberfield of KBO Events, Maxin10sity went on to win the bid for the gig in October 2015, and proceeded to look after everything from writing the storyboard to the animation and musical accompaniment.
“Videomapping is a forward-thinking, innovative way of telling a story through the use of modern technology,” says Michelle French, the University of Michigan’s project manager responsible for the bicentennial celebration program. “The stunning visuals appeal to an audience of all ages and demographics. We wanted it to be an event for everyone to enjoy — students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the entire Ann Arbor community. An experience that would unite the community and leave them with memories to treasure.”
French and the university’s planning committee outlined a brief for a son et lumière spectacle that would cover the school’s past, present and future and provide a window to life at the university, showcasing the diversity of the students’ work. Maxin10sity, a seasoned provider of image-mapped spectacles, approached the project with its own signature style.
Interpreting the university’s brief and bringing it to life was to be at the heart of the success of the event, Vaspöri notes. “It was really important to truly understand what the university was trying to portray and achieve, bridging the cultural differences between the European and American way of thinking. For example, the university has very clear ideas on the kind of music that should accompany the images — and we were happy to work with them and our composer to accommodate this in the show.”
Gear and Crew
Maxin10sity’s mapping content was delivered via Pandoras Box media servers linked to eight 30,000 lumens Christie projectors from the Boxer Series, which provided visual imagery. All of the Rackham Building’s windows were custom-masked for the event.
The rental stager used L-Acoustics Line Stereo Main loudspeakers and four stereo timed delays. Sixteen domed Claypaky Sharpy fixtures in programmed cues via Pandora were also installed to complete the visual look. A total of 21 technicians were on hand for the show, strike and set.
The resulting show was designed to appeal to residents, students, alumni and staff, evoking the emotions of pride and loyalty that they feel towards their university. Despite inclement weather, attendance grew with each showing as word spread about the spectacle — and attendees gave it rave reviews.
Long Distance Collaboration
Mark F. Wilson, the creative director for Bluewater Experiential Live Events on the project, spoke about the long-distance, 2.5-year collaboration with Maxin10sity. “We developed a fantastic working relationship with Maxin10sity — they were the perfect content partner to amplify the University of Michigan’s message around its bicentennial,” he says. “Our constant dialogue throughout meant that any challenges we encountered were quickly addressed and overcome. It was great to work with such experts in the field and drive this project to the success that it was; we can’t wait for the next one!”
“I’d love to work on another project with Maxin10sity” adds KBO Events’ Keith Oberfield. “It was a fantastic experience, and navigating the challenges of distance and time difference were well worth it to have their creativity, expertise and unique signature style on board.”
“Maxin10sity was very thorough in learning about our campus traditions and proposing a storyboard that was both creative and inspiring,” adds U of M’s Michelle French. “I was very impressed with how they were able to take so many ideas and pare them down into a 10-minute show. Seeing our campus through their eyes, and what stood out to them as interesting, was a fascinating process, and together we were able to bring our vision to life. Their creativity undoubtedly helped us to meet all of our goals with the project — we thoroughly enjoyed working with this very talented team.”
“We’re thrilled that everyone enjoyed the show, which was flawlessly executed,” Tamás Vaspöri concludes, calling it a “testament to the strength of our professional animation production and technical implementation behind the scenes, together with our great partners. We look forward to bringing more of Maxin10sity’s pioneering work to America.”
For a video of HAILstorm, go to www.plsn.me/HAILstorm
