Challenging Venue

The Challenge:

The creative director of a major Northwest fashion retailer said, “I want to see a model walk from one side of the room to the other on a video screen.”

Normally this request would be somewhat simple to carry out. However in this case, the venue for the company’s annual shareholders meeting presented extraordinary challenges that had to be overcome.

The room was 76 feet wide by 58 feet deep with four large pillars in the middle of the room. The ceiling was only 9 feet high and to make it even more difficult, one of the executives who would present was 6’ 7” tall.

The Solution:

After carefully considering the room and meeting content, we decided to showcase the event by using an ultra wide-screen blended-image format.

Employing the Folsom Screen Pro and Blend Pro systems in combination with five Panasonic 8000 lumen DLP projectors, we were able to mix a variety of sources to blend images across multiple screens.

This solution allowed us to address the key issues. The projectors blended the images to generate a bright and seamless picture. By having a low profile, the distance from the ceiling hangers to the bottom of the projector was reduced, overcoming the issues of a low ceiling. Using the blended imagery meant the projectors could be hung between the pillars at angles that would properly blend the image and not be obstructed.

The Result:

The stage was back-dropped by a projection area 50 feet wide by 8 feet high. We produced a video that was proportioned to project across the full screen and, as requested by our client, several models walked along the 50 foot “runway.” Additional video, Flash animations, PowerPoint slides and image magnification shots were also highlighted, using picture-in-picture (PIP) technology.

Due to the unique screen size, digital video was used and saved into high-resolution files that could be kept small enough to play seamlessly from a computer. PowerPoint slides were designed in a template that accounted for the wide screen and low profile angles.

And the unique solution provided another added benefit, as the projection area along with the lighting techniques created an effect that made the small room feel like it had virtually doubled in size.

In the end, the creative director’s challenging goal was met, in spite of the limitations of the previously selected venue.