IMAX: Emerald Forest

 

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The first-ever LIVESTREAM to Canadian IMAX screens from underwater off the coast of Vancouver Island.

WHAT WAS SPECIAL

This was easily the most sophisticated and intense project Stream of Consciousness had fulfilled at that time. When we were initially approached by Fish Eye Project to produce the for their IMAX debut, we were very excited to participate. Seven IMAX theatres across Canada were to be filled with middle school students to watch ‘The Emerald Forest’, a beneath-the-surface orientation to the pacific coast ecosystem, kelp forests and local sea creatures. 

TECHNICAL

IMAX had NEVER hosted a live event before, and they had made it clear that we needed to nail it – no room for error with 7 theatres full of students. There were a LOT of moving parts on this project, including a lit set on the seabed, a floating set of cameras & lights with the divers all hard-wired back to the ship, mounted cameras on the ship deck for the narrator & surface shots of divers, and a professional drone to be ready for airborne shots. 

These diverse signals were ALL mixed LIVE from our media servers on the ship and fed via corporate-grade mobile modems through a distribution hub and then out to all 7 participating IMAX theatres across the country. Given we had a set of specialized underwater gear to mix into the show along with more traditional audio/video signals, we had to do a pre-mix of the underwater rigs before the main mix which we were sending across the country. With sold out theatres across the country and an IMAX relationship on the line, success was the only option so we were running secondary and tertiary redundancies on this project, including backup cameras, mics, mixers, servers and internet source.

THE RESULT

Despite the 30 knot winds, some seasick crew and murky waters to dive in, the whole 15 member team remained focused and brilliant and everyone just nailed their respective roles. Kids across the country got to interact LIVE with the divers, asking questions and having them answered – all from underwater! We delivered an 11am & 1pm LIVE show for IMAX this day, and both were well-received in theatres across the country and our equipment and technical systems all performed flawlessly. Once back on the dock we rested, got our land legs back, and then celebrated – an amazing multimedia project deepening young people’s interest & awareness of our ocean and its inhabitants. 

MEDIA: 

Fish Eye Project & IMAX | The Emerald Forest