Client: DP World
Agency: OpenLab
Role: Art Director/Lead Animator/Technical Lead
Location: EXPO 2020 Dubai
5 levels of content with an atrium housing a 10m 6k screen and programmable indoor waterfall. The scale and imagination of this project was incredible. Nearly 18months of work 3 of which living in Dubai. I helped install and proof all the content across the floors whilst also being lead animator on various parts including the biggest part the 30metre multi-screen installation combining animation, 3d models and programmed lighting in the Connectivity Gallery.
The unique atrium allowed DP World to host a multitude of events, after delivery we turned our focus to a large National Day production with song, dance and a live sand artist. Similarly we made a full closing ceremony on a similar scale but not before doing a full 3D led waterfall show. Details below!
EXPO 2O2O - DP World
Connectivity Gallery
2 concurrent narratives with 4 chapters split across 4 separate non standard shape screens (100’s of individual panels), audio and a huge physical model with integrated lighting. This was the biggest challenge in the design, animation and installation process and one that I’m happy to say ended up working perfectly.
As you enter the pavilion we tell the history of the growth of the ports and city whilst transitioning through day to night. On the table we see the increase in the flow of trade as the animation links into the port model running the full length of the table.
Walking through to the second side (total installation length of about 30metres) we get to the crown jewel that is BoxBay. The large scale model dominates the space whilst on the back wall an incredibly detailed animation I created tells the story of two different containers as they make their journeys in and out of the port. The day night cycle links across the screens as the table model lights up in tandem to the screen, also showing you the journey of the container.
The Waterfall Show
The main attraction of the DP World Pavilion was undoubtably the floor to ceiling waterfall. The waterfall itself is programmable so we crafted two bespoke films which interplayed with the falling water. Then with a full lighting sequence and beautiful audio we could created a fully immersive experience.
National Day
A live performance while using the huge 6k atrium screen as a backdrop/virtual set. We created full 3D animated environments to help set the scene and give context to the narrative. The stories were all linked with engaging performance art, sand drawing. For this we created a framework to hold the performance on the screen using beautiful Arabic typography.
