Lucid Technologies recently produced two spectacular displays of stunning illuminations which embellished the exterior of Bradfield’s St Nicolas’s Church, Sheffield, with large-scale animated 3D imagery relating to World War One.
The displays were part of the wider ‘Poppy Memorial Trail’ event organised by Pink Dot Inc, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Remembrance Day and which raised funds for Help for Heroes and the Royal British Legion as well as St. Nicholas’ church.
Lucid had been recommended to create a projection mapping experience by James Bawn of element 3 Design, who in 2015 had adorned the church with gobo-projected poppies.
From concept stills provided by the creative team of Pink Dot Inc and Element 3, Lucid created animated, real-time 3D imagery in-house, working dedicatedly in Maya, Notch and After Effects over a three-week period. The content was mapped onto the side of the church by three 21K weather-proofed projectors, via Lucid’s Disguise GX2 media server, which also triggered an Avolites Tiger Touch 2, controlling Robe Pointe moving head Lumiere’s positioned in the church’s graveyard. From the moment the church service started, and throughout, the beams stood to attention.
Lucid delivered a breath-taking and deeply personal show for the communities local to the church. Onto the end of the display, Lucid was able to composite images of local people who died and survived World War One. The images, along with handwritten quotes supplied by the community, were provided by historians working with the event organisers.
The displays were a huge success. Filmed by BBC Yorkshire for regional news programme BBC Look North, considerable awareness and vital funds were raised.
As Lucid arrived at the picturesque hilltop church for the first meeting, the funds originally raised and donated by companies for the event would not cover equipment costs. Inspired by the beauty of the church with mist rolling through its valley, as well as the energy and enthusiasm of the church project team, Lucid decided to pull out the stops to make the event happen on the scale it was envisioned. As Ashley Ball, Lucid Projects Director, maintained, “It is not often you get to work at a medieval church in an area of such outstanding natural beauty.”
Though the set up was not complicated, the project was not without technical challenges. Small footprint technology for the control position was a necessity as it was shared with bell ringers and people changing costumes. The limitedLucid Technologies commemorates
World War One Remembrance day power supply also presented some obstacles to overcome.
The biggest technical challenge, however, in an area prone to 85MPH gusts of wind, was posed by the weather. Ball explains, “We had to make sure everything was protected with the correct waterproofing and secured from blowing away the wind”. With rigging and scaffolding supplied by HSL, Business Development Manager Jo Sunners, worked with the Lucid team to devise a secure equipment set up which placed projectors efficiently but without intruding upon the graveyard or causing any damage to headstones.
Poppy Memorial Trail organiser, Sue Hague of Pink Dot Inc: “Lucid Technologies poured their creativity, technological know-how and sheer dedication into this event. They also donated both time and money into making it happen – without which we would not have realised the event on this scale. We hope the Poppy Memorial Trail will this year be the most successful we’ve seen and have Lucid to thank for their unwavering support.”