Colour Me Brisbane was a spectacular backdrop of lighting and projection that activated the heart of the city like never before.
The Electric Canvas was appointed by the Queensland State Government and creative director of the G20 Cultural Celebrations, Jono Perry, to create and deliver architectural projections onto the Treasury Hotel, the Old State Library, Parliament House and the Pullman Hotel. As a complete solution provider, the company managed the content design and production, technical projection design, technical supply and event delivery for all four sites. They also provided equipment and technical support for an interactive projection installation at the Commissariat Store and created a series of images that were projected on the William Jolly Bridge.
“The Changing Face of Brisbane”, a son et lumière presented on the façade of the Treasury Hotel recounting the city’s story, was lauded as the most spectacular element of Colour Me Brisbane. The six-and-a-half minute sound and light display featured spectacular animated projection mapping by The Electric Canvas and an inspiring soundtrack of Verdi classics recorded by the Opera Queensland chorus and Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Another unique element was the integration of a live choir performing from the hotel’s balconies for select shows.
The former State Library revealed a series of captivating images showcasing the history of Queensland. The Electric Canvas employed its legacy PIGI large-format filmstrip technology to present the highly detailed content, mapped to the majestic architectural detail of the building.
At Parliament House, our artists took the G20 agenda – open data, economy, population, employment, tax, trade – added a dash of wit, a healthy dose of colourful animation and vibrant music, and mixed them all together to create an exciting interpretation of Brisbane and Queensland’s place within the global community.
In the heart of the city, at King George Square, the façade of the Pullman Hotel was brought to life with PIGI projection, displaying images of quintessential Queensland. Spanning the Brisbane River, the William Jolly Bridge was adorned with a series of Queensland-themed decorative images.
The Electric Canvas’ technical experts paved the way for this highly successful venture, performing a considerable amount of technical pre-production work. 3D models were created using laser scanning techniques and the various sitescapes reconstructed in 3D CAD. From here, strategic projector positions were identified to produce shadowless, continuous coverage of the buildings.
The Electric Canvas deployed a significant amount of its digital and PIGI projection equipment, control systems, power distribution and signal reticulation for the sizeable event. It was also here that The Electric Canvas debuted its newly acquired Modulo Pi media server system for the content management and playback onto Parliament House. Its technical crew of ten began installing the projection systems across the five locations eight days prior to the launch of the event.
Whether cutting-edge digital animation or the more artisanal approach required for PIGI projection, The Electric Canvas’ artists designed all of the creative content to map perfectly to the façade of each building and structure. Every public viewing angle was considered during the content design process in order to heighten the experience for all spectators. A team of 17 artists spent some 2,000 studio hours creating the various digital animations, PIGI images and audio elements.
With the world’s focus on Brisbane and Queensland, Colour Me Brisbane was the perfect forum for the Government to promote tourism, build international networks and highlight the best of what their State has to offer. As many as 4000 delegates and 3000 international and domestic media representatives attended the event, and an estimated public of 280,000 attended the celebrations throughout their duration.
Project Design Team: the artists and technicians of The Electric Canvas
Equipment List:
- 20 Christie Roadster S+20K video projectors
- 4 Barco HDF-W26 video projectors
- 1 Barco CLM R10 video projector
- 1 Modulo Pi media server
- 1 Watchout media server
- 6 PIGI DDRA Xenon filmstrip projectors
- 2 OnlyCue PIGI control systems
- 13 projection towers with marine-ply hoarding
- 1 sheltered kiosk for interactive control system