This is a continuation of "Middle-Earthly Delights: Part One." This past December, Tourism New Zealand created a unique five-day immersive event space outside the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Tied to the US premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, the New Line Cinema/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures feature film, The Book of New Zealand was an innovative walkthrough, multimedia installation that featured actual set elements of the film. Used for the press junket, parties, and fan events, it deftly blended technology, movie magic, and tourism. Production Resource Group (PRG) worked closely with Tourism New Zealand and the filmmakers from the film’s production company, 3 Foot 7 Ltd., to present a truly unique Middle-earth experience for media, guests, and fans.
All of the immersive environment’s very valuable set pieces and film props were housed inside a Total Structures roof system that came from Kleege Industries out of San Diego, essentially a standard roof system that was customized to working depth for this event. “This roof system was 55' tall and 65' wide. However, normally, a standard roof system is only 55' deep,” explains Black. “We made this one 100' deep by buying new pieces and parts, sidewalls, etc. We also ended up making the roof watertight; we had three sidewalls all the way around it for weather protection, since they wanted a black box. Across the front, downstage center, we put a big drape up, and we had this really nice 35' tall by 50' wide roll drop screen that PRG sourced from Germany. The screen retracted out in about 10 seconds, and these huge sets were revealed on the stage.”
The roof and stage structure required a lot of engineering because it was right up against the hotel building on one side. Black notes, “We had to come up with a system where we extended some kickers off on the opposite side to give us some stability on the roof. Plus, we were dealing with a 4' grade on the parking lot. All of that had to be taken into consideration.” The production team also had to deal with the fire department-mandated open entrance and 20' fire lane as a part of the safety requirements. “There were constant tape measures out and around,” recalls Black. “We had to keep one of the gates open and create an opening wide enough to let fire trucks pass underneath, so we built a four-poster truss bridge, and the projectors were mounted up on top.”
PRG’s account manager Tim Murch describes the projector solution. “We provided two brand new Barco 40K projectors for the opening film projection,” he says. “They originally wanted a 6K image, but that’s movie theatre-resolution that has yet to come out in a portable version for our industry. The filmmakers at 3 Foot 7 provided a very nice image that really looked good. We also had to actually screen the street off, because you’re not allowed to have moving images visible that might distract traffic.”
The set design from the scenic team included pools and rocks that would be in and around the film’s set pieces. “On the stage, we had two ponds, so we built the decking in those areas 2' lower, and we brought in this heavy-duty liner that is used in landfills,” says Black. “We used that to create two ponds, each about a foot deep, and then poured concrete in three of the areas and sculpted them out to look like rocks and stones. There were four film sets on the stage; we brought six sea containers from New Zealand with the real sets and props used in the movies.” The sets represented four principal filming locations: Hidden Bay (Turoa, Ohakune), Forest River (Pelorus River, Marlborough), Lake-town (Lake Pukaki, Mt. Cook), and Beorn’s House (Paradise, Queenstown). The original pieces from the movie sets and props were matched with photos of the real landscapes so the environment successfully highlighted how the film’s Middle-earth fantasy is firmly attached to the real life landscapes of New Zealand.
VIP In NZ
In the middle of the set pieces, a VIP party area sat that was approximately 20'x60'. Three rectangular truss pods hung from the roof for the lighting. “On the fourth day of the roof build is when all the lighting truss went in, because we had to get it all in before we could load-in the scenery on the fifth day,” says Black. All of the lighting, video, and audio, as well as the production personnel and ancillary elements, were provided by PRG. Bill Daly, system engineer, PRG Audio oversaw the audio and PRG’s Phil Galler handled projection. PRG also dealt with all of the permitting and site coordination working with Patrick Stansfield & Associates.
Stansfield enjoyed working on The Book of New Zealand event, saying, “The whole thing was very interesting. I’m used to tales and wonders. Everything was finished to a very high level. The film crew and Dan Hennah were great to work with; all of them were terrific. The LA crew and the New Zealanders worked great together.”
Hennah adds that he enjoyed his time working with the LA-based production team. “It was a very pleasant experience,” he says. “The whole thing worked flawlessly, and everyone’s been great. It was a marriage of film and rock ‘n’ roll. The discipline of running a large rock show—we don’t have the knowledge, but we do have the discipline being ready on the day, so it was a really cool team that they put together to bring our world into a new discipline. I made a lot of friends and learned a lot about how things work in LA.”
Tourism New Zealand’s chief executive Kevin Bowler felt that the resulting event exhibit environment was a great success and achieved the organization’s objective to show the island country as a must-see tourism destination, as well as an innovative and creative nation. “New Zealand came to California with a spectacular display,” reflects Bowler. “You literally stepped into a giant book of New Zealand and travelled through four of the principal filming locations for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. We were delighted to be a part of the worldwide media program in Los Angeles and believe The Book of New Zealand will motivate all those who experienced it to share the wider New Zealand story.”
Read this month's issue and see more photos in the latest version of Live Design. Get the free downloadable app for iPhone or iPad at the Apple App Store.