BNP Paribas creates a spectacular visual universe based on Game of Thrones with Christie and Europalco

Technological innovation and creativity marked the annual event of this bank. For the occasion a spectacular screen was designed in truss of 64×12 metre, Inspired by the anatomy of a dragon. The projection had six projectors Christie Boxer 4K30 and two Pandoras Box servers.

Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal, the dragons of Game of Thrones, They are three essential characters of the series. The Portuguese branch of BNP Paribas, one of Europe's leading banks, It relied on these three reptiles to thematize the annual meeting with its employees, An event that brought together 3.800 people in the Altice Arena lisbon, the largest indoor enclosure in Portugal.

The bank turned to the Portuguese firm of solutions for events and shows Europalco, which in turn went to the studio specialized in the design of scenarios and the creation of content for mapping projections Grandpa's Lab.

"BNP Paribas' goal was to create a spectacular moment for its employees at their annual meeting.. They were looking for something big, A scenario with impact and a very dynamic emotional curve. How the event was inspired by Game of Thrones, We created a story to take viewers through that visual universe.", recalls Pedro de Castro, project manager at Grandpa's Lab.

The meeting represented an ideal occasion for technological innovation and digital artistic creativity of Europalco and Grandpa's Lab. The first designed a spectacular screen in truss, coated with white lycra of 64 meters wide by 12 meters high, Inspired by the anatomy of a dragon. The lateral parts of this giant tapestry were the wings and, the center, the chest and head. An impressive montage never before seen in the Portuguese professional sector of live shows.

To carry out the projection, Europalco drew an array based on six projectors Christie Boxer 4K30 3DLP technology, 30.000 center lumens and 4K resolution (4.096×2.160).

The equipment was arranged in three groups of two projectors each. A tandem took care of the left wing, another from the right wing and the third from the central part of the screen. They were at 12 meters high and at a projection distance of 50 metre.

Motion graphics content inspired by Game of Thrones created by Grandpa's Lab together with its partner Expanding Roots were screened. In addition to audiovisual projection, There were also flamethrowers, Actors and acrobats who completed the narrative, performing at some moments of the show.

The use of six identical Boxers played a key role in the success of the project., offering the projection a higher level of brightness that had a very high impact. One of the BNP Paribas employees present at the event tells us: "The three-dimensional effect caused the dragons to pop off the screen and fly over our heads.. The quality and sharpness of the image were astounding. Not to mention the light coming out of the screen."

The sum of the six Boxers produced 180.000 Lumens. Highly sought after by the event and show rental industry since they were launched in 2015, the projectors of the Boxer range are seen as the reference equipment for large format projections for their high performance, Compact design, Lightweight and resistant (Weigh 68 Kilos), and the omnidirectional installation possibilities of 360 Degrees that offer, allowing them to be used in any position.

Two Christie Pandoras Box servers, Renowned for their power to create large-scale multimedia experiences and enormous strength, managed content released from projectors. "Pandoras Box is an easy-to-use system and, the most important thing, does not produce any failures. The simplicity in the operation and programming of the whole show was only possible because there is something like the Widget Designer", points out Pedro Magalhães, CEO of Europalco.

Pandoras Box Widget Designer is an intuitive software tool used to create custom show control applications, allowing you to easily connect all sources and displays with a single powerful interface. Widget Designer translates the different protocols to allow them to interact with each other, automatically or on demand, with single or multiple controls, as the tracking system, Industrial sensors, PC, tablets or even game controllers.

"Their mapping tools are very good.. Create complex timelines, which helps a lot to build an event, either with a simple script or with a very complex one, no need for third-party software", praises Pedro de Castro.

One of the biggest challenges was fitting the images precisely onto the uneven surface on which it was projected.. And is that the central part of the screen, which represented the chest of a dragon, It was riddled with discontinuous scales on which it was necessary to project. "Adjusting the images on these scales was our nightmare", remember Magalhães, "But in the end we were able to solve it thanks to the Pandoras Box warp plug-in.. The images were projected to perfection, filling the different segments of the screen at all times and keeping the lighting strictly within its edges".

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