Professional Lighting & Production - Spring 2020 | Page 24

VISITORS BLAST FORWARD IN TIME AFTER
WALKING THROUGH THE ARCH PASSAGE
drums. Visitors are encouraged to play along
in time with the soundtrack and watch as the
flowers pulsate in response to the rhythm
and dynamics of the drumming; each stroke
makes the lights near that drum glow bright-
er, with the pinnacle effect coming when all
four drums are played loudly and in unison.
A giant holographic buffalo emerges
through the trees for the Words of Wisdom
segment, sharing an inspirational reminder
that we have the power to generate change.
The Passage to the Present leads through a
long, rectangular tunnel of lights that pulse in
sync with the punchy, EDM-based soundtrack.
Finally, guests arrive back in 2020 at Seeds
of Change, which encourages and empowers
them to share the secrets they’ve learned of
this bright future with others.
Touching on some of the highlights of the
experience, Delage begins with the one that’s
become the de-facto icon of Terra Lumina,
thanks in large part to its popularity on social
media: the Arch Passage.
POLAR POWER MAKES USE OF AN EMPTY POLAR
BEAR ENCLOSURE WITH BRILLIANT PROJECTIONS
24 | Spring 2020
“We’ve integrated the lighting and special
effects into the circle to create that contin-
uous aura of light and haze that makes it
really feel like you’re being transported into
the future,” she says, noting the feature came
together in a unique way owing to the terrain
that it – and much of Terra Lumina – occupies.
She reinforces that much of the inspiration
for the experience is drawn from the site itself –
again, referred to internally as the “raw material.”
In this case, that includes parts of the Toronto
Zoo that guests don’t typically get to see, which
simultaneously presented challenges and
opportunities for the team.
“Most of the path of Terra Lumina is a
security path at the zoo, so there are some
parts of the installations that needed to
be thought of in terms of security and first
responders still having access to those areas,”
Delage explains.
The solution for the Arch Passage was
to build it using two massive, stand-alone
semi circles that look perfectly circular from a
distance but don’t hinder access to the path.
“That was such a great proposition from our
set designer, and everyone worked together
to make that feature what it is,” she tacks on.
The Luminous Pathway has become a sig-
nature part of the Lumina series – one of the
consistent elements tying these unique expe-
riences together. This portion of the journey
features numerous small lasers set at different
depths with different colours dancing all over
the terrain and trees. “It really brings the audi-
ence fully into this immersive experience, and
back to the wonder and magical moments of
childhood,” Delage muses.
Moment Factory has developed a repu-
tation for being at the cutting edge when it
comes to one-of-a-kind multimedia experi-
ences, often by taking advantage of new and
emerging technologies or, in this specific case,
using existing technologies in new or innova-
tive ways – something they dub “hijacking.”
The large complement of lasers de-
ployed for the Luminous Pathway are literally
garden-variety units – consumer-grade land-
scaping features similar to those sold at stores
like Home Depot. Those are augmented with
atmospheric haze and some professional
lighting fixtures to create a truly enveloping
effect that helps to establish the wonderous
tone of the experience early on.
“To create Terra Lumina, we used tools
from our multimedia toolbox, and particularly
for this experience, it’s more about the art of
mixology in how we’ve challenged ourselves
to create this world and raise the bar for the
guest experience,” Delage says.
A key contributor to that is the original
soundtrack, composed specifically for the
experience. Notably, it features music from
Eya-Hey Nakoda, a group from the Stoney
Nakoda first nation near Calgary, and in fact,
Moment Factory worked closely with several
First Nations artists and consultants on the
experience and its general narrative.
“One of our goals was to minimize the
spillage from one area to the next so that,
as visitors are going through, they’re totally
immersed in the section they’re in without
hearing audio from where they’ve just come
from or where they’re going next,” Delage
explains.
As such, the soundtrack ebbs and
flows in tandem with the journey, taking a
backseat to the physical and visual compo-
nents at times and pushing to the forefront
to build anticipation or change the mood
entirely at others.
“We were testing it kind like little kids,
running around and stepping forwards and
backwards to hear the slightest differences,”
Delage recalls of one of their later site visits.
“It’s so seamless and so effective; it really
keeps you in the moment. We’re very proud