Historic wonder

Sydney-based Spinifex Group has collaborated with Director Han Lixun and other creatives involved with the Beijing Olympics, to create a cinematic multimedia spectacle for Yan City, which has just opened in China’s Chun Zhu Province.

Performance of Yan Yu Chun Qiu Water Show. Image courtesy of Spinifex Group.

Image from "The Past Meets the Future." Image courtesy of Spinifex Group.

The magnificent Yan City attraction features a stunning re-creation of the ancient city, a museum, a world-class zoo, a philosophers’ garden, and a theme park. Each night, thousands of visitors will experience a spectacular, 45-minute water show, which features Spinifex’s multimedia rendering of “The Past Meets the Future.”

Image from "The Past Meets the Future." Image courtesy of Spinifex Group.

“A state-of-the-art vision for the Water Show Spectacle provides a beginning to a whole new way of Chinese storytelling using new digital technologies,” said Han Lixun, famous for the print-block segment of the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony, in which Spinifex was also involved as one of the only non-Chinese production companies.

Performance of Yan Yu Chun Qiu Water Show. Image courtesy of Spinifex Group.

The content begins on the 250-meter-wide wall of the museum, then appears on a unique 100-meter-wide retractable scrim array, floating on a man-made lake. The content is choreographed to a wide variety of state-of-the-art show effects, including fireworks, water screens, laser and fog machines and presented with surround sound. Director Han Lixun and Spinifex creative director Richard Lindsay and his colleagues worked with Yvonne Ho, who was producer on the Beijing Olympic Games, to create this spectacular high-tech storytelling achievement.

Performance of Yan Yu Chun Qiu Water Show. Image courtesy of Spinifex Group.

According to Lindsay, the first challenge for Spinifex was to concept the story, and the storytelling techniques, to artfully treat the ancient Chinese Spring/Autumn period. “Through our experiences on the Beijing Olympics, we proved we could romantically bring ancient storytelling to life using modern techniques,” said Lindsay. “This is where we came to greatly appreciate Director Han’s strengths in theatre, lighting, innovative sets and mechanics. The brief he gave us for this project was to reflect on the ancient philosophies of Spring/Autumn with an abstract, spirited, and very romantic treatment. As we progressed, he looked to us to help express the nature and storytelling aspects of the show using large format projection across various, large-scale screens.”