Imagemakers was appointed as Creative Directors for the Visitor Centre with the audio-visual and interactive media content produced by Centre Screen. Sysco Productions was responsible for the installation and commissioning of all AV equipment and show control.
At the start of the journey, the visitor is plunged into a large scale AV set in an arched great hall, where characters from Richard’s early life introduce the story through a series of theatrical ‘acts’. The ‘royal throne’ dominates the room and a projected manuscript scroll unrolls on the floor, providing a time-line of events. Four EH505 are warped, blended and stacked to create the historical re-enactments between each of the arches.
he death knell for Edward IV leads visitors through a dark panelled hallway through to a medieval world with illustrations inspired by medieval art, “gold leaf” panel and stained glass. A sword “swingometer” sways between Richard and Henry Tudor.
Visitors are then immersed into the heart of the historical battle with two films projected at 4K resolution onto 6-metre wide etched metal fretwork screens in the gallery space. The brutality of the battle, the sheer force of the armies and the crushing atmosphere of battle can be felt in the space. The projections make the action literally ‘jump’ from the first screen to the second, with horses’ hooves flying over the audience to The Last Charge, which depicts Richard’s final moments.
There is also a Victorian theatre style touchscreen game encouraging visitors to decide upon the fate of the princes in the tower, manual interactive shields which reveal facts about the battle and a 3D printed model of the Blue Boar Inn from which Richard rode to battle.
In contrast to this, the Visitor Centre’s first floor is bright and “modern”. It explores the myths fuelled by Shakespeare, the Ricardian advocacy of “rehabilitation”, the archaeological dig and the science behind the identification.
On returning to the ground floor, visitors are able to see Richard’s original grave. The grave site is a serene space of stone and gold. Under a glass floor, the grave and the original tiled floor are illuminated and a gobo light silhouettes the skeleton’s position.
Sysco used thirteen EH505 projectors throughout the exhibition. This 5,000-lumen projector was chosen because of its flexibility both in terms of projection capabilities and installation. With WUXGA resolution and powerful image blending tools, the EH505 delivers spectacular image quality and outstanding brightness. It features DLP® technology, pioneered by Texas Instruments, which produces high quality imagery that does not suffer colour degradation over time, as sometimes experienced in other projector technologies. The dust-sealed, filter free design prevents dust and dirt from affecting the system ensuring optimal image quality with minimal maintenance. This provides ultimate reliability in its 24/7 operation.
The projector has multiple lens options, with zoom and focus adjustment to get the exact image size needed, while the wide lens shift range and off axis short throw lens option gets the image exactly where it is wanted.
7th Sense Delta Nano media servers provide the complete video playback solution for the projection. They also maintain the synchronisation and triggering of media with frame accurate dependency and frame-accurate lighting cue triggering.