Light It Blue

What began in the United Kingdom as a way to show support to NHS frontline workers, Thinkwell Group brought the effort to the United States, where we worked with over 400 venues, attractions, skylines and icons to weekly light their buildings in blue, take a photo and share to their social accounts with the hashtag, ‘#LightItBlue’. Through this effort, Thinkwell and dozens of volunteers all over the country reached over 700 million people online with this message of gratitude at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

As the pandemic began, Thinkwellians worked around the clock from their homes, while reaching out to any possible contact who would be willing to join the cause. The team was able to secure commitments from over 400 points of interest across 112 cities in 43 states to light up states, sports fields, buildings, civic icons and more every Thursday night at 8:00pm. 

While navigating “shelter in place” procedures, Thinkwell and team worked with every venue to ensure social distancing was in place. Participating venues could either light their locations with blue hues remotely, or leverage already on-site staff to turn the lights on weekly. Once the program launched, iconic landmarks including One World Trade Center, Niagara Falls, the Seattle Space Needle, and more joined in. 

The campaign didn’t stop in America, and was more than just buildings being lit in blue hues. Celebrities such as Janet Jackson and Kareem Abdul Jabar joined the campaign organically. Due to the outpouring of support, it grew and evolved into a global phenomenon, with icons such as the Tokyo Tower, London’s Tower Bridge, and the entire Singapore Skyline lit up in blue to show their support for healthcare workers. By the end of the campaign, Thinkwell and others had secured over 500 venues globally, while trending the campaign twice (once in Los Angeles, and again nationwide) on Twitter.

ARTVscope

ARTV, a French language Quebec TV channel specializing in arts and culture broadcasts,  wanted to make live art and music performances available to a wider audience. To meet this challenge, Thinkwell Studio Montréal collaborated with Atelier Muse to create ARTVscope, an oversized telescope that allowed the public to “attend” sold out shows. 

ARTVscope was installed outside various venues and theatres in Montréal, allowing people to view a live stream of the performance or show taking place inside. Users were also allowed to control their viewing experience, zooming in and out and changing camera angles.  ARTVscope was installed in the midst of 6 art and music festivals and offered a unique interactive experience of 250 shows to more than 30,000 spectators. 

TVscope has received the following awards and distinctions:

2011 – One Show Entertainment, Certificate of Merit
2011 – One Show Digital, Certificate of Merit
2011 – CREA Award, Grand Prize
2011 – Marketing Award, Silver
2010 – Canadian Digital Marketing Award, Gold
2010 – Innovation Award in media, Innovation in experience, Special events, Money

Guillaume Wagner Comedy Tour

For Guillaume Wagner’s comedy show featuring director Daniel Fortin, Thinkwell Studio Montréal created an engaging scenic background and show lighting that would not detract the attention of the audience. Simple and quick to assemble, it could be adapted to different size venues throughout the tour. 

A system of vertical RGB lighting was hidden behind a modular wall with 315 small mechanized doors, each of them becoming a ‘pixel’. The doors open and close allowing texts and icons to be displayed throughout the show.

Sesqui

One of the cornerstone celebrations in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary, SESQUI brought together technical innovation and art in a multi-faceted celebration of Canada’s heritage, landscape and people. Thinkwell Studio Montréal was proud to have been a part of SESQUI’s 360 Technical Innovation Team, providing custom equipment, expertise and support for their 360° film, HORIZON. The film was shown in planetariums throughout the country, as well as across Ontario in an inflatable dome theatre in Summer 2017.

The team also provided expertise in the design phase of the 360° cinematic dome as well as support for the filming of HORIZON by designing, testing and constructing two separate camera rigs along with the help of our fellow collaborators, without which the end result would not have been possible. The project required that the rigs be lightweight enough to be mounted to a variety of vehicles for land and aerial shots, yet durable enough to withstand extreme climates. The rigs were used to shoot footage from ninety different locations across all thirteen provinces and territories.

Thank you to the following collaborators: Alexandre Burton (design of the SLR camera rig); Francois David: (design of video filming rig); Guy St-Amour (SESQUI technical designer and dome producer)

New York Metropolitan Opera

Director Robert Lepage chose Thinkwell Studio Montréal to create and integrate 3D interactive effects with the scenography of his production for Wagner’s “The Ring” tetralogy. Lepage tried to imagine the Ring the way Wagner would have staged it if he had access to twenty-first century technology. 

Thinkwell Studio Montréal combined video projections and virtual cameras that projected computer-generated images onto the stage and décor, creating the illusion of 3D holograms for the show. 

Universal Orlando’s Cinematic Celebration

The Universal Orlando Cinematic Celebration is a complex amalgamation of water fountains, surround sound, lighting, pyrotechnics, projection-mapped buildings, lasers and film media projected onto water screens, creating a tapestry of scenes from Universal’s rich history of beloved blockbusters. The experience brings guests deep into the action through an immersive extension of featured movie moments. Each of the film scenes plays out along with a bold, newly orchestrated score, recorded at Bastyr Chapel in Seattle, WA.

Thinkwell Media was tasked with creating a custom media show that showcased Universal’s movies in a way no viewer has ever seen them before. This show is three times wider than the typical film aspect ratio and takes up multiple planes of viewing at once, with the moving image broken up into overlapping layers of screens.

The Singing Sorceress Celestina Warbeck’s Nothing Like a Holiday Spell

For the new holiday performance of Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter—Hogsmeade at Universal Studios Florida, Thinkwell led the creative and music production efforts and co-produced the show with Universal Entertainment, along with a team of Broadway professionals.

Thinkwell show’s team, which includes award-winning composers Michael Weiner and Alan Zachary, Show Director Josh Rhodes, and Assistant Show Director Jessica Hartman.  Michael and Alan have created numerous hit performances for Film, TV, and Broadway, including original music and lyrics for recent Broadway hits First Date and 17 Again.  

For the 2017 holiday show in Diagon Alley, Thinkwell brought many of these stars back together from the original production of The Singing Sorceress Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees performance at Universal Studios Florida.  Thinkwell also co-produced this fan-favorite show, which currently runs year-round (outside of the holiday season) at Hogsmeade.  The special holiday version of the show introduces guests to a slate of new, original songs, including soon-to-be classics like “My Baby Gave Me a Hippogriff for Christmas” and “Nothing Like a Holiday Spell”. It was developed as part of a major overlay to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the holidays at Universal Orlando Resort.

The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle

For the 2017 holiday season, Thinkwell was proud to unwrap its latest project, The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle. Developed in collaboration with Universal Entertainment and Moment Factory, this brand-new nighttime spectacular transforms Hogwarts Castle at Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Hollywood with dazzling visuals and enchanting music.

Thinkwell co-developed the show’s storied journey, helped define the visual narrative, and produced the music recording. With additional on-site show direction, technical design, and audio design, Thinkwell was thrilled to work alongside Universal Entertainment and Moment Factory, creating a magical experience for witches and wizards alike. The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts was live though early January 2018 at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood.

Meet Bugs! (And Daffy)

Meet Bugs! (And Daffy) is a live interactive show at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi that gives everyone the opportunity to join the stage and become part of the show with their favorite rascally rabbit and despicable duck. The show takes guests through a series of rooms as a mobile theater performance, where they can meet and interact with live costumed actors, as well as encounter a variety of special effects, including animatronic figures, integrated multimedia, and customized sound effects. Select volunteers will have the opportunity to perform on stage with Bugs and Daffy, and all guests can pose with the cartoon duo at the end for a one-of-a-kind photo opportunity.

Inside the Cartoon Junction Playhouse, guests are taken on a backstage tour where they learn that Bugs Bunny is preparing for his next big show. Bugs invites his adoring audience to take part in the performance with him, where they can play the role of one of their favorite Looney Tunes characters, such as Tweety Bird, Taz, or Elmer Fudd. Of course, Daffy Duck has to interrupt to make sure the show is really all about him, to predictably looney results.

 

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