Andrew Sacher

IMD students, faculty, and staff are invited to join me and the CTIN-555a class for a trip to the Disneyland Resort. The purpose of the excursion is to highlight the DESIGN PRINCIPLES & PROCESS of theme park development and discuss the CORRELATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES with interactive media. For those that are not aware, I’ve worked as an employee and consultant with Walt Disney Imagineering on projects for Disneyland Resort, EPCOT, Port Discovery, and Animal Kingdom.

Date/Time: October 9th 2005 @ 11:00 AM
Location: “Mickey’s Flower Bed”
(In front of Disneyland’s Train station and just inside the ticket turnstiles).
Duration: 4-5 hours
(you are welcome to stay longer and/or meet up with friends/family in the evening).
Please note that you will need to purchase a “Park Jumper” and/or two-park pass. Discounts are available @ the USC ticket office.

Here is an outline for the day:

Leaving Reality (Entry):
• Organize the flow of people and ideas and the Disneyland “X.”
• Interdisciplinary development and building a team to make something new.
• Inside/Outside the berm and its correlation to Zimmerman’s “magic circle.”

Familiar Places & Suspension of Disbelief (Main Street):
• Attraction posters, movie preview trailers, and transitional spaces.
• Avoid contradictions-create turn ons with complete sensory immersion.
• The cinematographer’s establishing shot - scale, perspective, colors, sounds, smells.

Choices and Connectors (Hub/Castle):
• Create a “weenie” (visual magnet) and a functional anchor point.
• Spokes of a wheel organization and thematic land organization.
• Game-level narrative parallels and the spatial consequences.

Dimensional Fables (Pirates of the Caribbean):
• Configuring 3D and/or scenic spaces to tell one story at a time.
• Universal design elements include spatial triggers, sequences, and continuity.
• Design mechanics: THRC, load/unload, capacity, vehicles, operators, etc.

Illusionary Tricks (Haunted Mansion):
• Creating surfaces and characters utilizing real projections or virtual bitmaps.
• Augmenting reality with pepper’s ghost, shadows, and onboard sound.
• Leota’s new head; keep it up (maintain it) with upgraded technology.

Movies to Attractions (Indiana Jones Adventure):
• Providing an “ounce of treatment and a ton of treat” in queue.
• Stone paths and diesel replaced by motion simulators and concrete.
• Redundant safety, sandbag tests, exiting requirements, and ADA.

Master planning (Sun Fountain):
• Different master plan; the meandering path vs. spokes of a wheel.
• The value of an overnight stay and the building of a resort destination.
• Fantasy vs. culture and the necessity to know your audience.

Immersive Cinema (Soarin’ Over California):
• Wear your guests’ shoes and dangle them in a vertical theater / ride.
• A little tilt goes a long way, with coordinated visuals and smells.
• Omnimax, Imax, and the challenges of large format projection.

Living Characters (Turtle Talk with Crush):
• Digital puppets and the effectiveness of a surfing turtle character.
• Communicate with visuals for clarity and suspension of disbelief.
• Interaction for few can be entertainment for many.

Gravity of an E-Ticket (Twilight Zone Tower of Terror):
• Anticipation and adrenaline amplify the experience.
• Avoid contradictions and maintain identity through the story & details.
• Scope and value engineering a “new classic” attraction.

Posted by andrew at 09:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (27)

Today was the first test of the Pepper’s Ghost video “behind the glass.” The configuration clearly (pun intended) shows that the user can look directly into the camera, as they are viewing the reflected video display, without any optical conflict and/or interference. I’m also investigating various forms of “anonymity overlays” that may track the subject.

Posted by andrew at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The USC Entertainment Industry Network encourages the intermingling between CNTV students and industry professionals. Last year great efforts went into the planning and coordination of a student Sundance trip, three large parties, a couple pitch nights, a few Dinner for Eight events, and the formation of a Festival Winners panel. The EIN also planned smaller more frequent and casual events like happy hours and screenings, and started the UCLA and AFI alliances with the business school and entertainment law students here at USC.

The IMD will soon be holding elections for a new 2005-2006 EIN student representative. I had the pleasure of representing our department last year and look forward to passing the baton; it is a great opportunity to socialize with other CNTV students and help plan and implement CNTV student events. Please email me if you would 1) like to be added to this year’s mailing list and/or 2) wish to nominate a candidate - a first or second year MFA student is recommended.

Link: Sundance 2005-2006

Posted by andrew at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

"Undoubtedly one of the scariest films ever made, "The Shining" is nothing less than perfect. With sublime direction from Kubrick and unsurpassed performances by Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and seven year old Danny Lloyd, it is at once terrifying and entertaining. A caretaker and his family are snowed in at the Overlook Ho tel, and discover that it is haunted by spirits who have a sinister plan for them."

Hollywood Forever Cemetery
6000 Santa Monica Blvd. at Gower
Saturday, September 24th
Gates open @ 6:30 PM & film starts @ 8PM
$10 Donation tickets available at gate

IMDers, please bring blankets, picnic dinner and cocktails for this special screening below (and above) the stars. DJ Jun spins before and after the screening. As a courtesy to fellow movie-goers, NO Tall Chairs. For more information visit www.cemeteryscreenings.com

Posted by andrew at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I’m exploring the idea of the TA booth as character. This approach opens up some interesting opportunities for dialogue between the user and an “omnipresent MC.” This could be less obvious at the beginning and slowly evolve throughout the process. I intend to explore tonal range from dark and/or foreboding to whimsical and/or accessible. The personality possibilities are endless and could respond to the user’s profile.

Posted by andrew at 05:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here is a photo of my “Pepper’s Ghost” Interface/mockup being constructed. I started with a 18”x36”x60” anodized aluminum shelving unit, painted the interior black, inserted a 25”x36” glass diagonal (for the special effect), and a Plexiglas top shelf (to provide a rear projection surface).

This shot shows the main elevation of the display from a seated POV. Once wrapped in black fabric, the blue-tape shapes on the Plexiglas above are reflected in the glass like a mirror; they represent potential locations for graphics and visual content. The blue arrow is on the surface of the glass pointing at the approximate location of the camera lens (invisible to the user). This setup will allow the user to look directly into the camera without being aware of the lense. In addition, the live video feed may "reflect" and/or manipulate the user's image.

The thumbnail on the left shows two possible mirror/projector locations (for iteration #1). On the right is the approximate size of the (final) booth enclosure.

Posted by andrew at 07:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

____________________

This is a possible configuration of the booth design including a “Pepper’s Ghost” display to enable the user/guest to (in theory) watch video content and look directly into the camera for the automated interview.
_________________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________

The “TA Type” survey could be organized using a “Christmas Tree” structure for the first mockup/iteration (using DVD Studio Pro). Later iterations and technology (Director and/or MAX/MSP/Jitter) will allow for a more complex narrative structure.
__________________________________________________________________________________

____________________

I’m hoping to compile DV footage into a HD/wide aspect ratio composition. In theory one could rotate 3 standard DV image 90 degrees and build a wide aspect ratio image/graphic. This would allow me to use a less expensive video camera in the final installation. The other option would be to use three separate screens positioned horizontally.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Posted by andrew at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“The medium is the message” - McLuhan

PROJECT GOAL:

Technophiles Anonymous will humorously raise questions and awareness regarding technologies that will influence our lives in subtle and profound ways. This thesis will parody real stories of addiction in an immersive and interactive installation.

(Getting close to an official "TA" project logo)

FAST BUS NATION:

My commute into school today took on a cinematic aura as I listened to my audible book “Fast Food Nation.” The audio book merged with my surroundings in a surreal sensibility. The narration described the abuse of the uneducated immigrant worker in the fast food industry. On the bus seats next to me there were two immigrants, one mid 20s Asian male and on black woman in her late 30s. Both were sleeping on the noisy bus, probably going to or from work. I couldn’t help photographing them with my mobile phone camera; invading their privacy with a quick capture of their slumber.

There has been ample discussion regarding MP3 players providing us with the soundtrack to life. However the nature of the non-musical content resonated with the experience in a very different way. Rather than disconnected, as with most MP3 listening, I felt intensely connected and a strong sense of empathy for these strangers. The gas fumes of the bus intensified, the glare from the dirty window glared, and my typical schlep to university took on a completely different meaning.

The experience was an intense combination between heightened reality and fictional overlay. It was a less tangible hybrid of reality and media, foreign to a bookstore or Movie Theater, and possibly a tone/genre I would like to explore further for my thesis.

(Initial ideas for my "TA Zodiac" chart/characters)

Posted by andrew at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)