DISNEY’S ENCANTO
// DISNEY’S ENCANTO
AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL.
THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, LOS ANGELES // 2022
We brought La Casita to life, as we teamed up with a global team to bring the spirit, story and music of Walt Disney Animation Studios' Award-winning Encanto to the Hollywood Bowl.
We feel so lucky to have worked closely with Misty Buckley over the years. Her first quick sketch for the project showed the iconic Hollywood Bowl arch transformed into the Casita in an incredible way, by adding to and augmenting the existing architecture.
This provided a canvas which could then be brought to life through projection. We were brought in to explore how we could make that happen in the biggest and most eye catching way!
The show was an immersive cinema experience, introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, featuring the original voice cast performing the musical numbers from the film live on stage. The show featured special guests, a 50 person ensemble, a full orchestra and Colombian band that broke out into full performance pieces during the musical numbers.
| IMAGES : Disney+, NorthHouse
CREATIVE VISION & ART DIRECTION
We wanted to take this show to a whole new level and bring several layers of visuals to the show using projection mapping upon Misty Buckley’s incredible set design, screen visuals and augmented reality visuals, created by the awesome All Of It Now.
We'd put so much energy into really understanding the identity of the film, staying true to it's brand, Colombian culture and aesthetic whilst breaking out into more explorative aesthetics in many other moments.
We kicked off with several weeks of deep research and development to explore the aesthetic of the film and re-build many of the assets from scratch to fit perfectly within the Hollywood Bowl's unique canvas.
We went into such detail on all aspects, from the positioning, size and animation of each window, door and tile on the Casita to the density, oscillation and pulse rate of each group of particles and bokeh.
| IMAGES : NorthHouse
To bring the Casita to life we had to rebuild assets in 3D so we could get the animation and look just right - in keeping with the tone of the film. This really assisted in keeping the spirit of the film alive in our projections.
For the start of the show we needed something impactful and magical to transform the Hollywood Bowl into La Casita - we knew the perfect way! It began with Lin Manuel Miranda jumping onto the centre of the floor catalyzing an explosion of magical particles and bokeh to ripple out across the floor and across the doors, rising up the architecture of the Bowl to reveal La Casita.
‘WE HAD SUCH INCREDIBLE SUPPORT FROM VARIOUS DISNEY TEAMS INCLUDING BYRON AND JARED, THE FILM'S DIRECTORS, WHO WERE OVERJOYED TO SEE SUCH AN EXPLORATIVE NEW VERSION OF THE FILM BE BROUGHT TO LIFE AT THE BOWL.’
TECHNICAL IMPLEMENTATION
This project gave us another opportunity to use our bespoke previs, built in Unreal engine. This was particularly important to see the viewing angles of the live audience as well as the camera positions.
We worked closely with All Of It Now to create the Augmented Reality moments featured in the Disney plus special. We developed the creative and shared assets we had already created with the team to ensure it was a seamless flow between the projected / LED visuals and the AR moments.
| IMAGES : NorthHouse
LIVE SH0W.
BROADCAST.
MUSIC.
NARRATIVE.
It was an absolute pleasure working with such an awesome team of people, of which there are so many to mention . . . but a very special thanks to Sally, Gabe and the whole Fulwell73 team.
Thanks to all the fantastic people at Disney Concerts, Disney Plus and Disney Animation - including the films directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard, who helped to guide us along the way.
Thanks to Chris Howe (Director), Misty Buckley (Production Designer), Joe Celli (Art Director), Al Gurdon (Lighting Designer), Jamal Sims (Choreographer), Kai Martinez (Associate Choreographer), All Of It Now (Augmented Reality), Sennova (Projection tech) and so many more!
Produced by Fulwell 73 Productions, Live Nation-Hewitt Silva and Disney Concerts, along with AMP Worldwide.
// TEAM
CLIENT: DISNEY // FULWELL 73 PRODUCTIONS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR & FOUNDER: TOM BAIRSTOW
PRODUCER: ALICE RYLAND
LEAD DESIGNER: LYDIA CAPLAN
LEAD TECHNICAL ARTIST: FLORIAN LECOQ
MOTION DESIGNER: SEAN BONE
MOTION DESIGNER: DAN RICHARDS
MOTION DESIGNER: LIAM GILHEANY
MOTION DESIGNER: AARON HONDA
MOTION DESIGNER: EMILE FREDERICK
MOTION DESIGNER: CHRIS GAUGHRAN
MOTION DESIGNER: DAN WISE
MOTION DESIGNER: DUNCAN TUNE
CREATIVE ASSISTANT: DANA COULING
STUDIO MANAGER: ALICE BEST