Wales Millennium Centre Case study

Wales Millennium Centre and Orchard.LABs

Wales Millennium Centre defines itself as “A Creative Home for Everyone” welcoming 1.8 million visitors a year and generating £70 million for local businesses.  Leading with the tagline “We Fire Imagination” they excel at being of creative and cultural significance not just in Cardiff, Wales’s capital city, but for the whole of Wales and the United Kingdom.

Wales Millennium Centre (WMC) welcome world class experiences and events to Wales, from critically acclaimed musical theatre, comedy and dance to intimate, ground-breaking cabaret. They produce their own productions, showcasing Welsh stories and talent internationally and digitally. They work with young people, communities and artists to inspire creativity and ensure everyone can learn new skills.

We met with WMC in the early stages of the transformation being made to the entrance of the iconic building situated in Cardiff Bay.  We were briefed on the challenge and after initial pitches and meetings we started to work together on creating something really special.

 The client was clear on their vision and bought into the idea that “our clients think differently”.

 The project required consultancy across 4 areas.

  • Technical - what the screens were, how they worked and what the technical specs for the delivery display would be.

  •  Motion branding – developing concepts and movement styles that would complement the new installations and incorporate the current and newly-developed branding for the spaces and offerings.

  • Filming style – how it would look, pace of movement, subject, colour grading and cinematography.

  • Delivery formats – working with the existing systems and new technology on creating template delivery formats for the WMC to take ownership going forward.

We started the project as we always do,

with a consultancy stage.

Aside from the client’s instructions, needs and brief, the building had its own voice. It informed and dictated how it needed to be filmed, how the footage needed to be graded and what would complement the amazing spaces that footage would ultimately be shown in.

We would need to deliver content for two screens.

  • The first was an external glass projection screen spanning over 32 meters at the front of the building.

  • The second was an internal LED screen, 16 meters in length across the wall of the main entrance desk and bar called Ffwrnais.

Content would need to be produced for several brands within the organisation, welcome messaging across multiple languages and “what’s on” listings.

The first screen content produced was for the

external transparent projection screen.

The nature of transparent screens is that you can see through them. This screen type would inform the content. The lack of a solid background in these screens, means that when the LEDs are producing black, they are off and transparent, this reveals the colour behind the screen. On a standard screen the solid behind the screen creates the contrast and so colour and contrast ratios would be of real importance in the production of content. Also, the sheer size of the screens created considerations of both the distance needed to be from the screen to take in the whole image, and also the pace at which the content would move.

We created a series of test pieces to view in different lighting conditions to understand the screens’ idiosyncrasies.

 Through concept

and production

we worked very closely with the team at Wales Millennium Centre to produce content through motion graphics and animation incorporating complementary footage, colour palettes, designs and pace guides. This content acted as the beginning of the templates for how content would be displayed on the screens going forward.

to be installed in the reception/entrance area bar and café.  Dealing with a screen of this size and resolution came with its own challenges. Unlike the external facing screen, this screen is over 6000 pixels wide and would be viewable from a distance of 3 meters when standing at the counter in the entrance area.

All footage would need to be captured over 6k to allow for the sliver of footage to be cut out of the centre of the frame. The internal screen in the Ffwrnais space is an aspect ratio of 16:1, this meant that considerations in framing and the subject being filmed had to be at the centre of production plans and concepts.  

 The second part of the project was the production of content on

the 16 meter internal screen

Movement across this aspect ratio also needed to be considered. We had to ensure that viewers, no matter where they were standing in front of this 16m screen, would have a pleasant experience: that all designs for motion pieces and filming would not move at such a pace as to make the viewer uncomfortable but also not be static to the point of boredom.  In the concept stages we made the decision to look at movement and filming with a focus on four things.

  • The use of tilt shift lenses to create movement when capturing texture and features.

  • A focus on vertical movement (tilt) instead of horizontal (pan) where possible.

  • Ensuring that any lateral movements would be captured with the use of slider and at pace that was comfortable.

  • And for the colour grade and framing we would borrow from the works of Wes Anderson. Taking a cinematic approach to video production focusing on beautiful footage that would feel seamless in the space.

Across all of its building, Wales Millennium Centre has renovations and designs incorporated from the natural world, using materials that are taken from the surrounding areas to create a space filled with wood and slate. Designs for the Ffwrnais space were no different. The space is bright, open and airy with beautiful wooden structures and incorporating pops of vibrant colour through the seating, cushions and art: our content needed to consider this.

 Through collaboration with the team, we created multiple videos, templates and complementary animated pieces to be shown in the space.

 With creative, art and film direction, we have had the pleasure of adding Wales Millennium Centre to the list of clients that think differently with Orchard.LABS. We have created content that is truly different and is the right solution, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.  We have loved working with the team over at Wales Millennium Centre and taking this journey with them.

Watch the video to get a peek of what was produced. But if you have time… make your way down to the building and see it first-hand. The space is beautiful, and we are all very proud of the content we have produced, and hopefully will continue to produce together going forward.