Mystical Aoraki Journeys in 3D

Visitors to the new Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre at Aoraki Mount Cook can now have the journey of a lifetime, from the Big Bang to the majestic Southern Alps, all from the seats of a new 3D theatre.

The spectacular 15-minute 3D film takes the audience on an inspiring cinematic experience unlike any other. A blend of computer animation and stereoscopic footage immerses the audience in the mystical Ngai Tahu Maori legend of Aoraki and then among the high peaks and glaciers of Aoraki Mount Cook National Park’s dramatic landscape.

The 3D project, the first of its type in New Zealand, was a long- time dream of Ian Taylor, CEO of Taylormade Media Ltd. He says he finally achieved it with the “vision and support of the Valentine and Davies families of The Hermitage”.

The project took eight months and encompassed filmmaking, creating the 3D animations depicting Creation and the Aoraki legend, to building two HD- capable servers to deliver the film and the custom- built software. The company also specified Panasonic projection, polarisation, glasses and a huge 3D silver seven-metre screen.

Taylormade brought the different components of the film together by collaborating with the French Film Company, Cow Productions, and Dunedin- based computer graphics company Animation Research Ltd. The film was directed by Emmy Award- winning cameraman Mike Single and the music composed by musician Neville Copland. A $100,000 Sky Scan surround sound-stereo 5.1 system pumps out the soundtrack.

The 126-seat custom-designed theatre is claimed to be the only theatre in the world with 2D, 3D and world-class definiti planetarium-dome contained within the same space. Technology allows the 2D screen to raise up for storage while the 3D is in use, and the planetarium dome to lower into place when required.

The Hermitage general manager, Denis Callesen, says the centre’s 3D theatre offers the most technologically advanced facilities of this type ever developed in New Zealand.

“This is not a film to show off technology,” says Taylor. “It’s about showing the huge number of visitors to Aoraki Mount Cook why this place is so special. Through the use of this 3D technology we have created a filmic experience that will actually propel visitors to seek out their own Aoraki adventure.”

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