Overview
In April 2019, HP and Rüfüs Du Sol collaborated with award-winning director James Frost to create an immersive music experience for their song "Underwater" at Coachella in the massive 11,000 square foot geodesic Antarctic Dome. The piece tells an abstract story of emotional resilience in five segments Overture, Collapse, Reflection, Climb and Serenity, enhanced through an immersive surround sound mix of the track.
James worked closely with Rüfüs Du Sol to conceptualize the story & visual look of the experience.
Design Approach
Our team was given the task of creating 6 minutes of particle based 5K content for a 360 full-dome format. Visually we set out to create an aquatic particle world taking guests on an interstellar journey through sub-atomic masses and ethereal liquid designs.
Joey Camacho, Ryan Hawthorne and Harrison Vincent made up the 3D team, Nicolas Arnold laid down the practical FX magic and Joyce N. Ho merged it all together mixing between 2D design / animation, compositing and art directing throughout.
On a technical level the CG was done using Cinema 4D and the scenes were compiled, edited and color corrected in After Effects. Redshift was also an integral part of the making process. Its stability, speed and fisheye camera helped make this project possible where other GPU renderers struggled. The artist team used multiple particle systems including X-Particles, Houdini, and the classic Trapcode Mir to help build out our surreal aquatic world.
Results
Over the course of two weekends, 100,000 fans were able to sit inside the dome, and view this truly collaborative filmmaking achievement.
