Client: Sharp Electronics, Osaka, Japan (via Rainbow Studios, of which I was the Creative Director)
Summary: Development of a kiosk-delivered, 3D-animated educational multimedia presentation for the lobby of Sharp’s new world headquarters
The result: Sharp Electronics was thrilled, and the presentation won numerous awards in Japan
Contents
(1) Background
(2) The script, storyboard and production plan I created for “Future Lab”
(3) Animation excerpt
(4) The result
(1) Background
When electronics giant Sharp Electronics was developing its new world headquarters, in Osaka, Japan, it wanted to create a comprehensive educational software program that would run on touch-screen kiosks in its lobby. (In Japan, it is customary that when a business opens a new facility, it dedicate a portion of the lobby or common area to hosting a public presentation.)
The program, which Sharp named “Future Lab,” would present the origins, present states of, and futures of a broad range of technologies.
The company that was developing the raw content of the program, Knowledge Farm (Japan) subcontracted Rainbow Multimedia Group (Phoenix, AZ), of which I was Creative Director, to develop:
- The animated introduction
- Accompanying narration
- The user interface
- The core content structure
(2) The script, storyboard and production plan I created for “Future Lab”
Over the course of a year, I performed the following tasks on “Future Lab”:
- Logo design
- Script writing
- Storyboard design
- Developed production planning, tracking and management tools exclusively for this mammoth project
The logo
As shown in the storyboard below, a flare reveals the “FUTURE LAB” text, which then pulsates:
The script-storyboard
The introduction features an actor portraying the legendary scientist Francis Bacon walking through a museum-like “gallery” of pioneers in science & technology (e.g. Pascal, Da Vinci, Galileo), whose inventions “come to life” through 3D computer animation.
The interface was based on Bacon’s imagined island of “Bensalem,” contained in his book “The New Atlantis,” where scientists and inventors could freely work and explore nature’s mysteries. In the interface, the island was broken down into discrete regions (modules), where specific areas of study (e.g. optics, geology, etc.) were pursued.
The above images are excerpts from the 60-frame script-storyboard that I developed for the opening sequence (the video excerpt below, was directed by a third party):
Sharp Future Lab – Part 1 by jonsutz
The content overview and production plan
Below is one of the documents I created, containing the content overview, production plan, and progress logs:
Sharp Future Lab – Part 2 by jonsutz
(3) Animation excerpt
Here is an excerpt of the 3D animation created for “Future Lab,” that was directed by another party, from my storyboard, of the entrance to “the gallery.” Note that the video is a bit shaky, and does not precisely follow my storyboard:
(4) The Result
Future Lab was:
- Heralded by top Sharp Electronics executives and the Japanese public
- Considered one of the largest, most successful multi-lingual interactive public access presentations in Japan
- Won numerous awards in Japan