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When Size Matters
Some would say that slide projection is dead: anything that slides did in the past, video can do better now and with more versatility....

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Some would say that slide projection is dead: anything that slides did in the past, video can do better now and with more versatility. But wait! For your next event, you need to fill a surface 1000'x480' (300x160m) with an animated image. How would you achieve that in today's video world on a sensible budget? Also, video has a certain look and presentation that has entered into visual common currency. You may want to encourage your audience to look beyond the presentation and begin to appreciate the uniqueness of the building, too.

If you need to fill a very large surface with an image, there is still nothing to match a slide projector for sheer punch. They are relatively inexpensive to rent and open up a totally different palette of creative options for the designer. Obviously, we are not talking about standard 35mm slides here. Large format slide projectors have a gate size of around 6"x" (155x155mm). The more sophisticated ones are fitted with scrollers that can move the image through the gate of the projector. The top of the line machines have two layers of scrolling film in the gate and can rotate the entire gate assembly. They all have a system of controlling the film scrolling from a PC or via DMX from a lighting desk. Manufacturers include PIGI from E/T/C Audiovisuel, Pani, and Hardware for Xenon. Light output for the top of the line machines is over 90,000 lumens, and they can fill white surfaces at around 100'x100' (30x30 m).

Slide projectors can be used alone to create a show in their own right. However, in the hands of a lighting designer, they can be a powerful and versatile lighting effects generator, crossing over between image projection and animated gobos. During the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, lighting designers Andy Bridge and Andy Doig used 16x7 kW Xenon PIGI projectors, suspended from underneath the stadium canopy, projecting down onto the entire surface of the athletics field that was covered in a floor cloth to take the light. These were used in conjunction with, and as part of, the overall lighting plan.

Simply having the projectors is not the end of the story. A building is not a screen. This may seem a pretty obvious statement, but it's amazing how many times we are asked to project onto glass (through which light passes into the rooms beyond) or onto dark red brick. Neither is impossible, but both are very challenging. After all, projection screens are white, reflective surfaces for a reason. Unlike projection screens, buildings have depth and architectural detail. This can mean that an image that looks great on a flat surface can be broken up and unreadable on your chosen building. Images with lots of fine detail will tend to disappear into the architecture. The stonework of the building will absorb some of the light, depending on the type of stone and its state of repair. Sandstone, for example, has different reflective properties than concrete. All these factors will dictate the type of images that you can project. Architecture, however, also gives the designer the opportunity to use his or her imagination to reinterpret the architecture and create new perceptions of the building and use it to make the images more interesting. It's important to design for the building, not against it, and to have a feel for where you are working.

Images for building projection generally need to be bright and bold - the less reflective the surface, the more contrast is needed for the image to register as you desire. This is where scrollers will score over static images. As soon as the images move, they are easier for us to see. (My own theory is that our brain is designed to pick out movement from a background, so as to spot prey or a predator.)

The most important part of the creative process is the site survey. If you want to create and control the precision of your chosen effects, it is very important to start with accurate measurements of the building and to survey the surface. The most accurate method is to use the lens of the projector as a "camera obscura" and to draw the building through the lens. In conjunction with photography, you can then be sure that images will fit the building perfectly. Lined up slides can be created that are perfect representations of the building as the lens "sees" it. This is the way that creative magic can be achieved. With these measurements, we can produce the accurate masks that allow us to hide and reveal images within the architecture.