Started in 1998, the Gyeongju World Culture Expo has steadily gained a reputation
as a major international festival in leading Korea’s Gyeongsangbuk-do province.
The festival has helped bring Korea into an age of culture by focusing on the dreams
and sensitivities of the new millennium. Apart from featuring various performances
as a cultural exchange among countries, the event’s main programming highlights
the screening of three-dimensional (3D) films. In order to help this year’s expo
achieve the required realism for its 3D film showcase, Christie offered its DLP™
projection solutions to transform these films into real cinematic experiences.
Adopting the same theme as the event, the Expo’s main film “Dreams of the Flying
Horse”, based on mythological and historical facts of Silla, was screened in the
festival site’s 651-seat Emille Theatre. Developed by Dr. Koh Wook from Ajou University,
the film blended the essence of technology with 3D reality and a full stereophonic
sound system. The fantastical drama depicting the heroic adventures of "Giparang"
Hwarang in his search for Manpasikjeok, a legendary flute was created using cubic
computer graphics and 4D (3D plus realtime effects) images.
With a screen that measures 11m x 21m (36ft x 69ft), it became an immediate assignment
to present consistent, high-quality and high-brightness projection in bringing the
4D masterpiece to life. Mindful of this essential requirement, Christie’s Korean
partner, Eugenetek Corporation creatively tailored a solution by adopting the world’s
first use of Christie DCP-H digital cinema system in a 3D application. Positioned
behind the screen at a projection length of 37m (121ft), two DCP-H digital cinema
projectors were used on the left and the right side of the screen to project the
inputs received from two High-Definition Players.
Designed for use in large screen theatres, the DCP-H projectors provided the
natural film-like, 24 frames per second motion images with extreme clarity, and
filled the entire screen with consistently bright, high quality images. As powerful
digital cinema projectors utilizing the latest advancements in DLP Cinema™ technology
(the only digital advanced technology to be endorsed by Hollywood), they also helped
to recreate the needed realism to transform the film into a larger-than-life cinematic
adventure for the audience.
Apart from the feature film, the Expo also featured another 3D production, “Animal
Vision”, in its smaller 300-seat Cheonseongdae Theatre. Developed by the world’s
first integrated digital studio, nWave Pictures, the documentary film is a subset
of “SOS Planet” and offers an insight into environmental issues. It uses dazzling
digital effects, 3D and computer-generated character animation to offer audiences
a chance to immerse completely within the environments depicted on screen.
To provide the necessary imagery, two Electrosonic servers were used to feed
content to two Roadie S12 DLP™ projectors also leased by Eugenetek. These projectors
placed about 24m (78.7ft) from each side of the screen, projected onto the 9m x
18m (29.5ft x 59ft) screen.
Designed for multi-media presentations in large audience settings, the HDTV and
DTV-ready S12s with their 12,000 ANSI lumens brightness, robust structure and advanced
image processing capabilities offered unrivalled image quality for the festival’s
16 daily screenings.
“Although the set-up for both the screening venues only took three days, we spent
more than one month testing out the system to achieve accurate projection that is
essential for such three-dimensional and virtual reality films. After all the Expo
screenings, we are pleased to say that our client is fully confident in using Christie
products as they have proven themselves highly reliable and provide sharp, bright,
beautiful images in 3D,” said Mr. Lee Joon-Ho, president of Eugenetek Corporation.
The 2003 Gyeongju Culture World Expo cost about US$17 million and featured more
than 10,000 artists from 54 countries. Since its opening on August 13, 2003, the
event attracted a total of more than 70,000 spectators, including 50,000 international
visitors. It lasted a total of 72 days and ended on October 23, 2003.