Immersive digital media AV in heritage - LCT 7074

LCT 7074

Interpreting the life of a survivor

CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT / FILM & VIDEO SEQUENCES / LOCATION FILMING / VISUAL-FX / 3D MODELLING / EDITING / MULTI-TOUCH PROGRAMMING / ARCHIVE EDIT & TREATMENT / ENCODING / SOUND DESIGN / SOUNDSCAPES / SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT / ILLUSTRATION / ANIMATION / PROJECTION / HARDWARE & LIGHTING CONTRACT

ALL CREATED IN-HOUSE

CLIENT

The D-Day Story & NMRN

DESIGNERS

Petrichor Associates

HARDWARE

Fusion LX

Fully open in May 2021 the one-of-a kind LCT 7074 experience is supported by a variety of AY-PE AV digital media to immerse visitors in the stories of the ship.

LCT 7074 is the last remaining Landing Craft Tank from WWII D-Day and is an external part of The D-Day Story museum in Portsmouth. Thanks to National Museum of the Royal Navy, £4.7 million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the support of many, the neglected ship was saved and restored. Working with designers Petrichor Associates, AY-PE joined the team to deliver both AV software and hardware for the entire craft.

EXPERIENCE TYPE 01

AVs

Two different 2-3 minute looping films were designed to deliver on-deck interpretation to visitors, through 43” screens inset into the hull. Running alongside the deck which would’ve been crowded by hundreds of troops, the films explore the events of the ship sailing to and from France for D-Day. Collaborating with design and client teams, the interpretation evolved through scripting, archive editing, motion typography, effects and a treatment to match the aesthetic of the deck and exhibition.

EXPERIENCE TYPE 02

Audio Description Points

Two receiver triggered listening points are located by the on-deck tanks. They orally describe the tanks and give partially sighted visitors the chance to take in the scale and splendour of the machines. Working with an access expert who specialises in heritage descriptions, we delivered another layer of inclusivity to the LCT experience.

EXPERIENCE TYPE 03

AMBIENT AUDIO

Visitors can explore the craft and see examples of what life was like aboard with our six ambient audio soundscapes helping to immerse the visitor in the sounds and feelings of the time. From our powerful, newly recorded, tank revving sounds, to the audio of a cramped ship’s toilet and crew shouting across the ferocity of the sea, the visitor gets a real emotive understanding of life onboard LCT. Balanced to be heard in the outdoor museum yet blended to subtly merge the sounds across the ship, the soundscapes feel natural and realistic.

EXPERIENCE TYPE 04

Touchscreen

AY-PE designed and programmed two sets of interactive 24” touch and 50” repeater screens through 2 PCs to help the visitor explore the stories of key people and archive related to LCT 7074. Working with the client’s and external agency archive, we developed an attractive yet clean, simple and easy to navigate screensaver and UI with 60 entires of graded, edited and programmed archive films, interviews, images and oral history audios. Each entry was designed to give bitesized information with subtitling support where required.

EXPERIENCE TYPE 05

Hybrid Projection Interactive

Visitors interact with tactile graphic buttons to trigger eight AV sequences about the ship’s inner working and troop/ crew lives. Using capacitive touch, we programmed our software to seamlessly shift from attractive screensaver to film choice upon selection, with several users able to enjoy the interactive too.

1/2

EXPERIENCE TYPE 05

Hybrid Projection Interactive

The eight explanatory films were created to complement each other in style and flow. They include animated, illustrated wire-frame models of the LCT and textured maps as well as additional graphic elements – note book, documents, photographs and video overlays. We carefully interwove motion graphics, archive assets, modern footage, our onsite newly filmed footage and graphic effects to deliver engaging 60 second projected films to the visitor. BSL and subtitles completed the set.

2/2

Fascinating & very enjoyable… audio & screens on board are the perfect complement.

- Visitor, TripAdvisor

EXPERIENCE TYPE 06

Hardware & Lighting

As experienced managers of joint AV software and hardware contracts, we contracted hardware specialists Fusion LX to supply us with hardware and lighting planning, procurement and install. A complex project where the ship is outdoors, open to weather and damp and meant to be enjoyed by a visitor as an ‘experience’ rather than a hand’s off exhibition, hardware and lighting delivered was robust, IP65 rated and effective for outdoor use.