Warner Bros. Cinema Spectacular - Nighttime Spectacular Design

Taking place at the heart of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, the Warner Bros. Cinema Spectacular features a full-sensory 360-degree canvas of mapped projection and lighting effects coupled with multichannel surround sound to completely transform Warner Bros. Plaza into a spectacle of light, movies, and magic. Thinkwell provided concept design, schematic design, design development, in-field art direction and creative integration, IP management, production, media production, audio design, technical design, and onsite supervision for the development of this spectacular. Thinkwell Studio Montréal developed the patented auto-calibrated projection system and all programming for the show. 

The show was designed so that the Art Deco style buildings and the ceiling serve as visual canvas for simultaneous projections, requiring 37 projectors to cover the surface. In the central plaza area there is a large scale audiovisual installation — The Warner Bros. Cinema Spectacular — which celebrates nearly 100 years of Warner Bros.’ cinematic legacy, this spectacular immersive show, hosted by Bugs Bunny, brings together favorite clips, characters, and settings from the Warner Bros. vault with a soaring symphonic soundtrack and impressive visual effects. 

In developing the auto-calibration projection system, the team in Montreal worked to perfect a markerless 2D self-calibration system that improves accuracy, quality and maintenance and allows for projections on 3D surfaces. 12 cameras were installed onsite and the process of 3D self-calibration can now be completed in just 45 minutes, automatically. 

A sweeping arc of film genres and blockbuster titles transform Warner Bros. Plaza with fan favorites featured across the 15-minute show ranging from Casablanca to Justice League. Taking advantage of the indoor environment that allows the show to run both day and night (a world’s first for a major theme park light spectacular show), the production serves as both an exhilarating introduction to the world of Warner Bros. as well as a memorable finale to a day in the park.