An accomplished team helps create a Thea-recognized attraction for Chimelong
by Gene Jeffers
The Bermuda Storm attraction highlights the ability of Chimelong Group to pull together a global team capable of integrating and successfully delivering the highest quality attraction. Creating it in the early years of COVID-19 pushed creative and management skills to the next level. We hear from team members Su Creative Studio, FAR Out! Creative Direction, Brogent Technologies, Mack Animation, Yessian Music and Sound Design, Kraftwerk Living Technologies, Technifex, Visual Terrain.
Stepping from the vast interior of Chimelong Spaceship through a fairly modest entryway, you find yourself within a Caribbean-themed environment: palm trees, fiery pink and orange sunset sky, island music in the background. On a tired warehouse wall a large poster beckons you to join Captain Bob and Charlie, his animated (pri)mate, on their whale watching adventure. Inside the warehouse you find a holding area for the good ship Conch. The evening sky glows through upper windows, illuminating murals of island scenes and a large-scale model of the ship. The curious glance inside Captain Bob and Charlie’s shared office displaying communication and navigation equipment. Charlie’s banana peels litter the room and a few photos of famous people who have enjoyed the tour hang on the walls.
You are in line for Bermuda Storm, an attraction being honored in 2024 with a TEA Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement. “The Bermuda Storm attraction invites guests to encounter a next step immersive theme park experience,” wrote the Thea Awards Judging Committee in its official remarks, praising the attraction “for seamlessly integrating a unique collection of innovative technologies and specially created show elements that support a wild and crazy mythical sea adventure.”
A crazy, crazy idea
Creating a new major attraction was seen as critical for the success of Chimelong Spaceship, the world’s biggest indoor theme park, located in Zhuhai, China. Mr. Su Zhigang, the Chief Creative Officer of Su Creative Studio (which consists of a number of creative divisions: live entertainment, engineering and technology, planning and architecture, media content, IP development, flora and fauna exhibits, etc.) wanted to create “a large, exciting motion-based attraction with top quality media, audio, lighting, video and SFX.”
“Mr. Su’s vision and ambition has always been for bigger and better! After the first exploratory meeting for this project, I thought he had finally exceeded his ambition. A giant motion base boat in front of a massive curvilinear screen surrounded by a moat of actual water? This sounds insane! Someone needed to talk some sense into him,” said Yas Takata, Media Content Director for the project. “Fortunately he was not dissuaded, and we tinkered and went through endless trials and tests. It was challenging but the team coalesced behind Mr. Su, Chimelong and a strong vendor team, and we are all proud of the result.”
This year Mr. Su is being honored with The Buzz Price Thea Award – Recognizing a Lifetime of Distinguished Achievements as “the leading force of the themed entertainment industry in China.”
“The feature attraction for Chimelong Spaceship had to be large,” Tony Sze, Senior Consultant of Chimelong Group explained. “Large enough to satisfy many people, large enough to keep wait times as low as possible, large enough to match the guest expectations generated by the enormous scale of the entire theme park.”
The core concept was to build the world’s largest motion-base attraction, equipment supplied by Brogent Technologies based in Taiwan. “This was a crazy, crazy idea to build a giant boat simulator within this enormous indoor park,” Stefan Rothaug, Brogent’s Director of Marketing explained. “To meet the capacity demands, we suggested two boats, but Mr. Su was insistent. One boat, hundreds of people.” This led to a record- breaking 24.4 meter (80 feet) wide and 25.6 meter (84 feet) long 3D platform poised 7.1 meters (23 feet) off the ground, capable of Heave (+/- 0.45m/1.5ft), Roll (+/-5 degrees) and Pitch (+/- 7 degrees) and an eventual capacity of 304 standing passengers. (Longer than a tennis court, and twice as wide.)
Finding the way
To help develop a storyline involving a big boat in the water, Chimelong reached out to creative director Rick Rothschild, Founder and Chief Creative at FAR Out! Creative Direction. They had worked together on previous projects, and Rothschild saw this as an opportunity to be part of something extraordinary. “Mr. Su had envisioned a really big experience, utilizing an immense ride system. It just needed a compelling storyline – one that would deliver the excitement of the fantastic while embracing the overall theme of the park,” he said. “It had to tie into his interest in focusing on the importance of water to sustaining life, a thematic throughline of the park, while we needed to create a wild and crazy piece of pure attraction entertainment.”
“As a team, we brainstormed endlessly to find solutions to the many technical and creative issues a project of this magnitude offers,” Chris Ho, Executive Creative Officer of Su Creative Studio recalled. “Add to that the nerve-wracking challenges presented by COVID-19 – lack of manpower both domestically and within our international suppliers, visa difficulties, shut- downs and travel restrictions. Everyone pulled together to make our on-time opening of Bermuda Storm happen.”
The crowd mills around you, commenting on the ship model, the office, the artwork on the walls. Overhead, screens run commercials for various activities, concerts, restaurants, places to see on the island. As boarding time approaches, the screens switch to the Chinese Travel Network and their review and backgrounder of Captain Bob’s Whale Watching tours followed by a black-and-white image of Captain Bob with Charlie in the background and an invitation for you to come on board.
Working together seamlessly
Filming of the on-screen commercials, the ship’s crew and the main theater film were undertaken by Mack Animation in Germany. “There was a challenge to have Captain Bob, played by a live actor and Charlie, an animated primate, work together seamlessly,” Lars Goldenbogen, Media Producer at Mack Animation noted. “We knew Captain Bob would have to be a little bit cartoonish, and Charlie a little bit human. We knew they would be presented to guests on the ship in holographic form.” A lot of effort went into creating a Specialized Projected Spatial Effect (SPSE) to generate a sense that the characters looked solid and appeared real rather than transparent.
The excitement mounts as you and the crowd of guests travel across the dock, line up, board the Conch and are ushered into the main hold of the ship, a large room with a clerestory of windows along the top of the walls. Everything is a bit grimy, has the appearance of being well used. Warm sunset colors stream through the side portals, their beams striking inside the room. Charlie plays DJ and enlivens the party atmosphere with some reggae tunes. Captain Bob appears and outlines the adventure ahead and sends Charlie off to get the voyage started. You hear a rumble from below, feel the ship tremble as it prepares to head out to sea. Your heart beats a little faster as the engine sounds increase and the light through the clerestory swings across the room as the Conch heads out to sea. Captain Bob outlines the safety procedures for going out on the deck and some rules for keeping the ocean clean and healthy. Doors open and you walk down a corridor onto the bow of the boat.
Adventure lies ahead and you can’t wait!
Building authenticity
Thanks in part to a wide array of special effects and efforts, guests can feel the authenticity of the experience as they approach the ship – and they will soon see, feel and hear much more. “Kraftwerk Living Technologies referred us to Mack Animation to do the sound design,” said Brian Yessian, Partner/CCO at Yessian Music & Sound Design. “Right away we could see it was such a unique project with queue, pre-show and a large dome screen, huge moving platform, and all the challenges that come from working with a massive speaker array in a dome, complete with systems on board the platform and point source systems that are all working together.”
Creating just the right mix of deep rumbling engines and clanking machinery coming from the belly of the ship to match, mask and integrate a wide range of sounds and effects during the main show became the challenge. “It was amazing to see how well everyone collaborated and worked together,” Yessian adds. “Along with balancing a large number of BIG sound effects with a full orchestral score; there is the constant battle with environmental noises, actuators, mechanics, wave and wind special effects with the need to keep them realistic within the context of the sonic story and physical movement of the platform. Small audio nuances can jar people right out of the immersion you are working to create. It’s our job to create the perfect balance of sound.”
Show action specialists Technifex contributed a broad range of equipment and installs, from a central lift and cannon on the bow of the ship (at one point Charlie rises to chase away pirates atop a smoke firing cannon) to lighting effects, bespoke water and wind effects along with handrails on the motion base that provide a “shocking” lightning tingle. “It was impressive how dedicated Mr. Su, Chimelong and Rick were to creating an emotional, visceral experience,” said Monty Lunde, Founder/ CEO of Technifex. “They were completely focused on the show and what kind of tech was required. Whatever was needed to immerse the audience and make the events feel as realistic as possible was included in the show.” Equally impressive was the progression of the storyline from queue to exit, the beats the creative team put into the script, and what effects would be needed to support the story and the illusion of being on board a ship at sea.
Among the challenges facing the project were fitting show action equipment within the physical constraints of a moving platform carrying hundreds of people. “And water effects,” Lunde added. “They wanted big water effects between the motion base and the curved screen, which could not get wet. Splashing and wave effects had to be visible to the guests but contained within a very narrow space.” As Technifex did not initially have full specs on the base, they had to engineer significant malleability and flexibility into the equipment to ensure it could be tailored onsite. “Brogent were very helpful, providing critical infrastructure within their motion base that allowed for the placement of our show action equipment and special effects,” said Lunde. “In the end, the effects all support the story.”
Setting the scene
Lighting design played an essential role in creating that sense of being on an island and on a ship. Visual Terrain provided solutions to reinforce the sense of place and time within the queue, pre-show and during the main show. “When we became involved, there was a fully developed story,” Lisa Passamonte Green, CEO/Principal in Charge said. “From day one the goal was to make lighting a part of the storytelling and expand the guest immersion, make it feel real.”
“We have to help make people feel the story,” explained Steven Young, Principal Designer, Director of Design at Visual Terrain. “We have to offer solutions to help make the guests believe they are on this ship. For example, we proposed a way to ensure that wherever the guests are within the attraction, the direction of the sun is evident and consistent. When the ship leaves the dock and turns out to sea, the light inside the ship coming through the clerestory shifts to reflect that movement. When guests go out on the foredeck, the projection of the sun on the dome screen is right where they expect it to be.”
That sense of realism is essential to a guest’s satisfaction. “These details and techniques really matter when you are trying to immerse people in a moment away from everything else,” said Passamonte Green. “Finding that balance between light and shadow, between real and artificial light is a highly subjective art form using highly technical equipment.”
For Goldenbogen and the Mack Animation crew, the five-minute ocean film for the main theater was by far the most difficult part of the project. “The size of the screen and its huge ocean scenes; water is the most challenging thing you can do in simulation,” said Goldenbogen. Each frame is unique and comprises hundreds of layers. “Five minutes straight of water, water, water, giant waves, whirlpools, storms, tornadoes, everything interacting with the water, 60 frames per second on a 10,000 by 2,000 format.”
Hundreds of terabytes of data had to be rendered, which required massive computing power.
As you step out and onto the foredeck, the immensity and depth of the scene is overwhelming. Cerulean and jade water surrounds the bow of the ship and reflects the orange, deep yellow and crimson in the sky. You see row upon row of handrails and take your place, gripping firmly. Captain Bob announces something of interest to one side and the foredeck begins to pitch and heave as the Conch changes course. The sun and sky and sea shift to match the sense of movement, the sounds of water and machinery rise.
One large, fully integrated system
The 40 meter (131 feet) diameter, 1,682 square meter (18,000 square foot) curved projection screen creates a breathtakingly realistic and immersive environment. The spectacle of being on a calm, evening cruise is fully realized through visual, sound, lighting and special effects as the audience steps into the main theater and onto the platform. Within minutes this will change as the fury of wind gusts, the crackle of lightning, and the pounding of raindrops will all synchronize perfectly with dramatic visuals on the screen.
“Our role as the audiovisual – with a big AV – designer was to create one large, fully integrated system that would deliver all of the AV technology and media replay elements for the queue, preshow and main theater,” said Kevin Murphy, Senior Vice President at Kraftwerk Living Technologies (KLT). “We supplied hardware and specialized services, combining and synchronizing audio, video, screen and show control systems.”
Vibration and a high-powered immersive (Spatial) 41 Channel 3D Sound System allow voyagers to experience a truly immersive adventure. “It was really intriguing to get the chance to use our skills and experience on a huge Low Frequency Effects (LFE) sound system, with substantial ultra-low frequency required to simulate the experience of really being on a ship in a storm,” Murphy said. “We believe it is a first at this scale.”
The system features three different types of loudspeakers: fifteen 2 x 18 inch subwoofers behind the screen, two VLFE (very low frequency elements) on the floor to support frequencies from 11Hz to around 30Hz, as well as a large number of transducers below the platform, to generate a vibrating effect to simulate the boat ride. Capable of generating frequencies from 1Hz up to around 100Hz, the system gives the content creator the freedom to immerse the audience and pull them into the drama of the ship, the storm and the story.
Integrating all the effects – Brogent’s motion base, Visual Terrain’s lighting, Yessian’s sound, Technifex’s special effects, and Mack Animation’s films – involved significant challenges for KLT. To prepare for the installation of the attraction, a mock-up was built in Austria near KLT headquarters. “The dome of the Main Show was set up in quarter scale and the Captain Bob pre-show in full scale,” Murphy noted. “Technical experts, creative heads and several parties involved in the project came together to prove the creative and technical concept, and to test content and motion profiles. We even had a Motion Sickness Expert study the ride and its impact on riders.”
After a smooth beginning, things aboard the Conch begin to go terribly, terribly wrong very quickly. The ship is consumed by a storm of the “paranormal kind,” pirates approach menacingly, and, after a raucous cannon battle, are repelled by Charlie; a towering 300-foot tsunami strikes; the ship is shoved skyward, then plummets; wind and water are rising and churning; a massive tentacle- bashing kraken grown from all the human waste and garbage that has found its way into the ocean attacks, slewing and twisting the platform. As the story goes, the pleasant sunset cruise has become a nightmare.. Lightning crashes overhead and your hands feel its electric energy race through the handrail. Can the Conch and its passengers survive? Can you survive? Only time will tell.
The keys to success
That the Bermuda Storm project survived a global pandemic is itself a success story. “In a way we were handed a blank sheet of paper, an enormous motion base and a predetermined location and space,” Rothschild said. “We pulled together a top-tier international team to work with an extraordinarily talented local Chimelong team, crafted an engaging and exciting storyline, completed the design and pre-production, and then had our knees knocked out when COVID-19 struck.” Traditional approaches to conceiving, designing, and fabricating a major attraction had to be adapted and adjusted.
Bermuda Storm highlights Chimelong’s determination to conceive, create and successfully deliver fantastic experiences to their guests. Significant investment was made to ensure that concepts on paper were effectively realized in the final product. “Keys to the project were the many hours spent to create scale mockups, designs and plans for execution,” Chris Ho said. “Having a great sense of the objective – and even though scattered across the globe during a pandemic, assembling a great team of specialists – were essential to creating a world- class, multiple system integrated, media-based attraction. Especially on this scale.”
It is hard to give justice to the Bermuda Storm experience with mere words, and perhaps it is best to come see and feel for yourself this incredible whale watching adventure with a crazy captain aboard the world’s largest motion base platform inside an immense video dome filled with immersive sound, light, wind, water and other effects. •
More info:
Chimelong Group: www.chimelong.com/group
FAR Out! Creative Direction, Rick Rothschild: www.linkedin.com/in/rickrothschild
Brogent Technologies, Inc.: www.brogent.com
Kraftwerk Living Technologies: www.kraftwerk.at
Mack Animation: www.mackanimation.com
Technifex: www.technifex.com
Visual Terrain: www.visualterrain.net
Yessian Music & Sound Design: www.yessian.com
