Many of us have delightful memories of being children and sitting on Santa’s lap at Christmas time and telling the jolly old man what we hoped to find under the tree. For those lucky enough to be in the Denver area this holiday season, a visit to the North Pole promises to be even more special!
The Image Audiovisuals team – lead by project manager Matthew Carnes –recently took the entire Santa’s Workshop idea up a notch and created what can only be described as a “Disney-quality, immersive holiday experience.”
The Denver Zoo has had holiday events in the past, but according to Carnes, this year the Zoo’s team came to Image and asked for BIG ideas! And, we delivered!
“This Santa’s Workshop is unlike anything you’ve ever seen,” Carnes said. “This is way beyond a simple strand of lights around a bush in the front yard.”
What “it” is is a dazzling Christmas extravaganza featuring actors, a full stage, 3D parallax effects, video, synchronized sound, music, a player piano, theatrical lighting, over a million light bulbs, and interactive content. Adding to the creative innovation of the project, Carnes and the Image crew used “intelligent Christmas lights” that are run by one single push button, controlled by a centralized play-back server.
“This is theater,” Carnes explained. “It’s sensory and experiential. It’s unforgettable. Our goal was to transport guests to the North Pole, and I think we did!”