Colouring the Popcorn Revenge

Colouring the Popcorn Revenge posted: 07/06/2019

Award-winning lighting and visual design practice Painting with Light (PWL) was commissioned by interactive media and attractions specialist Alterface to light the new Popcorn Revenge dark ride at the Walibi Belgium theme park. This showcases Alterface's new innovative erratic ride' concept, an environment combining multiple projection techniques, spectacular HD video, 3D mapping and 3D shooting plus special effects in a ride that follows a non-linear path. Wireless-controlled ride cars are routed randomly' through a selection of different rooms over their three-minute journey, allowing guests to return to Popcorn Revenge multiple times and receive a completely different and equally exciting visual and sensory experience each time.

Luc Peumans and the PWL team including principal designer Iiris Roskou and project managers Peter Vandenbosh and C line Cuypers collaborated with Alterface, theme park show and ride creators Jora Vision and engineers ETF to produce this unique, hi-energy phenomenon in Walibi which is owned and operated by French entertainment group, Compagnie des Alpes.

PWL designed, purchased, installed and delivered the complete lighting package for this ride, in the process illustrating the diverse skill sets and experiences offered by its experts working on both entertainment and architectural lighting projects.

This brought a dynamic crossover' theatrical-environmental approach to lighting the different ride areas and adding to the atmosphere, fun and animated buzz.

The core action in each of the ride theatre spaces involves a range of popcorn characters - Popcorn Revenge is an IP entity created by Alterface that can be tailored to suit the theme of the park - who come to life on screen having invaded' the environment - and guests battle to contain them!

Luc was the principal LD and creative director for lighting the project. He completed the initial design based on discussions with Alterface's ride designers Benjamin Walravens and Laurence Beckers and their project manager Fran ois Danhaive.

He needed to drill down into the whole perceived experience and sensory journey in a minutia of detail before he and Iiris could event start specifying lighting fixtures. We really had to get our heads inside the psychology of the Popcorn Revenge game he explained.

Eleven areas in total needed imaginative lighting, including the individual theatre spaces through which the ride cars pass plus the queuing area and car loading station where up 6 people are allocated to each wagon.

The main general requirement was that the lighting enhanced and supported the highly detailed video action appearing on the screen in each space, plus additional elaborate scenic elements. It had to help ramp up the drama and atmosphere of the gameplay and blend seamlessly with other visual elements to give everyone that ultimate dark ride experience'.

Luc and the team chose a mix of architectural and show lighting fixtures for their work which were combined across all the different areas. Most of the architectural units highlight the many highly detailed decor aspects of the ride. In the theatres, effects lights are instrumental in building a sense of anticipation throughout the all-action ride.

Every area needed a unique combination of fixtures. With the architectural and d cor lighting also an essential element of the show', a fine balance of the two treatments was required said Luc.

Finding this synergy was one of the main overall challenges, and an area in which PWL excels in adding luminescent magic!

Maintaining flexibility in the lighting design was another major task. All the movies playing in the theatres might be changed or modified in the future, so lighting had to be thought through not just for what is there now, but potential updates or reworks yet to come.

The complexity of detail required was probably the most exacting challenge. After receiving the technical drawings of the scenery and descriptions of the visual material in each space, this was translated into a technical lighting design, including illustrations of how the lights would be used and explanations of practical aspects like cabling / maintenance.

Everything had to be health and safety risk assessed and approved in advance, and this technical design section of the project alone was a massive undertaking. However, as is often the case, good preparation paid off when the team arrived on site to oversee the installation!

Over 100 Gantom LED fixtures light the primary architectural areas, chosen for their tiny size and because they are so easy to conceal. PWL has also used these versatile little lights successfully on a range of other projects.

Eighty Gantom DMX RGBW Floods are deployed ride-wide for highlighting and accenting props, curtains and other set pieces.

Six Gantom Precision Z Spots in cool whites are picking out the graveyard theatre space spiders webs, bringing their intricacy alive with crisp bluish tints.

Gantom One Pinspots are used in all the theatre spaces, crowning' the tops of the stages, and six Gantom Precision Z Floods are deployed lighting the popcorn machine outlets in the queuing areas.

The effects / show lighting units include products from Robe-Anolis, Chauvet and Prolights.

The intro area is essential for setting the vibe for the whole ride. It's where the underlying story is told to the players' / guests before they are sent through the dispatch area, then into the various theatres.

The dispatch area itself features 4 different moods - black light / UV denotes the darkness' and suspense; angry' is evoked with blue chasing lights; happy' sees the space lit with bright and positive colours and then there is melodrama' when the lighting descends into a gawdy, ch

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