Portland, OR - May, 2000: Lightspeed Design Group today joined the ranks of industry leaders Pixar, NHK, Proctor & Gamble, and CBS Sports, winning a prestigious first place award at the International Electronic Cinema Festival.
The festival is an internationally recognized forum for honoring outstanding achievements in digital television and digital cinema. Lightspeed's high definition video production, "Threatened Ocean, " was awarded the first place medal in the Short Programs category. The work was developed as part of Lightspeed's ongoing effort to create visually exciting programming for family audiences around the world.
"We focused on creating visual imagery that would tell a powerful story."
First shown at the EXPO 98 world's fair in Lisbon, "Threatened Ocean " is a moving story depicting the impact of environmental destruction on the world's oceans. It uses high definition imagery of a beautiful and innocent baby juxtaposed with standard definition television images of environmental threats. Viewed by 2.5 million people at the Lisbon fair, the program relies entirely on imagery to communicate its message.
"We focused on telling a compelling story, and used high definition technology to emphasize our themes, " said Lightspeed President Chris Ward. "We decided not to use any dialogue in this piece because the audience came from all over the world. Instead, we focused on creating visual imagery that would tell a powerful story. I'm glad the judges thought we succeeded. "
The festival, sponsored by Sony and Panasonic, used an international judging panel to honor one company in each of seven categories. The categories included Short Programs, Drama, Entertainment, Documentary, Sports, Education and Commercial Advertisements. Other companies honored at the Portland, Oregon festival included the Leo Burnett Company, NHK Japan Broadcasting Company, TV-Ashai, Omni Video Production, CBS Sports, and Pixar.
"Our goal is to use the best visual technology available from high-definition cinema to laser-generated graphics to support a story-oriented production."
Lightspeed Art Director Bob Mueller wrote the script for "Threatened Ocean," which was directed by Karen Stanton. The custom soundtrack was by writer and musician James Reynolds. The piece incorporated computer-generated animation sequences created by Lightspeed and was shot entirely on location in Seattle by Mark Pingry of KCTS, Seattle's public broadcasting television affiliate.
"Threatened Ocean" is one of seven full-length feature programs developed by Lightspeed that are being viewed at nine high-tech multimedia theaters in science museums throughout North America. The company's 3D Multimedia Theaters combine story-driven action with topical education programming for family audiences. The audience gate at some theaters has been as high as 60,000 per month.
"Our theater installations show that there is a tremendous demand for this type of programming."
The company has also created high-tech visual presentations for such companies as Procter & Gamble, Nintendo of America and Ford Motor Co. "Our goal is to use the best visual technology available from high-definition cinema to laser-generated graphics to support a story-oriented production," said President Chris Ward. "Our theater installations show that there is a tremendous demand for this type of programming."
KEY SHOW CREDITS
Title: One Ocean
Executive Producer: Chris Ward and Robert Mueller
Producer: Lisa Jackson
Director: Karen Stanton
Lightspeed Design Group is a highly skilled visual communications company providing creative design services for corporate events, museums, and attractions. Products and services include: video production, ride films, 3D cinema software and projections.
