By Sam McMillan
WHERE BIG THINKING, BRIGHT IDEAS AND REALLY POWERFUL PROJECTORS ENSURE EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED.
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f Travis Threlkel looks like the prototypical rock star, sporting long hair, skinny black jeans, Ray-Bans whose tinted lenses have been replaced by prescription cheaters and a belt Keith Richards would covet, it’s because he was. The former lead guitarist of the Brian Jonestown Massacre has come a long way from the old soul lounges of San Francisco’s Lower Haight. Today Threlkel leads Obscura Digital, a company that’s rocking the world with enormous outdoor digital projections, extraordinary theatrical environments and cutting-edge touchscreen systems that are changing the way people interact with information and entertainment.
Based in a 38,000-square-foot warehouse in an industrial San Francisco neighborhood, Threlkel directs the efforts of 50 programmers, engineers, designers, animators, filmmakers, composers, industrial-strength tinkerers and a two-person team of architects. Threlkel’s journey has its roots in the humble light show. To create a scene at the clubs where his band played, Threlkel set up old movie projectors and aimed them at every available surface. As video cameras replaced 16mm and Super 8 home movie projectors, Threlkel discovered a bonanza of cast-offs in thrift stores. At one point he had more than 100 projectors. “I sort of A-D-D’d out,” he says with a laugh, as he explains how his hobby became an obsession and then a business. As Threlkel experimented with projecting multiple films simultaneously onto 3-D surfaces, he discovered the geodesic domes of Buckminster Fuller and realized their potential for immersive theater. “I hooked up a PlayStation to my first CRT video projector and realized I could render projected images of 3-D worlds that could work on every angle inside the spherical architecture of the dome and beyond,” Threlkel remembers. Working with manufacturer Pacific Domes to create a custom dome system, Threlkel became close friends with Chris Lejeune, Pacific Domes co-owner. Together the two launched a niche projection business in 2000, using custom domes that incorporate a patented negative-pressure
spherical screen system, essentially vacuum-forming the screen into place against the spherical geodesic. Threlkel devised a thirteen-channel spherical camera system to capture content for the dome. To project the images, he created a robotic chandelier that physically animated nine synchronized projectors like marionettes controlled by a projectionist. Threlkel’s goal: create an immersive space where he could make and show films “free of the rectangle.” It wasn’t long before Levi’s came calling to enlist Threlkel to support special events, concerts and installations, which marked Obscura Digital’s commercial debut. Soon Threlkel had a real business on his hands creating immersive experiences for NASA and Google. That meant “better tools, faster computers, more engineers and a real infrastructure,” Threlkel says.
Beyond the rectangle
“Society has chosen a rectilinear format to crop every piece of information,” Threlkel says forlornly. “When I’m thinking, it’s all over the place.” Anyone who has seen the inside of Threlkel’s office and its cyclone of creative debris will attest to that. “I have nothing against the rectangle, but there’s gotta be more than that.” In a world where just about anyone can rent a 20,000-lumen projector and blast a film onto a blank wall, Obscura Digital is working on a higher level. “We call it surround thinking,” Threlkel says. “We think spatially. And we work at scale, from a sculpture to a skyscraper. We’re about ideas, new tools, new technologies and new methods for creating content.” That includes film production for the upcoming movie 6, product design for a wall-sized digital display and collaboration tool called Bluescape and interactive educational exhibits that use proximity sensors and gestural commands to bring screens to life. A skyscraper-sized project is exactly what Obscura Digital created for Coca-Cola’s 125th anniversary celebration, lighting up the night sky in Atlanta with a film that projected
Captions were supplied by Obscura Digital. Right: “In celebration of the 40th annual United Arab Emirates National Day in 2011, Obscura created a series of architectural projections that illuminated the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, a landmark of national identity in Abu Dhabi. The show included motifs reflecting the unifying spirit of Sheikh Zayed and his passion for the environment. Obscura illuminated the facade, minarets and domes of the mosque with imagery of botanical flowers, date palms, pentagonal geometry, gardens of paradise, the Qibla wall, the Mihrab, the night skies and cycles of the moon.” Ron Robinson, art director; Nathanial Rhulman/Marta Salas-Poras, creative directors; Travis Threlkel, chief creative officer; Barry Threw, senior developer; Mary Frank, interactive developer; Andrew Plourde, technical lead; Sean Holt, technology director; Nathan Houchin, producer; Matty Dowlen/Chris Lejeune, executive producers; UAE Government, client. 66
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EDITORIAL 1 Martin Schoeller, photographer Roxanne Behr, photo editor Jody Quon, director of photography New York, client This was the cover shot for a New York magazine feature on Michael Douglas in Behind the Candelabra.
2 Michael Weschler, photographer Andrzej Janerka, art director Architectural Digest, client “The story ‘Face Value’ touched on the incomparable career of photorealist Chuck Close. My respect and admiration for him is immense, and I knew it would be a mistake to make a picture of him that was anything like something he might do. Instead of shooting a close-up, I stepped back and got low before the master, who continues to turn his disability into strength.”
3 Adam Ryan Morris, photographer Kaitlin Marron, photo editor Karen Frank, director of photography ESPN The Magazine, client This portrait of Green Bay Packers fanatic Steve Tate was for an ongoing feature on super fans.
4 Dominic DiSaia, photographer John Korpics, creative director Kristine LaManna, senior photo editor Karen Frank, director of photography Angie Hayes, The Happy Pixel Project, retoucher ESPN The Magazine, client “This portrait of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ legendary play-byplay announcer Vin Scully was shot as part of an assignment to document his ‘day at the office’ for ESPN The Magazine. The image was shot at Dodger Stadium while Scully was calling a game during the 2013 season, his 64th season with the Dodgers.”
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EDITORIAL 1 John Lok, photographer Danny Gawlowski, photo editor The Seattle Times, client Wide receiver Golden Tate arrives with fellow Seattle Seahawks teammates to play in Super Bowl XLVII at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. It’s the first championship victory in Seahawks history.
2 Kristianne Koch Riddle, photographer Mick Sowry, creative director Jock Serong, editor Great Ocean Quarterly, client “Great Ocean Quarterly is a journal of art, ideas and the sea. This cover image expresses the relationship between humans and the sea.”
FOR SALE 3 Jenn Ackerman/Tim Gruber, photographers This image from the series Frozen documents winter in Minnesota. Images from the series are available as fineart prints and for editorial and commercial use.
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“Portrait of my son, Ellis, two hours after his first shiner. It is available for commercial or editorial license.”
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SPOTLIGHT: PHOTO FUNDING The new stock market Moving pictures In the Harry Potter books, photographs that don’t move are the disappointing artifacts of a nonmagical world. Wizards have much cooler photos, ones in which the subjects wave, smile and walk around. Real life has finally caught up to fantasy with the invention of the cinemagraph, a still photo in which certain elements move in a seamless loop. Cinemagraph Pro for Mac is a professional tool for creating these oddly compelling stills. Just shoot a short video and import it into the app, which lets you select the range of motion and apply a mask that animates the area with a continuous loop of video footage. The app features editing tools and has nearly 30 built-in filters. Find the magic at flixel.com.
Pixels.com is a new image-licensing site that gives photographers the freedom to set their own prices and decide whether they want to sell royalty-free or rights-managed licenses or even create their own custom licensing agreements. It’s an artist-friendly alternative to big photo service sites that dictate the price per image and give photographers a slim cut. Pixels.com adds a 30 percent markup to the photographer’s asking price, so when an image sells, the photographer gets the price they want and Pixels.com gets the markup—and everybody gets to stay in business. Work on your own terms at pixels.com.
Inspiration on the side It’s great to make a living being creative, but it can be tough for creative professionals to prioritize projects that have nothing to do with work. Bit on the Side is a resource created by collaborative work platform Podio to encourage creatives to share side projects, get feedback and support, and be inspired by what their peers are fitting into the margins of their busy lives. Upload a project and a link, then Bit on the Side will create a portfolio for you. The folks at Podio believe these extra projects bring new energy and ideas to the work you do in your nine-to-five—and this little passion project is their bit on the side. Squeeze it into your day at bitontheside-podio.com.
Typeface tutor It seems like everyone is trying a hand at lettering and type design these days. But as any typographer will tell you, proficiency requires years of experience and immense amounts of practice. Adobe’s Typekit Practice makes the path a little easier with lessons that walk you through a topic and send you off with a clearly defined, applicable skill. The site hosts a collection of resources, grouped by topic, and a virtual library of recommended typography books. Work toward perfection at practice.typekit.com. 210
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Run with a good crowd Kickstarter has proven that crowdfunding can turn a wild idea into a tangible product in a matter of months, so it’s no surprise that the crowdfunding landscape has become a bit, well, crowded. Now photographers have their very own platform in Fotofund, a funding site dedicated exclusively to photography projects. Fotofund was launched by the Lucie Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to honor photographers, cultivate new talent and promote appreciation of photography around the globe. Fotofund helps on all counts, and it chips in a little financial support for the photography community as well—4 percent of all funds raised is invested in artist grants, public exhibitions and Lucie Foundation programs, including the Foundation’s Month of Photography Los Angeles. Find likeminded investors at fotofund.org.