BP Technology Experience by MPC

Creative studio MPC and global brand agency Jack Morton Worldwide, created a major experience to bring to life BP's key capabilities for 2,500 global VIPs, stakeholders and employees. The BP Technology Experience took place at the Linbury Theatre, the Royal Opera House, during July and August 2012.

BP's brief was to create a once in a lifetime experience with technology at its core, telling the story of –More Discovery, More Recovery, More Efficiency' and one which pushed the boundaries of corporate experiences.

MPC worked with Jack Morton, to create a fully immersive and sensory experience that was not only technologically advanced, but also borrowed from theatrical traditions both physical and emotional.

The scale of the project was huge and a large team was needed to pull off the installation, that encompassed 30 mins of animated content over 5 environments, 3 areas of multiple projection set-ups, using 33 projectors.

Area 1: A showcase of BP's technology for oil discovery – the set was designed to visually create a slice of the earth's crust and show different surveying techniques used both on land and under the sea. A kinetic floor added extra layer of depth to this experience.

Area 2: A journey through an interconnected data world – a fully immersive environment with visual content on the walls, floor and ceiling. The idea was that the audience should feel like they were travelling through this data world in a glass elevator.

Area 3: The theatrical finale – the content for this area was looking at the future developments in technology and the drive for better efficiency in oil recovery. The projection mapping had to work with different parts of the set that were moving around and being flown in and out.

MPC collaborated with Jack Morton on both the creative ideas and providing visual content for all areas of the installation. The sheer amount of data and information we needed to generate content for was of course a challenge. How do you make an experience truly epic, yet immersive and keep it creative and beautiful at the same time?

Each area was sketched and drafted out using an animatic, while the design process begun. Design played a key role and a lot of attention was given to the detail – the visualisations, look and feel of each area, infographics and typeface. The infographics were a key element in connecting all the visuals - they worked to draw attention to important narrative points, while maintaining a strong and creative aesthetic.

MPC's elegant yet dynamic 3D and 2D animation brought all this together. Scenes varied from time-lapsed shot elements, to photo-real 3D scenes. Many sequences were very graphic, utilising wire frame environments, visualisations and cross-sections. All were linked seamlessly through crafted animated transitions.
The project was unique in that it brought together a lot of information in an original narrative, to communicate to a corporate audience.

Essentially the medium became part of the message - a world leading technological story, told through cutting edge technology and VFX.