Arts Incubator Project
Arts Council of Wood-Buffalo asked me to come up with some concepts for a building they were in the process of purchasing might look like in the future. This is something very different from any project I had worked on in the past for a few factors. I had to imagine a place that currently looks old and run down, would look like in the future when it would become a placer for artist to come together, collaborate and work together on projects. The second factor being it had to be animated, which was something I always wanted to get better at and learn, but I had very little in the way of experience up until this point.
The delivery asked for 5 variations of the currently empty building, that were all built upon this one photo I managed to take while no cars were parked in front of it.
Original Photo of the abandoned theatre (Fort McMurray, Alberta, 2022)
Here are the five iterations I made for this project using this photo as a base for all of them. I used a mixture of Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects to get these results.
Current State of the Building (2022)
This is how the building looks currently in the summer of 2022, it’s dingy. dirty and overall unkempt. It’s been sort of an eye sore for years since the new theatre opened uptown. This was the first animation I made to show the initial state and how far it could go in a 100 years from now
Animation breakdown
Here is a small breakdown of what was enhanced from the original photo and what animation was added.
Opening Day (2024)
In two years this is what the Arts Incubator could look like, weeds removed, fresh coat of paint a twinkling marquee sign with new glass doors. Of course it could have far more work done, but with three more iterations to go, I didn’t want to overwhelm myself with small details.
Animation Breakdown
I loved the freedom I had on this project, I was given a few logos, colours and resources to reference and then everything came from my own mind. One thing I wanted to keep as a theme was the workshops and classes this facility could bring and so in a lot of them I have them front and centre.
The Meadow (2034)
This would be a concept 10 years after the Arts Incubator had opened and they are getting into their own aesthetic. I called this one “The Meadow” because of the mural on the front of the building trhat looked like a very colourful alternate planet grassland area. I wanted this all to look as futuristic as possible so I used a lot of the newest technologies to make it. The mural is actually made using Midjourney’s AI imaging. As the time passes in these iterations I had to try an imagine what kinds of workshops they might be doing in the future. I arrived in Fort McMurray 10 years ago and I think of all that had changed in that span.
Animation Breakdown
One of the requests for the building is that it had a glass front room so others could pass by and see what was being created inside. It started with this large bay window and instead of having to imagine what would be going on inside, I created another AI generated image to represent a gallery of sorts that people could peruse when they arrived. An interactive space was something important to me to have on the outside of the building so that others who came by had a way to interact with the space before even coming in.
The Hive (2059)
Anyone who knows me personally knows my obsession with hexagons, so this was the version I needed to make for myself. In the future we will have easier access to smart glass and this enormous bay window and front doors would be a great example of glass with “Smart Tint” built in. It could be adjusted for how much light you needed inside the room depending on what activity was going on that day. I took a bit of liberty making a new Logo for the outside that fits inside the hexagon sign and added.
Animation Breakdown
We have a lot more animation in this one compared to the last 3 iterations. Our marquee signs have turned into a large ultrawide format screen with video integration to show the upcoming events. there is a holographic equalizer for displaying some locally made music that would serenade those who walk past. The Interactive space on the outside has now become a map where those coming from other places could mark where they came from along with a message about their visit. We even have a holographic poster banner on the outside next to the front door, this was another image made with Midjourney’s AI program. I had asked it to create an artist from the future, and you can see from the image below they display their art on themselves. Last but not least they finally repaired the road.
Cyberspace (2122)
Finally the iteration 100 years in the future, I really wanted to go wild with cyberpunk aesthetic on this one, so this is the only on there the entire building has been remade. The entire front facing space is made of glass at different levels of tint that could change to fit the day or season. The front door, while completely impractical, looks awesome as a triangular shape with holographic lights guiding you in. The equalizer has moved to the top of the roof as a whipping neon hologram. even the sidewalk and road have now taken on a solar roadway design that would allow lights to show the lines and guides in front of the building.
Animation Breakdown
Our interactive space is now a bulletin board with others can bring their art on their own devices and have the displayed on these hexagons on the right along with contact information on how to contract that artist out for further work. We still have all the events listed on the outside interactive glass in between two spaces to display art made locally.
Here I have some of the AI reference images I used to make this building, you can see the influence in the glass exterior, and general neon light aesthetic.
