Design ākonga on Enchanted Wonderland mission

A group of talented Otago Polytechnic | Te Pūkenga Design ākonga are preparing to turn Dunedin’s First Church into an Enchanted Wonderland this weekend.

Trelise Wadsworth, Thomas Beckwith and Courtney Keith-Bourke are among a wider group of final-year Bachelor of Design (Communication) learners who have worked into the small hours over the past 12 weeks. And they can’t wait for the public to share in their video projection, which is a key component of the popular Dunedin Midwinter Carnival.

"The Midwinter Carnival has this fairytale vibe. So we worked with our client, Dunedin Midwinter Celebrations, and eventually arrived at the idea of Enchanted Wonderland," the students explain.

"The project was meant to take six weeks and be one of two final-year projects, but it required six weeks of conceptualising and collaborating, coming up with ideas, and then another six weeks of production.

"It’s been full-on. We’ve really bonded as a group. We have definitely worked a lot of late nights."

From storyboarding to painting, photography, digital animation, effects, projection techniques, merchandise and marketing collateral, the ākonga have been challenged in all sorts of ways.

"We have gone for a mixed media approach. We started with watercolour paintings, then incorporated live video footage, used a high-end camera and macro techniques, including working with bubbles and ink to create interesting backgrounds. In short, we’ve drawn on a broad range of skills."

Without wishing to spoil too many surprises for would-be Dunedin Winter Carnival-goers, the final result is a feast of saturated colours, with a storyline that broadly roams from the voids of space to Earth’s intricate intersections of flora and fauna.

"We met with the clients on several occasions and got the message that is was ok to surprise the audience, so that’s what we have tried to do."

Otago Polytechnic Design Lecturer Jon Wilson says the project has provided a wide range of learning benefits for the group.

"The Midwinter Carnival has brought together so many aspects of their prior learning into a real-life event.

"The students had to meet strict deadlines as well as the client’s needs. The students worked well as a team to explore and eventually produce a high-quality, multifaceted projection that highlights their skills in filmmaking, animation and illustration."

*The 2023 Dunedin Midwinter Carnival, at First Church, runs from Friday 23 June to Saturday 24 June.