Boardwalk Beat: A.C. offers family fun with free light show at Boardwalk Hall

Based in Montreal, The Moment Factory is a creative studio that specializes in the production of multimedia environments. Although The Moment Factory is not quite a household name, it's likely you've experienced their interactive visuals at a Cirque du Soleil performance, Madonna's half-time show during the 2012 Super Bowl, a Nine Inch Nails tour, or perhaps Fun.'s soggy performance at last year's Grammy Awards.

This is the third light and sound show that the studio has put together for the Atlantic City Alliance within the last year. Boardwalk Beat is a wonderful slice of Americana, paying homage to different eras of popular music beginning with the Jazz Age.

"This show is a musical journey, so we transformed the whole building into a time machine, a giant jukebox where we go to the 20s, 30s, 80s and 90s," says Tarik Mikou, one of the lead multimedia directors who worked on Boardwalk Beat. Boardwalk Beat is fitting for the iconic, 84-year old Atlantic City venue that has hosted acts ranging from The Who to Justin Bieber.

The Moment Factory brings Boardwalk Hall to life using 3D mapping. They assemble the show using a miniature 3D model of Boardwalk Hall. The perfectly to scale model was fashioned from a scan of the actual building. This allows for the team of directors, motion designers, and animators to consider each and every architectural detail of Boardwalk Hall while planning the visual elements.

The content of the show is a combination of 2D and 3D animation in addition to textures and motion from live shoots. One of the highlights of Boardwalk Beat is the silhouette of a couple exuberantly performing the Lindy Hop, a swing dance that originated in Harlem during the 1920's. The animation was created using footage of a Lindy Hop performance that The Moment Factory commissioned.

"Boardwalk Beat gives us a great excuse to have people dancing. The advantage with this show is that you enter musical worlds for a minute or a bit less. People have that moment to reminisce about great eras that they love," says Mikou.

When The Moment Factory team arrive in Atlantic City to set the show up, they map the environment to the façade and show the local operation team how to operate the 12 video projectors independently. After months of planning and production, Boardwalk Beat will premiere at 9pm Saturday, May 25^th.

Mareike Lenhart, a multimedia director who co-produced past Boardwalk Hall shows and Boardwalk Beat enjoys watching families take in the lively light show. "After doing the first two shows, we got to know the people. We see the clientele who watch it. It's fun to see them laugh and have fun. It's a memorable moment. They watch this show that is beautiful and makes them happy. It's something we wanted to achieve again."  __________________________________________________________________________________

Boardwalk Beat will debut to the public Saturday, May 25 at 9pm and run every half hour nightly.