For the Harbour City, the thought of Christmas is yet to cross most people’s minds.
However, for the hardworking and dedicated digital artists at The Electric Canvas, Christmas is front and centre.
For months now, the team responsible for projecting the incredible images onto the façade of St Mary’s Cathedral have been busy immersed in the magic of creating Christmas at the Cathedral 2024.
“The Electric Canvas is delighted to be back for the third year for, Christmas at the Cathedral,” said Peter Milne. Projection Designer and Director at Electric Canvas
“Our art department at The Electric Canvas works on many, many projects. They involve a producer and art director, designers, motion designers, background artists and compositors.
“And they work together to make it better and better every year. And to be part of that whole environment, that has been embraced by the people of Sydney and their families is just tremendous.”
The digital designers at The Electric Canvas spend almost an entire year, 265 days, bringing Christmas to life.
“It’s become more than just a projection,” said Peter.
“It’s turned into a major Christmas festival, in the city of Sydney. For our part, mapping the magnificent façade of the cathedral is just a joy. It’s such a beautiful, example of its kind of architecture in the city, and we just love working with it.”
The Catholic Weekly was granted a sneak peek “behind the curtain,” visiting the team of digital artists of The Electric Canvas, in their studios in Chatswood. Here we found the dedicated team busy creating the innovative visual content that will be displayed across the cathedral, employing more than 30 million pixels to turn Australia’s mother church into a dazzling Christmas wonderland.
“We are using cutting edge video technology, with cutting edge media service to deliver millions of pixels onto this magnificent building,” said Peter.
“We’re using 21st century laser scanning to capture all the architecture, architectural details, as well as the site scaping.”
But the team aren’t just creating the visual element that goes into creating such a spectacular event.
“We put a great deal of effort into soundtrack as well, It’s not just projection. It’s an immersive experience, a theatrical experience for the people that come here,” he said.
This year’s plans are already well in development to deliver the most spectacular Christmas at the Cathedral to date.
The theme for 2024 will be announced in coming weeks.
“We think that every year we’re getting better and better and better. We’ve got a few other offerings to add into the mix, as well as the grand, south facade of the cathedral. And we’re hoping to, to keep expanding the footprint of the event, for Sydney over the next year or two,” said Peter.
One thing is for sure, Sydney’s most popular free, family Christmas event is set to bring back the fun and spirit of Christmas to NSW and Sydney, bigger and better than ever!
