We always enjoy the inevitable challenges that occur when creating media to display on unusual screens or surfaces. So when one of our international clients who had just undergone a rebrand asked us to repurpose video asset for use on the eight story high NASDAQ Marketsite Tower in New Yorks Times Square we jumped at the opportunity.
The screen measures 1,000 square metres and uses more than 18 million LEDs on a display with a top resolution of 1280×1824. Compare that with the TSB Bank 40 square metre screen that we built and operated and you get a idea of the sheer size of the sign. As you can see from the short video above, not only is the aspect ratio quite unique but we also had to plan for the windows which this massive digital sign is built around.
Fortunately its less of an issue than you’d think, as NASDAQ provides After Effect templates which help to provide a guide. Since we had originated the initial video in 720P it was quite easy to conform to the aspect ratio without losing detail. It was pretty cool to be able to watch the result via live webcam and see our work displayed in real time on the other side of the world.
The video was shot on XDCAM EX using the Letus Ultimate and Nikon 35mm lenses, actors were filmed in downtown Wellington, at Kaitoke Regional Park and on a greenscreen in our studio. The asset was taken from the brand video that we initially worked on. Nicci Lock from Film Wellington was a great help with securing location permissions.