THE

CONTENTS

PREFACE
P.5

STORY
P.8

PROGRESSION
P.18

STUDENTS
P.30

BEHIND THE SCENES

P.45

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
P.48

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PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

M C AST

CHRI ST MAS
2014

PREFACE
SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

The Institute of Art and Design boasts of synergies

established with the industrial sector and a number
of local and foreign institutions. The building of
networks and relationships with industry provide
opportunities for students to work to realistic briefs,
but also allow them to promote themselves and their
work for better exposure and prospective employment.

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA

Throughout this academic year, students following

the Graphic Design and Interactive Media Degree are
once again challenged to design , develop and produce
an architectural projection that will be exhibited on the
Presidents Palace Facade during the Christmas and New
Year festivities. This live case is one of the several ongoing collaborations with the Valletta 2018 Foundation.

IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

The Institutes administration firmly believes in exposing

students to a multitude of experiences and opportunities
within and outside the campus. Such events augment
entrepreneurial and organizational skills but also provide
real - life working environments.

- Mr. Stephen Vella -

The Valletta 2018 Foundation is once again happy to

work together with the staff, lecturers and students at the
MCAST Institute of Art & Design on the production
of this years 3D architectural mapping projection on
the faade of the Palace at St Georges Square, Valletta.
The light and sound show has quickly become one of
the highlights of celebrations during Christmas and New
Years Eve in our capital city. Preparations for the hosting
of the title of European Capital of Culture in Malta in
2018 focus on the need to invest in capacity building
through hands-on experience such as that provided
by life-case studies of which the architectural mapping
project is an important one. In the coming years Valletta
2018 will further support young professionals in their
career paths and the achievement of their projects in a
local and international dimension.

- Mr. Karsten Xuereb -

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I N T R O

SANTAS WORKSHOP
welcome to santas workshop

Were going to guess that youve never visited. Very few

have. But you have heard of it, havent you? Each and
every one of you reading this; you know it exists. Santas
Workshop is a place of magic and fun. Its where all the
elves live there are only seven of them, in case you were
wondering and where all the letters addressed to Santa
go. Here is where all the Christmas toys are made, and
sometimes; its also the place where one science experiment
goes terribly wrong.
This story starts off on Christmas Eve. Its a normal
working day for the elves at the workshop. Production is
good and everything is running smoothly until Clara brings
out her latest chemical experiment. Its fun. Its flashy.
A little science wont hurt anyone and shes this close to
creating something new. It cant wait for after Christmas.
But what she didnt realise in her excitement, was just how
powerful a combination she was creating.
The moment she mixed those chemicals together, they
reacted violently. The goo from the explosion covered
everything in sight and then; despite the mess, something
wonderful happened.

Just like that, the toys came to life. Where everything was
still before, now all the wonderful creations had begun
moving all by themselves. Clara had accidentally brought
all the toys to life.
For the first few moments the turn of events were both
baffling and exciting. The toys wanted to play and the elves
looked on dumbfounded. But very quickly everything
started spiraling out of control. The toys wanted out.
They became near violent in their quest for fun and started
breaking things, toying with the machinery, hitting every
button they could find. In moments the workshop was
in chaos and the elves could do little beyond look on
helplessly.
Nobody saw or heard him coming, but the moment the
elves were about to give up hope was the moment Santa
showed up. The disaster he found at the workshop angered
him. But Santa loves the elves and their creations far too
much to truly stay mad at them. So Santa took a moment to
learn what had happened, and then quickly brought things
back under control. He gathered the toys up into his bag;
and before they could come up with any more ideas, took
off again to start his exciting journey around the world.

~8~

~9~

M C AST

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CH RIST MAS
2014

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

THE MAKING OF
Introduction

It is a long road to Valletta 2018 but gratefully also an

exciting one. Our path had to lead us to the concept
of the city as a backdrop for war. True. But it also led
us to the concept of love; love of life and of beauty.

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

Students following this path had to bond together in

order to work as a production team; searching for mutual
respect tempered with humour and fostering a belief in
the potential of their medium to entertain and inspire
whilst also eliciting curiosity in the observers. We were to
do this by creating the Projection Mapping on the facade
of the Grandmasters Palace; naturally the main focus
of the Valletta 2018 Christmas celebrations in Valletta.

The first step in the process consisted of a survey given out

online by our tutors to the whole class so as to facilitate the
recognition of the individuals strengths and capabilities.
It was the easiest route to identifying natural groupings
for each department and helped greatly in shortening the
selection process leading to the best possible outcome for
the project. Furthermore, it also served as a key factor
in providing long-term benefits for the participants who
might be inspired to specialize in different areas in future
careers as they experimented with the different aspects of
the work involved.

~ 10 ~

GR AP HI C D ES IG N
BA

Once the groups had been formed it was now up to

each of them to generate further ideas and creative
concepts for the projection mapping taking place on the
Grandmasters Palace. Each group had to prepare an
original presentation with their ideas on digital storyboards
to be adjudicated by both our lecturers and the members
of the Valletta 2018 committee. The final decision to
choose the theme of love and war was the next milestone
towards our target and as we awaited results, each team
pinned their hopes on their presentation being the winner.

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C H RIST MAS
2014

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

M C AST

The Backbone

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

After some intense deliberation between the lecturers

and the Valletta 2018 committee the Santas Workshop
concept was chosen. It was the concept that offered the
most diversity and room for personalisation and so it was,
on average, agreed to be a good choice.

IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA

The project could only to done thanks to the input of all final graphic design and interactive media
students. Or mcast gives everyone a change , but not everyone makes it.
The winning concept depicts an exciting Christmas spirit,
aimed to appeal to people of all ages and walks of life.
Santas Workshop features Santa Claus himself, his elves,
as well as the toys they are preparing to distribute to all the
lucky children in the world. Yet, there is a twist in the tale as
one elf s ill-timed scientific experiment goes terribly wrong
and the toys accidentally come to life and then proceed to
create chaos in the workshop. The aim, after all, is to add
fun and laughter to this important spiritual event we all
anticipate annually.

PJ ATTARD

So what had to happen behind the scenes to produce the

finished project? This is where the strength of the survey
came into good use. Now new groupings were formed
according to the skills identified during the survey. We all
left our presentation team behind and banded together
into departments covering everything from production, to
concept art, to 2D and 3D art, photography, publication,
and even media and social media. It was now the role of all
the members in the course to take part in this all-inclusive
exercise and to put in their best effort in creating mood
and entertainment within an aesthetic framework whilst
also establishing our credibility and proficiency as final year
degree students at MCAST.

~ 12 ~

~ 13 ~

C H RIST MAS
2014

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CHRI ST MAS
2014

M C AST

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A
BA

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA

SA N TAS WORKSHOP

M C AST

IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

~ 14 ~

~ 15 ~

M C AST

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

CH RIST MAS
2014

M C AST

DANIELA ATTARD
SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

This has been an enthralling experience seeing our sketches literally come to life.

SKETCHING AND GOING DIGITAL

The concept artists also designed the perspectives of the

interior of the palace so that the viewers can follow the
main characters; such as Santa, the Octopus, the Train, and
other such elements, into the building even while standing
out in the Palace Square.

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

At the same time, character design generation began with

the help of the animatic and both digital and manual
storyboards. This enabled the visual concept artists to
produce sketches based off of well-structured guidelines
that the whole department could refer to; especially in
regards to timing and angles. This brought to light the
fact that every artist had their own individual style so
there was little to no uniformity in the character designs.
And that, in turn could cause difficulty when narrowing
down to the agreed upon art style. This hurdle was soon
overcome when things progressed from pencil drawings

to full digitalized 2D illustrations. For the concept artists,

this was one of the most exciting stages where they began
seeing their sketches become animated 2D and 3D models.
Details that had to be kept in mind during this process
included correct structuring of the joints on a toys body, as
otherwise it would fall short of being anatomically realistic,
but such concerns only stood as reassurance that strong
co-operation between the 2D artists and the animators was
key.

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

This is how it all began. A small group assisted by a lecturer

took precise internal and external measurements of the
Grandmasters Palace. A crucial step for the different
departments as it provided strong guidelines for the
projection mapping. Obstacles such as small openings,
windows, doors, air vents etc. were noted as these would
have an impact on the final design when it comes to
presenting professional results.

The countdown was another important element that the

concept artists tackled much in the same fashion; detailed
pencil sketches to start with and modelled 3D digital
structures by the end of it.

~ 16 ~

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~ 18 ~

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C H RIST MAS
2014

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CHRI ST MAS
2014

M C AST

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A
BA

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA

SA N TAS WORKSHOP

M C AST

IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

~ 20 ~

~ 21 ~

M C AST

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CH RIST MAS
2014

M C AST

THE NITTY-GRITTY

Communication was essential in order to compile everything

together into one final, moving, joint unit. There were quite
a few issues to iron out in 3D for instance. Rigging being an
essential one. However, problems were soon solved as the
team turned to other techniques that helped rather than
hindered their process. The main software employed was
After Effects, however; if anything needed to be amended
slightly, Photoshop or Illustrator were used.

Effects, Premier, and Adobe Sound, time will forever be

a factor. One of the main designs; for instance the Octopus
and its tentacles, were created using a UV texture as it would
otherwise become distorted, but that, in and of itself takes
up a good number of hours just in rendering.

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

Unfortunately, the amount of 2D animators needed did

not directly reflect the amount of animators available and
because of that; the team was under considerable stress
given the amount of work they had to face.

Compositing helped the 3D students minimize the

problems in rendering. For example, the visual elements
were rendered separately and then composited on top of
each other to give a more realistic effect. Combining the
creative skills of the graphic design and the interactive
media students produced an outstanding effect. One no
one involved was expecting and far greater than any results
ever achieved separately.

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

The designs were immediately transferred to the 3D artists

who instantly began work on modelling the characters for
the final hurdle in the projections journey.

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

Throughout the process, footage and photographic

documentation kept track of our progress on the project
and were made use of to advertise the event on social media
sites such as Facebook. Likewise, the presentation on the
opening night along with the behind-the-scenes material
will be visually recorded and submitted to the publication
department for inclusion in this volume. At the same time
the sound department have by this point identified 200
different sounds they could incorporate in the projection.
The 3D department also had plenty of work. Despite all
students having a more than adequate set of skills and a
stellar grasp on managing themselves, there was still one
single restriction which could not be avoided. Time. With
rendering software such as Maya, Cinema 4D, After

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PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

M C AST

CHRI ST MAS
2014

M C AST

We wanted to leave a memorable impact on the audience by recording our ideas and creativity.
LEXY SANT MANDUCA

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

We wanted to depict more of a personal feel of each student.

IAN ATTARD

Were at a stage where we know our stuff and were working with people that know their stuff
KRYSTA MICALLEF

PUBLICATION

Both books are a tangible record of the ideas, creativity,

and countless hours of work that built the foundation of
this projection. Most of this goes unseen by the audience
watching the actual projection and this publication is the
fruit of that knowledge. Anyone who would like to delve
behind the scenes and witness the true work involvedw ,
this publication is for them.

Imagery included feature in both colour and black and

white for added contrast and chapter sectioning and
certain printing technicalities were implemented to enrich
its appearance. Weekly interviews with the Department
Leaders were also part of the process because content as
well as quote gathering depended a lot on those interviews.
Augmented reality was incorporated to entertain the
viewers. To offer a glimpse of the location and the
characters involved in the projection. It adds a fresh touch
of curiosity and interactivity to an otherwise static page.
And the publication itself featured in teasers on MCASTs
Facebook page to promote it to the public. We were finally
coming to the end of this long road with the destination
in our sights.

~ 24 ~

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

Inspiration and sheer determination led to the creation

of these publications. The research involved was
extensive. It covered various design elements, thirty or so
different typographic considerations, colour schemes,and
photographic styles as well as possible editing solutions.

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

As for the publication team, a decision was taken to produce

a limited edition print version as well as a secondary version
available online. Our aim was to produce a book that
appeared both professional and innovative.

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C H RIST MAS
2014

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CHRI ST MAS
2014

M C AST

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

SA N TAS WORKSHOP

M C AST

CONCLUSION

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA
IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

~ 26 ~

~ 27 ~

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

Thanks!

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

This experience has been a sharp learning curve for the whole
class; something that can easily be seen from the amount of work
featured throughout these pages. Though we needed two main
spokespersons from amidst out peers to represent us off-campus on
national media throughout the various stages of this opportunity,
the project could only come to fruition thanks to the input of
all final year Graphic Design and Interactive Media students.

C H RIST MAS
2014

PR OJ ECTI ON MA PPI N G
Valletta

PROJ ECT I ON MA PPI N G

Valletta

CHRI ST MAS
2014

M C AST

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

JOSEF COHEN

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

JOSEF VON BROCKDORFF

GR A PHI C DESI GN
BA

STEPHEN CUTAJAR

I N TER ACTI VE MEDI A

BA

JOSEF COHEN

SA N TAS WOR KS HOP

SA N TAS WORKSHOP

M C AST

IN T ER AC TI V E M EDI A
BA

GRA PHI C D ES IG N
BA

~ 28 ~

CHRIS SCICLUNA

ALLEN DEMANUELE

~ 29 ~

CHRIS SCICLUNA