Rivière-au-Renard is a charming village located in the Gaspé Peninsula of far eastern Canada. Even with a local population of just 3,000, this area is already a well-known destination for commercial fishing. To similarly grow local tourism, village administrators decided to highlight the vibrant farming heritage of the town. This approach was a natural fit for a collaboration with XYZ Technologies, who came onboard to design and create an immersive multisensory experience that lets visitors of all ages and from all walks of life see the world through the eyes of seafaring fishermen as they undertake their seasonal work on the sea.
The experience centers around a 20-minute documentary, which is projected in a 4D theatre specially equipped for the occasion. From conception to production to integration, the project was skillfully steered by the experts at XYZ Technologies, demonstrating once again the company’s unique capacity to deliver large-scale turnkey projects with stand-out appeal and engagement.
For a fully authentic approach, we had a documentary filmmaker on hand for ten days to capture exclusive footage of the creative development of this extraordinary project, bringing real-time moments of the seafaring adventure truly to life.
For the first time, never-before-seen moments from the daily lives of seafarers can be viewed and experienced thanks to the immersive storytelling crafted by the artisans and experts at XYZ Technologies.
Gusts of wind, rolling waves and fishermen all come to life on the big screen of the theatre projection room, delivered via a range of sensory effects from the specially designed technical tools created for this project.
D-BOX seats fitted with a pre-programmed frame provide dynamic movement, while lighting effects recreate a realistic impression of a starry sky. Wind generators, misting devices and a selection of other special effects are activated at key moments during the experience for an overall hyper-realistic immersion.
Of all the challenges of this extraordinary project, those surrounding the filming the mini-documentary were the most difficult—and exciting—to navigate. Predicting a script when filming a fishing expedition in the open sea is like predicting a literal force of nature, so between changing weather conditions and the lack of visual landmarks for clear navigation, the unexpected became the norm.
However, with a sincere narrative treatment and the advanced technology integration expertise offered by the team, unscripted moments were transformed into an authentic true-to-life feast for the senses.
Happily, these results were underscored by the positive reactions from audiences, from the inhabitants of Rivière-au-Renard to visiting tourists to the very fishermen that were at the heart of the documentary itself.