"Bilzen Mysteries", an interactive night time walk on the heritage site of Alden Biesen in Belgium, reopens its doors for the new tourist season. |
For this brand new cultural attraction in Europe, which intertwines reality with interactivity, ACTLD created a lighting scenography, special effects and bespoke installations to fully immerse visitors into the enchanting story of "Bilzen Mysteries". |
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The City of Bilzen aimed to offer a spectacular attraction to increase the number of visitors to the heritage site of Alden Biesen, which boasts a 16th century castle, church, and beautiful gardens in English and French-style. |
The winners of the competition, ACTLD, Alice Events and Create Multimedia, took on the challenge of designing and producing a new and exciting multimedia experience. The project was inspired by the extraordinary past of the Grand Commandery Alden Biesen and the Teutonic Order. |
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At the entrance, visitors receive digital tablets and headsets that guide them through the one-hour multimedia walk around the interior and exterior of the site. |
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Thanks to the synchronization of the video content shown on the tablets and the visual effects displayed in front of them, visitors are fully immersed in the tale of "Bilzen Mysteries" and discover remarkable facts and mystical characters from the history of Alden Biesen. |
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To enhance the narrative and intensify visitors' emotions, ACTLD imagined a visual design and lighting scenography with various surprises spread all over the entire site. The video projections, lighting, special effects and bespoke installations are aimed at creating a memorable experience, all thanks to an intimate and historically authentic atmosphere. |
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About 200 "Boogies", the flameless candles originally created by ACTLD, have been integrated into the original setting of the Commandery including alcoves of the castle, windows and even more than 100 of them on candlesticks inside the chapel, where the spectacle on the history of the Teutonic Knights and dragons takes place. The lighting effects of "Boogies" LED candles made of natural wax are entirely programmable to convey an intimate or festive atmosphere. |
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Inspired by the past, where amber stone was burnt for lighting, ACTLD reproduced this precious stone to use it as signage to guide visitors around the site. "Amber stone" with its oscillating distinctive light is made of colored sculpted glass in which a programmed LED is incorporated. |
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The "Moon", discreetly placed in the natural setting of the English garden that surrounds the castle, poetically surprises the visitor with a play of shadow and light. This tailored object measures five meters in diameter and is composed of a metal structure with a resin surface, on which the designers project various animations. |
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The visit ends seamlessly in the modern era with the laser mapping show in the French-style garden. With its powerful visual content and special effects, which are projected directly onto plants, trees and shrubs, the show finishes in a colorful climax. |
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The coordination of video and visual effects in this project presented challenging opportunity for ACTLD team. The designers were able to experiment with new techniques and find various applications of their expertise, which ultimately achieved spectacular results for this unique attraction. To obtain the flawless illusion between real and virtual, eight months were necessary to develop the creative concept and three months more to implement the equipment on site and conduct the programming sessions. |
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