The Las Vegas Sphere will debut its ‘The Wizard of Oz’ experience next month, where the 160,000 square feet of Sphere screen uses 4D and haptics to immerse you in the vibrant world of the film.
‘The Wizard of Oz’ Immersive Experience at the Las Vegas Sphere
“It’s a movie that your mother watched, that you watched with your grandmother or your kids,” Jane Rosenthal, the Oscar-nominated producer helping helm the production, said to USA Today. “The movie became so beloved because you felt you could go into Munchkinland or the Emerald City even in a traditional TV format. It’s a natural for the Sphere because of the elements that can be made immersive.”
According to TechCrunch, the immersive experience has been in development for two years with a team of over 2,000 technicians, filmmakers, audio experts, and AI creatives. This involved the Sphere team working alongside Warner Bros. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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Their exhaustive work has not only added new detail to the film’s graphics, but also interactive elements like 16-foot-long helium-filled monkeys steered by drone operators and the 750-horsepower fans hurling wind and leaves around the venue for the tornado segment.
The team used AI to transform the original 4:3 aspect ratio to the 16K x 16K LED screen resolution of the Sphere. AI was used to extend certain frames to fill the Sphere screen. For example, during the scene when Miss Gulch wants to take Toto from the Gale home.
“That was originally a three-shot, but as you widen the frame, you now see Uncle Henry standing by the door. You train the AI on Uncle Henry to create him making a move like putting his hand on the door,” she says. “That stuff was difficult to do.”
With Warner Bros.’s help, the team generated objects like the photos on the wall in Professor Marvel’s caravan using props and set designs from the original movie. Each frame takes 300 hours (12 ½ days) to render.
“We’re trying to be tasteful with these things,” award-winning technician Glenn Derry, executive vice president of MSG Ventures who oversees the technology and physical effects in the venue, said of incorporating 4D effects. “I don’t want to distract from the film because it’s one of the great masterpieces. You want people to be part of it, but balance that with not being distracting.”
