Screen details we need before starting
The sooner we have the screen details the better, because composition follows them from the first storyboard frame:
- Actual pixels and aspect ratio, such as 23:3, 21:9 or 32:9
- Physical size and audience viewing distance
- Which parts a podium or host will block
- Flat screen, building facade, or an irregular screen with angles
- Played once or looped, and whether a host interacts with it
Composing for the screen
A big screen doesn't mean every part is easy to see. The Tianfu Twin Towers have angled faces pointing different ways, so we placed the pandas, lanterns and other key images on the face of each tower that looks toward the audience; for the Global Digital Economy Conference stage version, knowing the podium would block part of the screen, we put verse lyrics on the sides and the theme words in the middle.
Viewing distance matters too. The Cangqian Subdistrict opener played on a screen 21 m wide and 5.5 m high, composed at 21:9, with the character on one side and buildings or info panels on the other in most shots, so the character, buildings and text all read clearly.
Live films with a host
Red Letters: A Dialogue Across Time needed the live host and digital figures of revolutionary martyrs to talk back and forth. We gave each figure several states, such as reading the letter, breathing naturally and nodding while listening, left time for the host's questions, and delivered versions with and without the host. The 14:26 ultra-wide film was delivered in about three and a half weeks.
Several versions delivered together
Big-screen films usually need a standard-ratio version for online use as well. The Global Digital Economy Conference MV came in an ultra-wide stage version and a 16:9 standard version; the Tianfu Twin Towers project delivered the full-screen film, separate chapter versions and an extra composite onto real footage of the towers.
When the event date is fixed and the window is short, revisions can be agreed by deadline: we revise without counting rounds until the event and deliver the best version on the day.
