from the only person to authentically recreate shackleton ... · survival, tim jarvis am brings you...

A Monkeystack and Shackleton Epic Production © 2019

CALL FOR INVESTMENT

From the only person to authentically recreate Shackleton’s journey of survival, Tim Jarvis AM brings you closer to the epic experience than ever before in a 20-minute historical re-creation documentary VR experience.

A world-first historical recreation documentary VR experience being developed in Adelaide, Australia. Thin Ice VR will offer an unrivaled immersive experience that will leave viewers in no doubt about the devastating effect of climate change.

100 YEARS AGO, SHACKLETON WAS ON A MISSION TO SAVE HIS MEN FROM THE ICE, NOW WE MUST SAVE THE ANTARCTIC ICE FROM MAN.

Thin Ice VR delivers the most compelling and immersive film experience ever produced on the subject of climate change. It offers a highly personal experience and literally put its audience in the centre of the story.The phenomenon of climate change is current, global and widely debated. For the first time, viewers will find themselves standing in the frozen wilderness of Antarctica over a 100-year timeframe to witness first-hand the devastating effects of global warming on the icy continent. It takes viewers to a place on earth that very few have actually been, delivering a ground-breaking virtual reality experience that will evoke awe, wonderment and deep thought.

Aimed primarily at a family edutainment audience, Thin Ice VR is also a must see production for film buffs and growing VR audiences hungry for engaging content. It is a story to be shared in family homes, but also one that has a place in museums, libraries and education curriculum on account of its documentary approach.

There are no limits to Thin Ice VR’s audience.

The intention is to produce a VR documentary that entertains, engages and educates both young and old and is relatable across all cultures and socio-economic demographics.

It will appeal strongly to travel and nature enthusiasts, history lovers, climate-change activists, people who create environmental policy, educators, tech geeks and anyone with a sense of real-world adventure.

The majority of footage required to produce Thin Ice VR has already been captured. The project requires support to develop and apply ground-breaking VR interactivity, photogrammetry and volumetric capture techniques to create one of the most captivating VR documentary experiences ever produced.

The project team behind Thin Ice VR has raised US$160,000 and is seeking additional support.

Executive SummaryThin Ice VR represents a milestone development in cinematic history. It is a multifaceted production that is truly unique, educational and inspiring. Woven into what is essentially a natural science documentary are two seemingly disparate but undeniably powerful and interrelated themes;

One of the most epic tales of bravery that history has to offer. The true story of arctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton

One of the most fiercely-debated topics of our time: climate change.

Thin Ice VR takes viewers on an unrivaled journey of discovery and is narrated by environmental scientist Tim Jarvis AM. Jarvis famously and faithfully recreated polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legendary 1914 journey of survival that cemented his reputation as one of the bravest men who ever lived.

The project team behind Thin Ice VR has raised US$160,000 and is seeking additional support.

A Monkeystack and Shackleton Epic Production © 2019A Monkeystack and Shackleton Epic Production © 2019

PROJECT OVERVIEWPROJECT OVERVIEW

PROJECT OVERVIEW


The epic tale of bravery and endurance that underpins Thin Ice VR.Thin Ice VR is about how climate change has affected Antarctica and ultimately, the world.

Underpinning this theme is the true story of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s (1874 - 1922) famous Imperial Trans- Antarctic expedition in 1914. Shackleton’s story is critical to understanding the appeal and delivery of Thin Ice VR.

Over 100 years ago, explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his ship Endurance set sail from Great Britain to Antarctica with the intention of being the first team to cross Antarctica from coast to coast via the south pole. Their journey came to a halt in the Weddell Sea when the Endurance became stuck in pack ice.

Injured, starving and exhausted, Shackleton and his men eventually arrived at Grytviken and approached the manager of the whaling station. Shackleton and the manager were known to each other but in Shackleton’s condition, with long ragged hair and beard, and clothes that had not been washed in over a year, he was unrecognisable to the station manager.

“Don’t you know me?” asked Shackleton.

The station manager replied that he knew the voice but could not identify the man standing in front of him.

“My name is Shackleton,” exclaimed Shackleton.

Realising the circumstances that must have led to the scene in front of him, the station manager turned and wept.

Pre-AmbleThe millions of tons of slow-moving ice slowly began to crush the hull of the Endurance, forcing Shackleton and his men to abandon ship and camp on the ice, where they survived on the most meagre of resources for over two months. With supplies diminishing and the inevitability of the ice starting to melt as Spring approached, Shackleton and his men set sail on the ship’s lifeboats – ill-equipped for the task expected of them – to find the nearest land. After five days at sea, Shackleton and his men reached Elephant Island, some 550 kilometers (297 nautical miles) from where the Endurance was stranded.

Unfortunately, Elephant Island was uninhabited and inhospitable and with many of his men too weak to continue, Shackleton assembled five of his crew and set sail on one of the lifeboats, the James Caird, for the nearest inhabited island, South Georgia, a British Overseas Territory. It was their last hope to find rescue for their remaining crewmates on Elephant Island.

What transpired ultimately cemented Shackleton’s reputation as one of the bravest men who ever lived.

Shackleton and his 5 crew travelled more than 1500 kilometers (809 nautical miles) on the tiny James Caird, a lifeboat from the Endurance, over some of the roughest, coldest seas on the planet, to eventually reach South Georgia island. Unrelenting sea currents saw Shackleton make landfall at King Haakon Bay, on the opposite side of the island to where the populated whaling station was situated at Grytviken.

Shackleton and his men were forced to cross the glaciers and icy mountains that dominate South Georgia on foot. With limited supplies, ragged and thinning clothing, and only a short section of rope and a small carpenters adze – equipment not suitable for such an arduous endeavour - they trekked across the glaciers, snow fields and rocky peaks of South Georgia for several days in icy cold weather, almost succumbing to the elements and the hazards of the journey.

Ernest Shackleton C 1914

The Endurance trapped in pack ice

PROJECT OVERVIEW


PROJECT OVERVIEWPROJECT OVERVIEW


How Shackleton’s story relates to climate change in Thin Ice VR In 1914, polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton led an expedition to be the first to cross Antarctica coast-to-coast. The events that transpired form one of history’s greatest stories of leadership and survival.

In 2013, environmental scientist and adventurer Tim Jarvis achieved global acclaim when he became the first to successfully retrace Shackleton’s journey of survival which he documented in his 2013 Discovery Channel series Shackleton: Death or Glory and accompanying best-selling book Shackleton’s Epic: Recreating the World’s Greatest Journey of Survival which sold over 50,000 copies worldwide.

Both expeditions were immense in their undertaking, but Jarvis’ exploration of the Antarctic region, 100 years after Shackleton, led him to the startling realisation that climate change has changed the Antarctic environment substantially. Jarvis noted

“100 years ago, Shackleton was on a mission to save his men from the ice. Now we must save the Antarctic ice from man.”

The plot of Thin Ice VR is Jarvis’s reenactment of the Shackleton journey of survival and the realisation that climate change has affected the Antarctic landscape.

Thin Ice VR would not be possible were it not for Australian expedition photographer Frank Hurley who accompanied Ernest Shackleton on his infamous journey, capturing the hauntingly beautiful and dangerous Antarctic wilderness as Ernest Shackleton and his men experienced it. Thin Ice VR contrasts Hurley’s surviving 120 photographs and film footage with that taken a century later during Jarvis’s reenactment of Shackleton’s journey.

The Thin Ice VR experience begins in 1914 on the pack ice of the Weddell Sea standing alongside Shackleton’s stranded ship the Endurance. The viewer is placed in the camp with the crew and the dogs, to the crunching sound of the ice moving, wood splintering and the howling wind. Shackleton’s messages of leadership are heard.

The story then offers the viewer a sense of life, or the battle for it, on the James Caird, with both Shackleton and Jarvis, and their crews, as they battle their way over 809 nautical miles of the Southern Ocean on their frightening voyage to South Georgia.

Arriving on South Georgia Island at King Haakon Bay, Jarvis and the viewer are met with the menacing rocks and fierce winds that threatened to smash his replica lifeboat to pieces. To reach the whaling station on the other side of the island, Jarvis must also cross the glaciers and icy mountains that dominate South Georgia, on foot.

This is also the first glimpse viewers will have of the effects of climate change over the last 100 years, as narrated by Jarvis, with visible signs of glaciers melting in the bay.

The viewer then follows Jarvis and Shackleton across the glaciers, snow fields and rocky peaks of South Georgia, stopping as the landscape changes and where the views are breathtaking. Viewers are faced with the spectacular topography of the Tridents - four spectacular pyramidal peaks that poke through the snow of the Murray Snowfield. It is here that the weather conditions on South Georgia are particularly severe with unrelenting blizzards, and the viewer gets a sense of the harsh elements endured by Jarvis and Shackleton.

The PlotAfter sunrise, with the Stromness whaling station only half a days’ trek away, they must cross the Konig glacier. This last hurdle before Stromness was particularly taxing on Shackleton and his men as the 3 nautical miles (6 km) long and 1.5 nautical miles (3 km) wide glacier is extremely dangerous to cross.

It is here that the reality of climate change is most evident. When Jarvis approaches the glacier, he finds it has retreated significantly, leaving a waist deep lake in its wake. Jarvis is not able to trace Shackleton’s footsteps across the ice, because the ice is no longer there.

Finally, we reach the remote whaling station at Grytviken, where evidence of how climate change has affected the penguin, albatross and Elephant Seal colonies can also be seen.

While this epic story of survival has come to an end, ours, and that of our planet’s is only beginning. Jarvis recaps on the remarkable leadership demonstrated by Shackleton and talks of the need for environmental leadership now, more than ever.

EpilogueOn leaving South Georgia aboard an inflatable zodiac, Tim Jarvis explains the devastating effects climate change has had on South Georgia over the last 100 years. As he does, he shifts his lens to more familiar locations; in particular looking at how rising ocean levels will impact low lying waterfront cities across the globe (Miami, Shanghai, New York etc) and the scene transitions to each of them as they are mentioned.

His final message is one of hope as the viewer is taken back to the Antarctic pack ice to experience it’s natural wonder. Despite insurmountable odds, Shackleton saved his crew from the ice. Inspired by his leadership, Jarvis challenges mankind with the responsibility to save the Antarctic ice.

Realising the circumstances that must have led to the scene in front of him, the station manager turned and wept.

Thin Ice VR will offer a premier entertainment experience. Its delivery extends beyond a 360-degree presentation of footage to viewers, capturing the Antarctic region in stunningly realistic high resolution interactive environments, using multiple techniques such as photogrammetry and volumetric capture to turn images into virtual environments.

Photogrammetry is the application of photography that captures a multitude of images of an object and its surroundings so that a virtual model of it can be produced as part of an immersive and realistic VR experience. In Thin Ice VR, the rocks that viewers can stand on and the objects that they interact with are exact reproductions, not artistic interpretations.

Volumetric capture is a video technique that captures objects, people and performance in three dimensional space – creating human holograms. The producers wish to create a deeper level of immersion for the viewer and the opportunity for them to move around a location and have Tim Jarvis and Ernest Shackleton in the 3D space talking to them – as if they’re there – sharing the experience alongside the two adventurers.

Thin Ice VR is a ground-breaking application of Virtual Reality for documentary. By using VR, interactivity, photogrammetry, and volumetric motion capture, Thin Ice VR is hoped to have a creative and market advantage over other VR documentaries worldwide.

A production of the highest quality Thin Ice VR will also be the first VR experience to...

PROJECT OVERVIEW PROJECT OVERVIEW


Capture the high peaks, glaciers and inhospitable locations of the magnificent South Georgia Island.

Recreate Antarctic locations using photogrammetry, allowing a deeper level of immersion for the user and an opportunity to move around a location and inspect objects, as if really there.

Engage with volumetric motion capture in the Antarctic regions with the creation of virtual representations of Shackleton and Jarvis to guide the user through the experience, giving first-hand accounts of the events that transpired.

Demonstrate, in parallel to Shackleton’s epic story of survival, climate change has impacted the region and ultimately, the world.

Thin Ice VR will offer a premier entertainment experience.


PROJECT OVERVIEW

TIM JARVIS AMEnvironmental Scientist and Presenter Tim is an environmental scientist, author, film-maker, adventurer and public speaker with Masters degrees in environmental science and environmental law. He is committed to finding pragmatic solutions to major environmental issues related to climate change and biodiversity loss. He uses his public speaking engagements, films and books about his expeditions/work to progress thinking in these areas. In 2013, Tim led the first authentic retracing of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton’s “double” – sailing a replica James Caird boat 1500kms across the Southern Ocean from Elephant Island, Antarctica to South Georgia and climbing over South Georgia’s mountainous interior using the same rudimentary equipment, period clothing and technology as Shackleton. Regarded by many as the greatest survival journey of all time, this is the first time since Shackleton that anybody has been able to authentically recreate it. A Discovery Channel/PBS documentary film and best-selling Harper Collins Book Shackleton’s Epic: Recreating the World’s Greatest Journey of Survival have been made about the expedition.

MONKEYSTACKXR, Animation and Interactive Production CompanyEstablished in 2004, Monkeystack has been designing XR experiences since 2012. Now, with a team of over 20 artists and technicians, the team has won many prestigious awards including the Best Game (AIMIA and ATOM) Peter Rasmussen Award for innovation (Sydney Film Festival), Most Creative and Original Game (Game Connection Development Awards, Paris), Best Serious Game (Simtect, Australasia) and Best Serious Game (I/Itsec, USA).

JAMES CALVERTVR DirectorJames is an educator, researcher, game designer and filmmaker with over 15 years’ experience creating award winning content for all screen types. Most recently, James has focused his attention on teaching and research – particularly in the field of Virtual Reality for education. James takes a very practical approach to VR research, using his years of production and design experience to explore what’s possible in this emerging field. James was also the recipient of the David Wilson award; an international research grant awarded to further explore the educational possibilities of virtual reality.

JUSTIN WIGHTProducerJustin is co-founder of Monkeystack, a South Australian XR, Animation and Interactive Production company. Throughout his career he has directed and produced animation series, films, VR documentary, simulations, visualisations and educational applications. His work has attracted dozens of national and international awards for excellence in animation and interactive design.

DOUG GIMESY360 Videographer and Photogrammetry CaptureDoug is an internationally acclaimed photographer and a trained zoologist with a Masters of Environment and a Masters of Bioethics. Through his science and environmentally focused communication consultancy, The Framing Effect, he uses conservation and wildlife photography to educate and influence people on environmental causes. He is an active photographer for National Geographic, and his clients include BBC Wildlife magazine, The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Australian Conservation Foundation, New York Times and the Australian Geographic.

An experienced teamThe Thin Ice VR team have proven they can deliver projects to an award winning international standard. The team members are at the leading edge of expedition experience and screen based technology and using both disciplines to re-define what a documentary is.

By having the experience and access of a world renowned expedition team and by employing VR, photogrammetry, and volumetric motion capture techniques we hope to have a creative and market advantage over other VR documentaries worldwide.

PROJECT OVERVIEW



SupportersWe are actively seeking supporters for the production and release of Thin Ice VR. If you are interested in being a sponsor, brand partner, philanthropic or other supporter please contact:

Justin Wight Executive Producer / Company DirectorMonkeystack Pty Ltd

[email protected]

+61404 868 082

+61 8 8394 2575

from the only person to authentically recreate shackleton ... · survival, tim jarvis am brings you...

Documents