I have a very elaborate three dimensional set design for my new 3D mapping show, and we are now going to grow the individual components out of mushrooms! How about that. The idea came to me whilst working in Katherine in the Northern Territory. I could not believe I hadn’t thought of it before. The one good thing about Covid, it has given me a lot of time to sit with a problem and explore different ideas.

We’ve now altered the design set to have more visual movement and bigger spaces between the panels in order to get the most out the live action footage we are utilizing, as well as the 3D mapping technology. The purpose of the set is to effectively feature both. We are reducing our set’s three dimensional profile to enable a better projection surface that casts least amount of shadow and still give the dimensional quality that the 3D mapping attribute can fully utilise. (You can see below that the profile of the panels are quite deep, this is a problem for projecting live acton on to and mapping technology.

You see, I had a real problem with my set being made out of plastic. I am not a fan of plastic. It goes against the grain of who I am and what I am about and everything I am wanting to inspire. I started a dialog with two New Zealand companies a couple months ago that grow mushroom packaging to replace Styrofoam and Cardboard. Talk about a sustainable material! Growing my set means that my set will be light weight and easy to take up and down. And, it will be very cost effective to replace different sections should they be damaged on the road.

I could not be more delighted that both companies are interested in doing something. I will be producing samples with each company soon to see which one can produce the smoothest and hardiest product. (The darker sections in the above design will be the mushroom components.)

The image below will give an idea of what the original panels were made of and we intended to manufacture to our specifications.

A problem solved, keep watching this space for updates! Did I say I was fricken excited?