The commission was from Cadw - the Welsh Assembly Government division responsible for preserving and promoting the history and heritage of Wales, and it is the first time that an entertainment spectacle of this genre has been commissioned for one of their historical monuments. Ashton's 20-minute work depicted the history and stories of the castle, accompanied by an audio track produced by sound artist Karen Monid. It ran twice nightly for two weeks to a paying audience.
Working at Caerphilly Castle was a "fantastic" experience says Ashton, who in doing so added another landmark building to his portfolio of world class site specific locations. Caerphilly is the largest castle in the UK apart from Windsor.
The work was projected onto two buildings in the Inner Ward of the Castle - the rear of the Gatehouse, and the Main Hall, at 90 degrees to its right. The images measured approximately 30m wide onto both surfaces and the three Christie HD 18 projectors were positioned 50m away.
A double stacked pair rigged at the top of a scaffolding platform covered the Gatehouse, with the third single machine positioned at the end of a long balcony on the building opposite the Main Hall.
All the content was loaded onto three OnlyView servers, and programmed by Richard Porter via an OnlyView producer module.
Ashton was engaged for the project by Marilyn Lewis, Director of Cadw, following a presentation he gave to interested parties in Wales about the possibilities of 'Illuminating Cities'.
Original artwork for the show was produced by Ashton and his team of Paul Chatfield and Steve Larkins, together with some 3D animations by Richard Porter. Cadw provided archival material and also commissioned illustrator Mike Cooper (of 2000AD/Judge Dredd fame) to produce original works, which were drawn to the Projection Studio's specification so they could be easily animated when the final show video content was edited and composited.
Ashton comments, "This was a brilliant show to work on in an amazing environment, and a great chance to collaborate and bring the location alive through a mixed media experience that was accessible, expressive and fun as well as requiring real audience engagement".
(Jim Evans)
