The exhibition unfolds over 4 main sections:
Character traces the evolution of iconic and much loved DreamWorks Animation characters, from original concept drawings and sketches to fully developed personalities.
Story explores the process of constructing a feature-length narrative from original inspiration to final storyline.
World focuses on the environments that are integral to DreamWorks Animation films. This section features a spine-tingling 180-degree projection called Dragon Flight created especially for the Exhibition.
Drawing Room is the last stop in the exhibition, where visitors can create their very own video.
- Main Sections
Character
DreamWorks Animation characters are inherently distinctive, playfully disrupting the traditional animation archetypes. The heroes and sidekicks often possess a surprising mix of personality traits and skills that inject their stories with comedy and drama. One such character is Po from Kung Fu Panda. Even with his voracious appetite and inherently large panda stature, Po creates his own style that turns his perceived weaknesses into strengths.
The first section of the Exhibition illustrates the evolution of DreamWorks Animation characters, from the germ of an idea through to fully animated personalities that, on-screen, completely captivate the audience’s imagination. Visitors can also see how new artistic processes and technologies are swiftly adopted from film to film, to help flesh-out the characters and provide the realism, complexity, and expressiveness.
Story
DreamWorks Animation stories are as diverse as the filmmakers who create them, as seen from the fractured fairytale that is Shrek to the epic legend of Kung Fu Panda. The studio continues to push the boundaries of traditional storytelling, creating unique twists and turns that keep plotlines fresh and exciting. Whether it is an adaptation or a brand-new story, filmmakers at DreamWorks Animation hope for breakthrough moment that capture the spirit and the tone of their film while infusing the sense of imagination and surprise.
This section unpacks the story-making process at DreamWorks Animation. The Story Room is the heart of story development, where storyboard artists, directors, writers and producers spend countless hours pitching ideas, developing plots and writing dialogue that may or may not survive the film’s final cut.
World
Every one of DreamWorks Animation’s worlds has a distinctly different look, feel, style, and sensibility and yet each feels completely authentic and believable. This section focuses on the research and inspiration that underpinned the creation of each film’s look and feel, highlighting the books, artists, films, and international locations the DreamWorks Animation artists researched in the development of their worlds.
Visitors will get the opportunity to immerse in Dragon Flight, a spectacular 180 degree view of the Island of Berk from How To Train Your Dragon. Beginning with a simple sketch on paper, the experience evolves through the various technical and creative stages of building a world, ending with a fully computer generated environment, giving you a virtual ride, flying on a dragon and soaring over Berk.
Drawing Room
The Drawing room houses the Animation Desk Interactive Kiosk, allowing users to learn the basic principles of animation and create a short animated line drawing sequence of their own. It is a simplified version of a real tool used by DreamWorks Animation artists to develop story and character through 2D animation.
The drawing room also features a demonstration clip and tutorial to provide visitors an introduction to how the interactive worlds.
