HANS ZIMMER & FRIENDS: DIAMOND IN THE DESERT

For the concert film Hans Zimmer & Friends: Diamond in the Desert, NorthHouse created visuals immersing audiences in a live performance of the Interstellar soundtrack within Dubai’s Al Wasl Plaza, which hosts the world’s largest 360-degree projection dome.

Collaborating with Hans Zimmer, Steven Kofsky, Executive Visions, Director Paul Dugdale, and SiFi Productions, NorthHouse made it their mission to transform the dome into a vast, multidimensional portal communicating the grandeur of space and time. NorthHouse founder and Executive Creative Director Tom Bairstow explains, “We wanted to capture the emotion, science, and abstraction of one of the greatest movies of our time. Diamond in the Desert was truly a joy to work on.”

Notch’s real-time rendering capabilities and node-based interface played a pivotal role in production, allowing for the rapid iteration and flexibility required in Al Wasl’s live, large-scale performance environment. As Motion Designer Aaron Honda explained, “Our greatest challenge was uncovering a set of visuals that could free the galaxy of Hans Zimmer’s music from the lattice of Al Wasl. Notch gave us the speed, adaptability, and tools required with change to spare.”

The film features not only Interstellar but other Zimmer classics like Dune, Gladiator, and The Lion King as well as conversations with Billie Eilish, Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Finneas, Jerry Bruckheimer, Johnny Marr, Pharrell Williams, Tanya Lapointe, Timothée Chalamet, and Zendaya. Its reception has been phenomenal, with a score of 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and 8.7/10 on IMDb.

Additional press coverage:

Empire, Collider, The Luxe Review.