Disney’s Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl

With tremendous care and attention to detail, NorthHouse Creative helped adapt a Disney-animated modern classic to the legendary Hollywood Bowl stage.

Last year, Fulwell 73 Productions commissioned NorthHouse to bring Disney’s Encanto to life at the Hollywood Bowl. As NorthHouse Creative Director & Founder Tom Bairstow explained, they “wanted to take this show to a whole new level and bring several layers of visuals to the show using projection-mapping and screen visuals in addition to AR visuals created by All of it Now.

The live-to-film concert experience was produced by Fulwell 73 Productions, Live Nation Hewitt Silva, and Disney Concerts along with AMP Worldwide. The NorthHouse team’s work would play a central role in an immersive cinematic experience introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and featuring the original voice cast, special guests, and Conductor Anthony Parnther leading a fifty-person orchestra and Colombian band.

NorthHouse envisioned fully transforming the iconic Hollywood Bowl into La Casita, transporting audiences straight into the world of the movie. They put weeks of energy into understanding the identity of the film in an effort to stay true to its Colombian roots while exploring all kinds of complementary aesthetics, from the positioning, size, and animation of each window, door, and tile to the density, oscillation, and pulse rate of each group of particles and bokeh.

All the way, the creative team had support from various Disney teams, including Directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard. After rebuilding many of Encanto’s animated assets from scratch to fit the Hollywood Bowl’s canvas, the team incorporated Notch, which allowed for innumerable particle systems without complication. They found Notch especially useful for the performance of “Waiting On A Miracle,” which comprised entirely of particles.

The team used the disguise d3 as their media server. In About the Noise’s review of the show, Emma Mages wrote, “The show is truly mind-blowing and an absolute must-watch.” You can stream the whole show on Disney+ now.

“Particles and bokeh are so unique to Encanto, and using Notch allowed us to dig deeply into details and match the look and motion of the film viewers know and love.”

Lydia Caplan, Lead Designer, NorthHouse

Additional press coverage:
About the Noise, Decider.

Credits
Clients: Fulwell 73 Productions & Disney
Projection & Screen Design: NorthHouse
Broadcast Graphics: NorthHouse
Creative Director: Tom Bairstow
Producer: Alice Ryland
Lead Designer: Lydia Caplan

Lead Technical Artist: Florian Lecoq
Motion Designers: Sean Bone, Dan Richards, Liam Gilheany, Aaron Honda, Emile Freeman, Chris Gaughran, Dan Wise, & Duncan Tune
Creative Assistant: Dana Couling
Studio Manager: Alice Best