Five things to know about Kontinuum, Ottawa's new underground light show

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Starting Sunday, the Kontinuum underground multimedia show will welcome people to the new LRT Lyon station in dramatic fashion.

Created and produced by Ottawa 2017 and Montreal’s Moment Factory, it’s being pitched as the first-ever underground sound and light display held in a metro station still under construction.

“This was the most complex project of my career,” said Guy Laflamme, Ottawa 2017’s executive producer.

Kontinuum opened its doors to the media on Saturday for a sneak peek.

Here are five things you need to know about the event:

1. The production has a few Ottawa connections. The music that plays during the show, which shifts from zen-like lounge vibes to throbbing beats to swelling strings, was composed by Vincent Letellier and the lighting was designed by Ian MacDonald. Moments Factory co-founder Sakchin Bessette is a graduate of Lowertown’s De La Salle high school.
2. Laflamme wanted Kontinuum to be different from the sound and light shows you might see on Parliament Hill. His plan was to make the show an enjoyable and emotional experience that stimulates the senses, while highlighting Ottawa’s innovative, techy side and getting people excited about the LRT opening in 2018.
3. It’s free! All you need to do is go online to ottawa2017.ca and book the time you want to visit. But reserve quickly — Laflamme says 70,000 tickets have already been put aside.
4. The work of Moments Factory, a multimedia entertainment studio, came to the attention of organizers after they saw the company’s sound and light production showcasing the façade of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona in 2012.
5. Ever wondered what it’s like to be a hologram? At Kontinuum, upon entering the theatre, you can have your body scanned (not by X-rays, says Laflamme) to determine its frequencies and what colour that frequency is. A screen inside the theatre can then project a hologram of your scan, and you can download it right onto your phone with the Ottawa 2017 app. There’s also an option to purchase a pyramid that displays your hologram, which Laflamme compared to R2D2’s projection of Princess Leia in Star Wars.

Kontinuum runs daily, starting Sunday until Sept. 14, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Free tickets can be reserved online at www.ottawa2017.ca/events/signature-events/kontinuum. In addition, limited tickets will be available on site daily.


Ottawa 2017 hosted a preview of the multimedia production Kontinuum in Lyon station of the yet to be opened LRT system on Saturday, July 15, 2017.


Kontinuum will begin at the old Place de Ville movie theatre on 300 Sparks St., lead visitors around to the station’s eastern entrance off Queen Street and down to the platform level. At the end, the audience will exit via an escalator that leads to the Lyon station entrance on the southwest corner of Queen and Lyon.

The entire experience involves walking about 500 metres and is expected to take people between 35 and 45 minutes to finish.

Around 70 people will be allowed to enter at a time, and organizers expect more than 4,000 people per day.

According to the Kontinuum website, the experience will be bilingual, and the Place de Ville theatre and Lyon station will be accessible to those with mobility issues. It stated that a service elevator would be reserved for those in wheelchairs or with limited mobility.

The website also cautioned that some of the effects could be upsetting to children under the age of five, and said the experience is “not recommended for guests who have medical sensitivity to strobe lights, fog effects, loud sound effects, or who have a fear of enclosed spaces.”

— With files from Matthew Pearson

oblackmore@postmedia.com

twitter.com/olivia_blckmr


Ottawa 2017 executive director Guy Laflamme was joined by Coun. Mathieu Fleury, MPP Yasir Naqvi and other partners to cut the ribbon before a preview of the multimedia production Kontinuum in the Lyon station of the yet to be opened LRT system on Saturday, July 15, 2017.


Ottawa 2017 hosted a preview of the multimedia production Kontinuum in Lyon station of the yet to be opened LRT system on Saturday, July 15, 2017.


Ottawa 2017 hosted a preview of the multimedia production Kontinuum in Lyon station of the yet to be opened LRT system on Saturday, July 15, 2017.


Ottawa 2017 hosted a preview of the multimedia production Kontinuum in Lyon station of the yet to be opened LRT system on Saturday, July 15, 2017.

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