Kryal Castle AV - Arterial Design

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NEWS
Kryal Castle AV
Playing for Keeps
Text:/Christopher Holder
Forsooth! Just when you thought Kryal Castle had
been hung, drawn, quartered and its head put on a
stick… News comes through that the corpse has been
disinterred and reanimated.
Located deep in the Middle Earth of Greater
Ballarat, Kryal Castle began as a labour of love for
one Keith Ryal back in the ’70s. It enjoyed a season of
popularity before falling out of favour, until such time
that it was a veritable basketcase — hosting the odd
music gig or chapter meeting for chain mail fetishists.
Kryal Castle was on the market for a number of
years and speculation was rife as to its long-term
future (at one point a planning application came before
local council to turn it into the southern hemisphere’s
largest brothel) before investors, with enough groats
and enough chutzpah to surrender to the medieval
schtick of Kryal, came along.
The result is a re-suited and re-booted Kryal Castle
that’s had a big injection of cash to bolster its ageing
bluestone ramparts and to bring it in line with what
the Harry Potter generation expects of a 21st century
attraction.
FANTASY LAND
Speaking of the world’s most famous boy wizard, Kryal
has decided to ride the wave of interest in all things
fantastical — everything from Harry Potter to Lord
of the Rings, to Twilight and Game of Thrones. So
although you can have your fill of jousting, falconry and
other medieval shenanigans, Kryal is about as close as
many younglings will get to being in Hogwarts.
There’s a goodly investment in AV at the Kryal ‘front
end’. As visitors enter the castle they’re walked through a
variety of exhibits that serve to prepare them for what’s
to come. The Kryal back-story is retold by a Pepper’s
Ghost queen, some air-activated knights, an animatronic
dragon, and a king projected onto a tombstone.
The whole presentation including the lighting
(lighting design by Benjamin Cistern, with lighting
control from Dynalite) is controlled by a Medialon
system ably programmed by Interactive Controls.
The bigger picture — namely the look and feel of the
opening attraction – was overseen by Arterial Design.
Arterial’s Jamie Fergusson walks us through the setup
they call ‘The Dragon’s Labyrinth’: “Kryal has a long
history and many people have a preconception as to
what it is. It was our job to use the entry way to create
a initial fantasy experience and set up the adventure
within the castle walls.”
USHNAGH THE SHE-DRAGON
“We worked with Kryal and with a production company
to establish a story line about Kryal’s fantasy royal
family and the relationship with the dragon – they
wanted dragon fantasy elements to be strongly
portrayed around the castle. We developed a story and
laid it out through the existing architecture. It functions
like a walk-through theatrical experience, almost like a
walking ghost train, where you’re led through a series
of discrete areas.
“We’re using pretty traditional theatrical techniques:
show control and a mix of screens, projections, a
Pepper’s ghost and mirrored effects, along with physical
pneumatic animatronic effects timed to synchronise
with a soundtrack and video production.
“The Pepper’s ghost is something we put together
using a large LCD and standard glass to reflect the
image. Otherwise, we use existing wall, floor and
ceiling surfaces for projections, while in one of the
areas a tombstone provides a projection surface for
our talking king. In another space we acquired an offthe-peg animatronic dragon from China.
“Speakers are concealed within the sets, hidden in
alcoves or behind curtains. The show control triggers
solid-state media players for the audio.” 
Kryal Castle: kryalcastle.com.au
Interactive Controls (Medialon): (02) 9436 3022 or
www.interactivecontrols.com.au
Arterial Design: (03) 9482 6166 or
www.arterialdesign.com.au