A cosmic rollercoaster ride through “The Omnicentric Universe” is taking place in the school’s own Planetarium Gazing into the dark matter of space, drifting into a timeless abyss, a bright glowing streak of light breaks the mysterious calmness into many little particles that begin to dance crossways and gracefully float across the audience.
Then, out of nowhere, the crowd begins flying through an object created in an omnicetric universe while being serenaded with an out of this world score, all while in their comfortable seats at GCC’s planetarium.
Originator J.Walt Adamczyk gives a ride through a magical 3-D universe in an exciting new live performance known as virtual reality performance, called “The Omnicentric Universe, a Spontaneous Fantasia.”
Adamczyk’s new original show is a 3-D digital canvas allowing him to conduct the creation of a new world at the tips of his hands.
Thirty minutes prior to the show, Adamczyk executes a rehearsal where he loosens up both his imagination and body by performing a test run over his equipment. “The heart of this new show takes place on this planet I created over here,” he said, as he controls flight from one tip of the galaxy to another.
Using one hand on the tablet and the other to control the movement, he zooms into his planet and begins to carve out canyons and oceans, and paints the planet with colors of uncharted land where he then applies the valleys.
“This section of the piece I am drawing landscape. I am actually drawing the mountains here, then drawing the water in here,” he said.
An expert in digital puppetry and animation, Adamczyk graduated from USC and Cal-Arts and is highly reputable in his production skills, previously working along side numerous companies such as Disney and Sony, major theme parks and video game companies. With all this on his plate it is amazing he finds time to create this visual Kindle that not only satisfies the eyes but leaves your brain in a 3-D rollercoaster.
“I created interface that allows me to draw in 3-D and move around in 3-D. It is very improvisational, very gestural. I can go anywhere from the purely abstract to create a whole environment with creatures and plants,” said Adamczyk, who has been performing live since 2003.
During the show the environment was calm and cozy, the firm seats automatically leaned back to give viewers a more relaxed view of the planetarium ceiling. The audience giggled out of excitement at times, as well as gasped with awe during the shows stimulating moments where colorful shapes intermix with each other leaving behind a magnificent view. At times it has similar elements to the newly popular 3-D films in movie theatres, with comets flying towards the audinece’s face . minus the annoying glasses.
The greatest part about “A Spontaneous Fantasia” is the fact that it is an improvised show, which automatically implies the high risk of adding more drama and excitement, which is expected at any performance in front of an audience.
“The fun of doing things in real time is you can explore and create. It didn’t get translated into a movie or into something that’s fixed and always repeats . I realized live performance [is] a lot more exciting,” said Adamczyk. Having that showmanship and talent, can be technological considered a renaissance man who finds it rewarding to perform for people.
Concluding the performance, Adamczyk hosts a few moments of Q-and-A where he willingly takes a number of questions for his audience to get a more in-depth idea of the man and the magic.
“The show was better then a movie!” said Cherrymay Yau, a 10th grader at Crescenta Valley High School. “The fact that it wasn’t meant to be 3-D makes it even cooler because you really feel like you’re flying. In a 3-D movie you adapt and know what’s going to happen.”
“The Omnicentric Universe, A Spontaneous Fantasia” will be performing Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. and Oct. 24 at 6:30 p.m.
For more on Adamczyk’s virtual reality performance tour, visit www.spontaneousfantasia.com
