By Susan Twombly, Oct. 2008
In the first-ever digital artistry reality show, some of the most inventive young minds are using HP gear to accelerate creativity and amplify how digital technology can bring art to life.
Engine Room – a seven-week series brought to you by MTV, mtvU and HP – gives four teams of talented digital artists from around the world a chance to show off their cutting-edge digital art skills in a bid for global bragging rights, technology products and $US400,000 in cash.
Team group shot in Engine Room |
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Engine Room is filmed in a Brooklyn, New York loft that’s decked out with cutting-edge, high-performance HP personal computer, imaging and printing products.
Each week, these products unleash the 16 contestants’ digital art skills as the teams work to beat the clock and master a new creative challenge – from animation, filmmaking and sound mixing to web and graphic design.
To secure a coveted spot on one of four Engine Room teams, contestants answered an online casting call that drew close to 20,000 works of original art from nearly 2,000 artists across more than 111 countries. A panel of iconic artists, musicians, filmmakers, celebrities and innovators judge the weekly competitions, launched on September 15th.
In addition to cash and technology prizes – and the exposure of showcasing their works on a global on-air and online MTV stage – winners get one night’s programming control of MTV’s HD screen in Times Square.
Team Asia-Pac working on a project |
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It takes a lot of compute power to plough through any digital content creation task. That’s especially true on Engine Room, when tasks that would normally take professionals months to do must be done within a matter of days, or even hours.
With each episode, the dreams, drama and trauma ensue as the teams face what could be impossible challenges without the HP PCs, printers, workstations and communication tools that bring their visions to life.
High-performance PCs, workstations and notebooks power the stop-animation challenges seen in week four and the music mash ups in week three. HP DreamColor displays help keep colors consistent, from the artist’s vision to the screen and the printers that deliver the brilliant results. Smartphones and handhelds keep the team connected for video talks, voice messaging and “phone a friend” chats.
Through it all, the teams rely on HP technology to showcase their creativity as they vie to set their creative visions apart from the rest.
Teams during judging
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You can check out Engine Room in the U.S. on mtvU (MTV’s college network) and on MTV channels around the world. You can also view it online in nine languages from the Engine Room website or download episodes to your mobile.
Be sure to watch the final episode on October 27th, when the “best of the best” battle ends and the winners are announced. Then, check out how HP technology can make your raw talent really cook.
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