Stunning video of the 600th anniversary (11.10.02010) celebration for Prague's Astronomical Clock [SLYT]

October 13, 2010 1:07 PM

I doubt if you've seen anything like this before...
posted by treyka (41 comments total)

No, actually, I've been to Vegas.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2010

We have, twice.

Still pretty amazing technology, though.
posted by empath at 1:11 PM on October 13, 2010

I think the bar downtown does this last Friday of every month. Though it's still pretty cool.
posted by GuyZero at 1:13 PM on October 13, 2010

I wish I lived in this magical world where hundreds of people turn out to celebrate a clock's birthday.
posted by theodolite at 1:13 PM on October 13, 2010 [6 favorites]

For those wondering what the mystery meat is, it's a (admittedly awesome) light+sound effects show at the Prague Astronomical Clock.
posted by griphus at 1:14 PM on October 13, 2010

That is to say on the Prague Astronomical Clock.
posted by griphus at 1:14 PM on October 13, 2010

Sorry, in my haste I didn't make clear what, exactly, I was linking to. First post, sorry...thought it was clearly indicated from what I saw in the preview.
posted by treyka at 1:16 PM on October 13, 2010

This is treyka's first post so perhaps he was unaware that most users won't see the title of the post. It is pretty confusing.

This is an amazing post. I like the guy at the beginning saying "That was so anticlimactic..."
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:16 PM on October 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

There ought to be a mandatory 'when to use the flash' training course when you buy a camera. Not only will the flash not help capture the effect, it actually harms it for everyone, the picture taker included.
posted by jedicus at 1:17 PM on October 13, 2010 [20 favorites]

...and I didn't bother looking at the name of the hyperlink or the title before realizing that. It's a great post, treka. I especially love the wireframe effects at the beginning that make it look like it's materializing like something in a JRPG.
posted by griphus at 1:19 PM on October 13, 2010

Came here to say what jedicus said. I wish I could shove every one of those cameras down their owners throats.
posted by photoslob at 1:24 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Oh WOW. I just posted something super similar to this. This is a huge coincidence!
posted by fantodstic at 1:27 PM on October 13, 2010

That was awesome!
posted by interrobang at 1:32 PM on October 13, 2010

Beautiful! Are the different scenes all stages of clock history, or are some just lovely images?
posted by theredpen at 1:32 PM on October 13, 2010

It's awesome, Treyka – thanks.
posted by Wataki at 1:35 PM on October 13, 2010

I enjoyed it all the way up until they put the URL of the people who made the display. Talk about taking a dump on your own masterpiece.
posted by crunchland at 1:41 PM on October 13, 2010

Can anyone walk me through some of the symbolism in that presentation? I'm sure it had references czech history but it was all kind of lost on me.
posted by Baby_Balrog at 1:45 PM on October 13, 2010

Talk about taking a dump on your own masterpiece.
posted by griphus at 1:47 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

That was really fucking cool.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:50 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Well, I'm not surprised. Those Czechs are something else. They had the best pavilion at Expo '67 in Montreal, a combination of cinema and live action.
posted by kozad at 1:51 PM on October 13, 2010

Um, holy shit. Insanely cool.
posted by dbiedny at 1:52 PM on October 13, 2010

I really like this technology and have seen it several times before. However, each time it begins to feel a little bit more samey. It looks like there are a few standard tropes, probably stock effects of the software, that are trotted out each time: vines growing up the walls, walls exploding outward, etc.

I liked the parts specific to the event, like the war, marching soldiers... for these displays to remain compelling, they're going to have to move beyond effects for their own sake and onto relevant, compelling effects and narratives. Preferably designed by an artist. I felt parts of this one were a little cheesy for such a beautiful artifact.
posted by gilrain at 1:54 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

How good was it that they inaugurated the clock of 10/10/1410, so that every centennial since fell on a cool date...

Czech It Out! (sorry)
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:58 PM on October 13, 2010

I can't wait to see how they top this on the 700th anniversary!
posted by mazola at 2:03 PM on October 13, 2010 [2 favorites]

Great stuff!

At the end you can see this web address projected: www.themacula.com. It's the folks who did the videomapping. There are other videos of various projects they've done. Here's their vimeo page.
posted by ericb at 2:04 PM on October 13, 2010

That's gorgeous! Thank you!
posted by SaharaRose at 2:05 PM on October 13, 2010

"How good was it that they inaugurated the clock of 10/10/1410, so that every centennial since fell on a cool date..."

It's even neater when you consider that the Gregorian Calendar wasn't adopted until 1582. So if they stuck with the old Julian system that was the standard when the clock was built, it's 600th anniversary would have fallen on a different, less cool date.

The light show is really nice, but it's even nicer that a building has managed to survive that long without being burned out or bombed or knocked down for something newer. Six centuries!
posted by Kevin Street at 2:14 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

Kozad - I was too young to go to Montreal Expo but my parents returned home absolutely RAVING about the Czech Pavilion - something about a slatted projection screen with live performers moving in and out of the projected image?
posted by twsf at 2:18 PM on October 13, 2010

Well, I've seen that clock, but it wasn't doing anything like that when I was there. Clearly I had not taken enough acid.

Cool.
posted by Decani at 2:25 PM on October 13, 2010

Oh WOW. I just posted something super similar to this. This is a huge coincidence!

Just be glad you didn't use the text "I doubt if you've seen anything like this before... "
posted by smackfu at 2:41 PM on October 13, 2010

That was amazing! Can't say much more than that.
posted by KaizenSoze at 3:05 PM on October 13, 2010

Here's a better version of the video.
posted by crunchland at 3:45 PM on October 13, 2010 [4 favorites]

That is really cool. Think of how we could reinvigorate history lessons with this kind of technology. However, I do wish people weren't spoiling it with all of their camera flashes!
posted by delicate_dahlias at 5:00 PM on October 13, 2010

The light show is really nice, but it's even nicer that a building has managed to survive that long without being burned out or bombed or knocked down for something newer.

The light show actually referenced some of the damage the building and clock faced in its history:

"The Orloj suffered heavy damage on May 7 and especially May 8, 1945, during the Prague Uprising, when Germans directed incendiary fire from several armored vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun to the south-west side of the Old Town Square in an effort to silence the provocative broadcasting initiated by the National Committee on May 5. The hall and nearby buildings burned along with the wooden sculptures on the Orloj and the calendar dial face made by Josef Mánes. The machinery was repaired, the wooden Apostles restored by Vojtěch Sucharda, and the Orloj started working again in 1948, but only after significant effort."*

posted by ericb at 5:12 PM on October 13, 2010

Here's a better version of the video.

That's the Vimeo video posted by the folks at themacula.com who were behind this project (mentioned above).
posted by ericb at 5:17 PM on October 13, 2010

Don't suppose they did a dry run at 3:00 AM without telling anyone who had a camera?
posted by IndigoJones at 5:22 PM on October 13, 2010 [1 favorite]

How do you test something like this without spoiling it for the populace? Block off the streets for blocks around every night? Build a scale model and hope it matches up to the real thing?
posted by Evilspork at 5:23 PM on October 13, 2010

Very cool! I do agree with crunchland on the URL at the end, although it looks like there were a whole lot more logos and such thrown up at the end after that.

Treyka, looks like you flipped the "post title" and "link text" fields on your post. Easy rookie mistake. Good first post!
posted by me3dia at 7:24 PM on October 13, 2010

My 6 yr old and 8 yr old (and myself) were glued to the video, thanks for the post.
posted by analogtom at 9:27 PM on October 13, 2010

Nice find. Mesmerizing.
posted by IvoShandor at 9:48 PM on October 13, 2010

Just. WOW. This is the sort of thing my country would try to do, spend years planning, and then stuff up at the last minute.

Yeah, I said it, Sydney Olympics Opening Ceremony. Too soon?
posted by obiwanwasabi at 1:03 AM on October 14, 2010