The HEAD and the Seconds Hand

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The HEAD and the Seconds Hand - Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix
1 minute read
For the third year in a row, the Geneva University of Art and Design (HEAD) helps with the scenography of the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix (GPHG) awards ceremony. Once again, a break with convention will be the order of the day.

After the jingles to introduce each category in 2012 and 2013, the HEAD and the GPHG take things to the next level this year. The result is the story of a Seconds Hand that comes from space, told in six episodes in an imaginary world filled with elements that evoke the idea of time. In parallel, the staging will use new technologies such as mapping.

Jérôme Baratelli, head of the visual communication faculty at the famous university, explains that “students worked on both the images to be projected on to the structure of the stage and effects to increase the feeling of immersion created by the projections, such as the use of “gobos” (“goes before optics”), as well as light and smoke effects. The animations will be projected on to three screens above the stage and the steps leading up to it.”

Like the majority of projects entrusted to the HEAD students, this summer mission undertaken by a group of ten students was managed just as it would be if a professional production studio had done it. First there was a brainstorming session to come up with the graphical elements, then the group was subdivided into teams to handle the script, the creation of the décor, the characters and the different animation techniques. The Seconds Hand required over 1500 hours of work, resulting in the creation of six unique episodes, six moments of emotion, conceived as enchanting technological gift boxes that reflect the creativity of watchmaking that will be on display at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix on 31st October, which will be streamed live on Worldtempus.

This project is an important commitment for the HEAD, since watch design has become one of the major focuses in its Bachelor and Master programmes, with a specialist professorship in watch design – unique in Switzerland – to be inaugurated in autumn 2015.