media intersects
humanity

Sanan Media is a film & interactive multimedia production company based in New York City, with installations in three continents. We create innovative media to get to the hearts & minds of visitors at museums, aquariums, planetariums and landmark architectural spaces.

We aspire to make our creations beautiful, fun and deceptively simple, utilizing novel approaches and almost always pushing the technology in new directions. We produce dramatic, documentary and animated films, multiscreen Pepper's ghost installations, individual immersive experiences and group interactive theaters.

After hundreds of projects spanning two decades, our installations continue to attract millions of visitors, inspiring current and future generations of marine biologists, physicians, chemists, physicists, astronomers, poets and artists.

Shortcuts to Nature

PERMANENT FILM INSTALLATION — 4 WORLD TRADE CENTER — New York city

Sanan Media, in collaboration with Thinc Design, created three media installations for the lobby of 4 World Trade Center. Facing the 9/11 Memorial, the 24-foot-tall installations immerse the visitors in nature, light and tranquility.

Clouds float peacefully in the north corridor, revealing friendly pockets of blue sky in the background. Suspended water drops fall in unison in the south corridor, merging waterfalls from around the globe. Sun plays light games in the forests of the world as rays gracefully fan through the central corridor.

MEDIUM

Film on LED Panel Wall with Diffusion Screen

DIMENSIONS

3 Lobby Corridor Installations, Each 10 Feet Wide x 24 Feet Tall

DURATION

3 x 48=Minute Loops

Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code

Permanent & touring film Installation — Smithsonian Institute — North America — NIH

Smithsonian Institution opened a new gallery at the National Museum of Natural History for the 60th anniversary of the discovery of DNA structure. Sanan Media created the introduction film, a playful crash course on the basics of DNA and genomics, shown on two screens that form the core of the gallery.

Working with leading scientists at the National Human Genome Research Institute, taking a novel cut-paper graphic approach, foregoing traditional narration for text, music and sound design, it was possible to create an intuitive experience that offers visitors a glimpse into the complex world of molecular biology.

Exhibit design is by Evidence Design, fabrication is by Design & Production. Photographs of the installation are courtesy of Evidence Design.

MEDIUM

Rear Projected Film on Two Oval Screens

DIMENSIONS

8 Feet on the Major Axis

DURATION

5 Minutes

Solar

Films for Online Distribution — USES — Worldwide

Borrowing strategies from our documentary feature film in development on solar power, carrying our signature playful style, this series of shorts portrays the value of our star (the sun) from a new perspective. Going against the convention, we don’t make a big deal out of the environmental advantages, as we don’t want to preach to the choir. Instead, we aim for local boards that value other incentives. Three short films: Paradigm Shifts, 1+4+5=10, Small Steps.

MEDIUM

Widescreen Video

SPECS

3 Films in 4K Resolution

DURATION

1 Minute Each

Experience Light

PERMANENT FILM INSTALLATION — Eindhoven, the Netherlands

Installation celebrating different attributes of light, created in collaboration with Thinc Design. In the minimalist cubic space, an LED strip weaves through three walls and the ceiling, at times portraying film media and at other times acting as a pure light source. Three projection screens interwoven with the LED strips help tell the story progressing from natural to artificial sources. Site photographs and video are courtesy of Thinc Design.

MEDIUM

3 Walls with Front Projection, 3 Walls & Ceiling with LED Panels

DIMENSIONS

7 Meters Wide
7 Meters Deep
5 Meters Tall

DURATION

8 Minutes 51 Seconds

Chaldean Cultural Center

Permanent Film & INteractive installations — Chaldean Cultural Center — Michigan

Chaldeans are the indigenous people of current day Iraq, going back to ancient Mesopotamia and Babylon in 1750 BC. Great innovators in many subjects including math, design and astronomy, they still speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ. Sanan Media created all the film, immersive and interactive media for this first Chaldean Museum in the world. Exhibit design is by Saylor+Sirola.

In the Ancient gallery, the code of Hammurabi (oldest known laws) is revealed in an immersive experience. The physical stele comes alive as the transliteration and translation of each law appear below the fingertips of the visitors. Babylon interactive highlights the Chaldean achievements in different fields, including an interpretation of the oldest map ever discovered.

Faith gallery spotlights the importance of religion and the Aramaic language to the Chaldeans with interactive experiences.

Village gallery features a physical replica of a typical home from the old country, where artifacts like a sifter, mortar & pestle, gas stove, pans, rosary and children’s toys are visible on the floor and the walls. When visitors peek through a window, with a spatial-3D immersive experience, villagers magically and faintly appear in the middle of the home as they use one of the key artifacts. When the random and brief interaction with the artifact is over, that object remains subtly highlighted in the now-unoccupied home.

In the Coming to America gallery, documents from four different immigration periods come to life as interactive experiences as the holders of the documents, passports or certificates appear and talk about the journey from the old country.

Being great farmers, Chaldeans initially excelled in grocery stores, first drawn to Michigan due to the jobs available in the auto industry. An immersive experience juxtaposes old photographs with the funny memories from running the mom & pop stores.

In Chaldeans Today gallery, a spatial 3D immersive experience gives the viewers glimpses into the lives, professions and passions of modern-day Chaldeans from the Detroit area.

MEDIUM

LED Panels, Half Mirrors, Touch-Enabled LED Screens

SPECS

2 Immersive Experiences
2 Spatial 3-D Films
7 Interactives

DURATION

45 Minutes

Question Power

PERMANENT Film INSTALLATION — science Museum of virginia

At the current rate, all our finite power sources will run out within this century. We explore different power sources with a new perspective: the potential to meet the full world demand in the long run.

MEDIUM

LED Panel

DIMENSIONS

42” Diagonal

DURATION

6 Minutes

Space-Time-Nature Continuum

PERMANENT FILM INSTALLATIONS — RAFFLES CITY CHONGQING, CHINA

Located at the confluence of Yangtze and Jialing rivers, Raffles City Chongqing, is a new 7-tower office and residential complex, designed by Safdie Architects. Reflecting on the city’s rich maritime history buildings mimic sails of a ship. Sanan Media, shooting solely in the Chongqing province, created 3 film-based and 5 photography-based immersive experiences for the main lobbies of the towers, with Thinc Design doing the exhibit design.

When mindful, we observe our world in three spatial dimensions, left-right, up-down (elevators), forward-back. With the addition of time, the 4th dimension, we reach space-time continuum, with which Albert Einstein showed how intertwined space and time are in the universe. Here we take a bit of artistic freedom to assume a 5th dimension: nature. We quantify evolution of life in a linear way, extending into the new dimension. Thus, our Space-Time-Nature Continuum explores nature in unique spaces in Chongqing, with differing flows of time.

MEDIUM

Film on LED Panel Wall with Diffusion Screen

DIMENSIONS

3.95 x 3.75 Meters
3.4 x 3.75 Meters
3.4 x 3.75 Meters

DURATION

3 x 10-Minute Loops

Introduction(s)

Film for Online Distribution — worldwide

Only figuratively speaking, hitting two birds with one stone. No animals were harmed.

MEDIUM

Widesreen Video

SPECS

4K Resolution

DURATION

1.5 Minutes

Gateway to the World

Theatrical Feature DOCUMENTARY film — NauticuS

Container ships crisscross the oceans, ports expand with new cranes arriving fully assembled from halfway around the world, train engines pull miles of cars, drydocks levitate giant vessels. A film on the choreography of transportation, exploring Norfolk’s role as a gateway to the world.

MEDIUM

Film Projected on a Moving Screen

DIMENSIONS

40 Feet Wide
22.5 Feet Tall

DURATION

43 Minutes

Light Bulbs

Short Film — Science Museum of Virginia

A short film on art appreciation and on how sometimes light bulbs go off in the minds of children that “get” art for the first time.

MEDIUM

Video Component for an Interactive

SPECS

4K Resolution

DURATION

3 Minutes 55 Seconds

Ocean Exploration

Immersive Installations & interactives — Mystic Aquarium, connecticut

Sanan Media created 6 immersive films and 9 interactives for Dr. Robert Ballard’s Institute For Exploration in Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut.

First film below is a tribute to R.M.S. Titanic and Dr. Ballard's discovery and exploration.

Just the floating camera and the music tell the story with no need for narration. As extended shots reveal different parts of the ship, a wireframe animation orients us and historic photographs display each section during construction. Viewers feel like they are floating at 12,000 feet depth in the North Atlantic.

This multiscreen film utilizes a modified Pepper's Ghost technology. Through synchronized projections of media layers onto a front scrim and a rear screen, viewers experience what we call a Spatial 3D effect, without needing to wear special glasses.

Life at 12,000 feet depth, in total darkness, relying on chemosynthesis instead of photosynthesis is featured in this multiscreen film, Hydrothermal Vents.

During a scientific expedition there are rare "wow" moments, that come after hours of diving and exploring. In this film audience floats through many such moments, coupled with cockpit audio of scientists showing their initial excitement in discovering something new.

This multiscreen film utilizes a modified Pepper's Ghost technology. Through synchronized projections of media layers onto a front scrim and a rear screen, viewers experience what we call a Spatial 3D effect, without needing to wear special glasses.

MEDIUM

Projection on Perforated Front Screen, Projection on Rear Screen in Standard Definition Video

Front Projection on Touchscreen Material and Switchable Glass Capable of Revealing the Physical Artifacts Located Upstage

DIMENSIONS

12 x 9 x 6 Feet for 6 Films
4 x 4 x 4 Feet for 9 Interactives

DURATION

4 Minutes for Each Film
1-4 Minutes for Interactives
36-60 Minutes in Total

Nature Mort Not

PERMANENT FILM INSTALLATION — four seasons Hotel George V — Paris, France

Immersive installation spanning different regions of the globe, throughout the seasons, where nature is very much alive.

MEDIUM

Ultra-Widescreen 18-Panel LED Wall in 8K Resolution

DIMENSIONS

7.2 Meters Wide
2.2 Meters Tall

DURATION

17 Minutes

Universe of Science

Interactive Media — Museum of science & History — jacksonville, Florida

Buoyancy, Elasticity, Energy, Gravity, Magnetism, Mechanics and Pendulum are some of the interactive experiences at this Universe of Science exhibit, Children of all ages and experts give candid responses to questions that come to mind in observing physical phenomena.

9 Interactives in the Universe of Science.

MEDIUM

Interactive CRT Monitors

SPECS

9 Experiences
Each 19 Inches in Diagonal

DURATION

54 Minutes

Design X

IMMERSIVE SPATIAL 3-D MULTIPLAYER THEATER — NAUTICUS

When you enter the Design X theater, together with 50 people you are transported back to the dawn of World War II. Imperial Japan and Germany are breaking the London Treaty rules by secretly building bigger and faster battleships.

Together with the rest of the audience and the actors on stage you have to make decisions on how to proceed with the design of a new class of battleships. Code name is Battleship X, and the general board of the navy better like the selections you make.

This multiscreen film utilizes a modified Pepper's Ghost technology. Through synchronized projections of media layers onto a front scrim and a rear screen, viewers experience what we call a Spatial 3D effect without needing to wear special glasses.

Design X is a group interactive media in a theatrical setting featuring actors at stage forward as well as between the Spatial 3D screens.

MEDIUM

Downstage Physical Theatrical Set, Standard Definition Projection on Perforated Front Screen, Upstage Theatrical Set Between the Screens, Standard Definition Projection on Rear Screen, Interactive Inputs at 50 Seats, Live Actors

DIMENSIONS

25 Feet Wide
12 Feet Tall
25 Feet Deep

DURATION

12-60 Minutes

Watt Wall

Media wall INSTALLATION — Science Museum of Virginia

A media wall installation at the Science Museum of Virginia featuring dozens of counters on power demand, power generation, population growth and our environmental impact. Question Power video is also shown as the driving element in one of the 16 screens.

MEDIUM

4 x 4 Grid of Plasma Monitors, Live Data

DIMENSIONS

12.5 Feet Wide
8 Feet Tall

DURATION

12-Minute Loop

Momentum

Photography INSTALLATION — New York City

Grouping of ordinary humans with ordinary features that have tremendous momentum as they go from point A to point B. Although all have their public faces, as they flow between those points, it is the tiny insignificant details that reveal the person in front of and behind the lens. Rest of the world is abstracted purely with the motion of the camera.

MEDIUM

Pigment Print on Archival Fiber Paper

DIMENSIONS

13 1/2 x 20 Inches

DURATION

Less Than 1 Second

RouteXpert

iPhone app on apple store — worldwide

First-ever GPS tour app for U.S. railroads, RouteXpert turns your train rides into GPS-guided multimedia experiences. Enjoy automatically-triggered audio commentary, real-time map positioning, photographs and text on waypoints that are roughly one mile apart, as your train moves along the route. A manual mode offers a similar experience even when you are not on a train, or lets you skip ahead/back when you are on the train.

MEDIUM

iPhone App with Photography, Voice Over, Text and Live Map Interface

SPECS

350 MB

DURATION

148 Commentary Points, on average, 45 Seconds Each