The Train of Many Stations

The Train of Many Stations is an interactive installation-in-progress coming to you from a team of third and second-year students at Massey University! It’s a piece of art that combines technology, animation, physical production and a few other bits and pieces to create an experience that has never been seen before. 

About

Set in a humble train carriage, the installation takes the audience on a trip through several worlds that are dreamlike, larger-than-life, and most importantly, virtual. You’d typically see an exploration of animated spaces like this in a VR headset, but The Train of Many Stations brings this from a displaced-feeling, disorienting solo adventure into a journey that feels like something you could only dream of. Mushroom forests, wild west towns, floating islands and more can be explored as you travel from station to station.

Why?

As students that come from a variety of pathways that each have unique passions and skillsets, this is a collaborative work that none of us could have expected having the opportunity to work on. It’s very experimental, especially in the realm of Massey’s CMP major projects and considering the level of emerging technology we’re engaging with. Despite this, we have utmost confidence that we can do it justice, and make the support from our fellow students, staff, and supporters (that’s you!) worth it. 

Our team is so excited to make a project that feels as special as this, and we genuinely want our audience to feel as excited as we are when they step into the train for the first time. As something of an antithesis to the cabin fever many of us have felt for over a year now due to COVID-19 and its resulting lockdowns, The Train of Many Stations can restore the joy that comes from being able to travel across the world - all from a single stationary train carriage.

Budget Breakdown

We’re asking our supporters to help us raise $4000 to aid in the production of our installation. The resources that we have access to as Massey students are excellent and do help with lowering production costs, but we do have a cost primarily associated with the physical elements of the installation. We’ll also be fundraising further into the lifespan of the project to help with additional costs.

Set

Our set is the home of our installation, and the foremost thing that our audience interacts with. Taking inspiration from the trains in our media references such as Spirited Away, our train carriage has a classic, recognisable design that really encourages you to relax and enjoy the journey. We’re building it from scratch, and want to make it as safe and polished as possible. This is where around $3500 of our budget goes towards.

Hardware

Our hardware is the element that will determine whether or not we can show how truly breathtaking our different worlds are, and will explicitly bring them to a tangible reality.

Digital + Audio Assets

These are what will add that little extra something to each of our worlds. We’re planning to outsource our music to ensure that it matches the high quality of the rest of our project, and the additional digital assets we purchase will add to the toolbox of awesome stuff that our modellers can work with.

The Team

Third Years

Hannah Williamson - Producer

Cate Munt - Art Director

Thomas Williams - Technical Director

Shaye Brown - Lead VFX Artist

Phillip Halpin - Lead Modeller

Liam Edginton - Lead Modeller

Second Years

James Checketts - Production Assistant

Emma Ward - Production Assistant

Abbey Crawford - Tech Assistant

Callie Hsieh - 3D Modeller

Anaru Puketapu - 3D Modeller

Charlotte Wilson - 3D Modeller

Matthew Barber - 3D Modeller

Jacob Karam - 3D Modeller