Gallipoli - The First Day in 3D

[Squawk]

I just stumbled across this and thought others might be interested. It's pretty impressive and would be a useful tool for students of history, teachers and indeed, of interest to all patriotic Australians!

Winner of the inaugural AFI Award for Innovation in Screen Content 2009.

http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/gallipoli/


About Gallipoli the First Day
Gallipoli the first day was created when ABC Innovation producer Meena Tharmarajah saw the terrain at Anzac Cove and realised that seeing the terrain gave her a whole new perspective on the battle. She realised that you could use mapping technologies that are now available to tell the story of these events in a recreation of that environment, giving people a far deeper insight. It would be the next best thing to being there.

This germ of an idea became a reality with the launch of Flash 10 and its ability to support 3D. This site was built in a Flash 10 /Flex 3D environment and overall it runs in a browser. What this means, is that one simple download of Flash player allows you to experience the full richness of this site and its contents.

The Map
The 3D Map of the peninsula was built using topographic data taken from 1916 Turkish maps. Surveys of all the Gallipoli battlefields were made in 1916 by the Turkish Mapping Directorate under Brigadier General Mehmet Şevki Paşa and 43 maps were made. As the data is true to the period our 3D map doesn’t show contemporary building developments and roads. Sydney University Archaeology Department then supplied the GIS data used to shape and create the terrain topography.

The Story in 3D
The scenes that tell the story of the day were created in 3D using Cinema4D software. The models of soldiers and objects that populate these scenes were meticulously created for Gallipoli by Plastic Wax, Sydney, based on photographs and descriptions recorded at Gallipoli. Melbourne based sound designer and composer Roberto Salvatore recorded authentic artillery preserved by Fort Queenscliff Museum in Victoria to create a dramatic backdrop against which the story is told by acclaimed Australian actress Lucy Bell. Throughout the landscape, other voices permeate: that of those who were there. The men who survived the horrifying slaughter of the first day record the events they experienced in diaries, and letters. They are respectfully given voice by a cast of talented actors, including one of Australia’s finest, Hugo Weaving.

The Experts
Harvey Broadbent is a well known authority on the Gallipoli campaign. He carefully supervised the collection of information, strategy and detail about the events of the day to ensure accuracy and offer an even handed telling of events from both sides. His in depth understanding of the day’s events allowed us to plot the course of events and movement of people across the terrain and drawn connections in an entirely new way. In addition, video interviews conducted for the ABC by Harvey with Gallipoli veterans in the 1980s form an integral part of this story and segments are available throughout the site as video files. This site also uses authentic source photographs, maps and records from a number of leading institutions including the Australian War Memorial and the Turkish General Staff Archives in Ankara.


What's inside Gallipoli: The First Day:
3D Flash Documentary
ANZAC Landing in 3D
Many of us know something of the story of Gallipoli, celebrated every ANZAC day. The WW1 landings and the ensuing eight month campaign are landmark events in Australian military and social history. Use a timeline to explore a 3D Map of the Gallipoli peninsula, or play the story of the day in chapters.

Campaign Overview
Understand how the events of 25 April 1915 relate to the broader context of the Gallipoli Campaign.

Personnel
Gallipoli: The First Day brings a completely new perspective and understanding to the extraordinary events of the first hours of the campaign. Learn about key Ottoman and British soldiers as well as ANZAC diggers.

Military Hardware
World War One artillery and vessels played an important part in the outcome of the battle on the first day.

Narrowband Content
Google Earth
Those with less bandwidth can use Google Earth to experience the key events of the day, geo-located on the modern Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey.
Explore Gallipoli in Google Earth

Historical Analysis
Troop movements and the significance of crucial events as they played out on the battlefield.
Read Historical Analysis

About The Project
How the project was created in a Flash/Flex environment, the experts involved and the ABC team.