PictureBox

Say Goodbye Pork Pie, Count Homogenised, and the Six Dollar Fifty Man to the average South African or Welsh rugby supporter here for the RWC and they’ll likely go to the next person for directions instead. Tell a Kiwi and they’ll get all “far away eyes”, nodding with a nostalgic grin.

A team of Wellington creatives and businesses are behind a stack of brightly coloured shipping containers on the waterfront showcasing the best of New Zealand on Screen as part of the REAL NZ festival.

The pimped up steel boxes are packed with interactive AV gear, allowing visitors to roll though and capture a medley of silverscreen and TV tasters using technology to be ‘in’ the experience. Adding to the nostalgic hark-backs are modern luminaries Peter Jackson, Flight of the Conchords and a great set of 26 NZ short films playing back to back.

The concept is packed together by star Wellington design outfits Storybox and Chrometoaster. A combination of smart ideas, generous sponsorship and some fabulous “can-do” by all involved, Storybox’s innovative shipping container platform has become the plugin for NZ on Screen with the idea to take a website offline and make it a physical experience.

Kinect motion sensor technology, QR-code controlled outdoor screens (i.e. your phone is the remote) and iPad screen capture all rolls together to put the visitor inside a package of collectibles from the best NZ film and television has to offer.

I hogged the screen capture tool, sending postcards of myself in various memorable screen moments to my Mum and neighbours. You could literally spend the whole day in this box tapping into some of these memories. The outside is blinged up by Resene’s colour swatches and Henshaw Signs, and has 24/7 outdoor screens  and QR codes to control them, making it interactive from the outside in.

It’s a wicked combo from some of the top design heads in the capital creating a new way to experience our best moving pictures.