The Heartstone Odyssey film and TV project launches at The Royal Observatory

On  May 13, 2015 ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’ Film and TV development project and the first ‘Chandra’s London’ installation on the London Underground at DLR Cutty Sark Station were both launched from the Royal Observatory Greenwich with special guests to open the event Nitin Ganatra, of East Enders fame and Barrie Osborne who joined the event by videocall from New Zealand. Also present was Ms Sangeeta Bahadur, Minister of Culture, Indian High Commission who was able to present how the Indian Government through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations is supporting the project and the launch they had provided from the home of the ICCR in London, the Nehru Centre. The Mayor of Southwark, Cllr Sunil Chopra spoke about the involvement of his borough and its playing a significant role for the London end of the development programme. Representatives for the Royal Observatory and Greenwich spoke about their involvement and Steve Helfet, DLR  Manager, described the installation which had just opened on Cutty Sark Station, the first of several to open on different stations across the network.

To lend atmosphere and to connect with the ‘Chandra’s London’ exhibition, some of those featured in the photostory from the Notting Hill Carnival and the Carnaval del Pueblo were present in their spectacular costumes.

The event opened with a dance performance by Sitakumari with readings to introduce the story by Nitin. On display after the show was the prototype app produced by Open Planet Software and the computer game produced by Abertay University. It was clear, even at this prototype stage, these were engaging and addictive for the children who were playing with both. A show in the Planetarium followed. Working directly from the book, the Observatory’s astronomers were able to create an enthralling show which took the audience back to 1796 to see what the sky would have looked like when Sailvoyage Stonekeeper set sail from India with his fragment of the Heartstone. They were then able to connect with various sections of the story, including the first moon landing, and then conclude with a visual picture of the sky at night at the time of the Third Night of the Blue Fire. Bringing to life the astronomical angle of the story, the show was second to none and further helped to blend reality with fantasy. The culmination of the evening was the videocall direct with Barrie in New Zealand who set out his vision for the development project which will see ‘The Heartstone Odyssey’ reaching both big and small screens over the next few years.

You can see a few photographs from the event below and examples of the concept art which has already been produced by artist Gurachi, based in San Francisco and India, and from Weta Workshop in New Zealand for the project.