AMBROSIA: The Land of Discovery and Light – Ringling College of Art and Design

A 16-week Project – January 2022 – April 2022

Hello, I am Matthew Morgan, and I created this project as my Senior Illustration Thesis at Ringling College of Art and Design.

The Spark

My senior thesis project was ignited by two simple questions. Why do we believe our wishes will come true when we wish upon a star? and When did this notion of wishing on falling stars arise?

I created AMBROSIA to be an extension to an already existing theme park. It is a themed land that is centered around its nighttime spectacular. I wanted to create a story that no one has heard before, and that would also answer the question as to WHY we wish on falling stars? Through research and creative thinking The Astronomer’s Secret: A Nighttime Spectacular was born and it is the story that encompasses the theme of the land. As an entertainment designer, I wanted to create a thesis project that was not only entertaining but also educational. Throughout this new experience, you will learn about the ancient world of Alexandria, Egypt, and immerse yourself into a historical fiction original story. Guests will be reminded that all of our wishes can come true by believing in the light that lives within us all, and the importance of sharing our light with the people around us.

Research

The first person to say to wish upon a falling star was the ancient astronomer Claudius Ptolemy, who lived in ancient Alexandria, Egypt around 120 A.D. Ptolemy told the world that when the gods were bored or curious, they would peak down on Earth opening up the heavenly spheres in the night sky making the stars fall through the gaps. In this moment the gods would be more susceptible to hearing the human’s wishes and answering them.

Claudius Ptolemy also dedicated his early studies of astronomy to an individual by the name of Syrus. To this day no one knows exactly who Syrus was, history assumes that they were a teacher to Ptolemy, but Syrus remains a mystery.

A lot of research went into the project, studying architecture, the way of life, culture, and pivotal moments in Ancient Alexandria’s history which helped me create an authentic story and world.

Below is a trailer as to what to expect in the land of AMBROSIA

The Story within the Land

As guest enter into the land of AMBROSIA they are transported into a nebula (space rocks and dust) that comes together to create the lost but not forgotten Great Library of Alexandria.

The land is created by a space civilization whom Syrus is a part of. They are called Maven’s, named by the humans on Earth because of their all-knowing aspects of the universe. Human’s perceived Maven’s as gods. Syrus is one of them. They travel space on meteors collecting light to ignite new stars. The Maven’s live in nebulae where new stars are created but one day their home nebula began being consumed by darkness and the light from within it was vanishing. They needed to find a new source of light to illuminate their home, so they began their voyage throughout space. Which led them to finding a beacon of light coming from Earth.

SYRUS (sigh-rus)

The unknown Syrus that Claudius Ptolemy dedicated his early astronomy work to comes to life in the Nighttime Spectacular, The Astronomer’s Secret. Syrus is part of the Mavens. Since her arrival on Earth, Syrus has become a scribe and a scholar in astronomy, living within the Great Library. She got stuck on Earth after losing her amulet, the source that holds her power that is held within the center of her chest. She lost it the night Caeser attacked Alexandria’s harbor, the day darkness consumed Alexandria. Her amulet is the heart of her powers and ever since she lost it her light has been fading. She must dress as a human to cover her Maven form because the humans believe the Mavens that were on Earth stole the light from within the Great Library, abandoning the planet. Her ultimate goal now as she’s been studying for decades stuck on Earth for a solution, is to find a spark within a human and have them make a wish in hopes that the light from within could be shared to ignite the Maven’s home once again.

The Great Library of Alexandria

As you walk into the land you enter into the Great Library of Alexandria and greeted by an armillary sphere that is encircled with scrolls from the library. This center piece in the library metaphorically depicts to guests that the Great Library is filled with the world’s knowledge. It is a place where scholars from all around the world gathered to study and dream. The glowing orb in the center represents the light within people on Earth, being the beacon.

Throughout the land, you will see space rocks wrapping around the Egyptian architecture. This visual storytelling is to represent that the land of AMBROSIA is a nebula- a formation of space, dust, and debris.

PTOLEMY (tall-em-ee)

Ptolemy’s father, a merchant who works in the port, tells Ptolemy a myth about the Mavens when he is very young. He is given an amulet that is supposedly from the lost Maven. His father tells him to keep it as a reminder that no one can steal the light from within him as long as he believes in himself. This ignites his dream of learning more about the Mavens and why they abandoned Earth. The Myth of the Mavens fascinated Ptolemy, and he grew up gazing at the stars, studying past astronomers’ work, wondering what more he could discover.

The Port of Alexandria

Here is a basic block out of the Port Section of the land which is to the right of the Library’s Section… image for reference

 

In the Port section of the land an ancient ship ride through the Mediterranean is taken by guests. The sails are made of nebula net a see-through scrim that allows for a magical moment when the constellations come to life (by projections) right in front of the guests’ eyes as they look through the sails into the night sky.

Creating the Weenie of the Land

The Lighthouse would use forced perspective. The Lighthouse of Alexandria is also known as the Pharos of Alexandria. It is one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World. It was built around 280 BCE and is said to have been over 350 feet tall. The base was a square sloping inward, the next level was octagonal, and the top was cylindrical with a statue at its peak. The lighthouse illuminated the harbor acting as a beacon to incoming ships finding their way in the darkness. When envisioning the land of Ambrosia, the lighthouse was a staple, as it is a symbol of destination that became the “weenie” of the land.

The materials and paint used would all be weather protected so that it could last long and not lose its vibrant colors throughout years. Also taking into consideration that projection mapping would occur on top of this structure, to keep in mind the type of paint used to have and show the best projections possible.

The Stage

When designing the amphitheater, cohesion with the land was important. The stage is an ancient lecture hall, appropriate for the time, with an added amphitheater to hold a bigger audience. I purposely chose to have the amphitheater flow down into the water of the land to metaphorically represent the fall of the Great Library over the course of history.

 

The Nighttime Spectacular

At Ringling College, Illustration senior thesis’s must be in the format of a book. On the sides of the pages, you will be able to see the screenshots I used from my SketchUp model to illustrate on top of. I wanted to challenge myself by learning how to use Sketchup and Enscape for this project so that I could use them as a base for my illustrations.

As the sun sets, the land of Ambrosia comes to life. The Astronomer’s Secret is a nighttime spectacular stage show that brings a fictional twist to the historical astronomer, Claudius Ptolemy’s saying, “make a wish upon a falling star; that is when the gods will hear it best”. In order to create an origin story as to why we wish upon falling stars, I used Ptolemy’s quote and intertwined a mystery from his work that still lives on today. The show introduces the unknown individual, Syrus, whom Ptolemy dedicated his early astronomy work to. Together, they discover the power of making a wish.

Unravel the scroll and discover why Ptolemy told the world to wish upon a falling star.

SCENE 1

Young Ptolemy is told the Myth of the Mavens from his father after seeing his first falling star. Ptolemy is told to never trust a Maven for they have stolen the light from within the library and abandoned Alexandria on its darkest night. He is given an amulet from his father that is said to be from a lost Maven with the power to hold the light of a star.

SCENES 1 and 2

*These illustrations are depicting the use of pyrotechnics, projection mapping and drones.

On the left the 4 fireworks represent the 4 other Maven’s departing from Earth while the projection mapping shows Syrus trapped on Earth without her amulet (foreshadowing). As the father finishes telling Ptolemy the Myth.

On the right is a scene from the show that has Ptolemy at the top of the lighthouse growing up and studying the stars as the constellations come to life, using drones.

SCENES 3 and 4

Ptolemy’s dad is a merchant and must leave so he allows Ptolemy to bring a vessel of scrolls to the Great Library. As a departure gift his father hands him a scroll depicting the Myth of the Mavens that he found on one of the new ships in port. As Ptolemy arrives at the library, he sees the scribe of the library talking to the Maven flying above.

SCENES 5 and 6

SCENES 5-7 will use nebula net, a special see through scrim that will act as the scrolls the actors use on stage, showing the audience what the characters are seeing and helping bring the story to life.

Syrus sees that Ptolemy is hesitant to give up the scroll his father gifted him, but she insists that she must see all the scrolls that come from within the ports. As Syrus opens Ptolemy’s scroll, she sees the humans false story depicted of the Mavens stealing the light within Earth. She uses sleight of hand to switch the scrolls so that she can keep his scroll.

SCENE 7

After Ptolemy departs he realizes what Syrus has done. As he returns she is gone. He goes through the scrolls around her table and discover a scroll that depicts the Mavens in a new light. Syrus returns and he confronts her. She tells Ptolemy that she has been studying the Mavens her whole life and that the Myth he’s familiar with is told from the humans perspective. She begins to tell the story depicted on the scroll she has in her collection.

The Mavens came to Earth in hopes of finding a new source of light that they can use to keep their home illuminated. When coming across Earth the beacon of light that shined from down below was so bright. When they landed they arrived at the Great Library. This is when they realized that the light they had come for was coming from within the people of planet Earth.

Humans saw the Maven’s as gods and would do anything to please them.

All the Mavens asked for was the light that they possessed but when the Mavens tried to take it, they realized that the light that came from within couldn’t be removed.

The humans were ashamed they have failed the gods but made a promise to work together to find a way for their light to be shared to save the Maven’s home.

 

SCENE 8 

Projection mapping of Syrus’s amulet, fire in the library and timed pyrotechnics.

She tells Ptolemy that Alexandria’s darkest night was when Caeser attacked Alexandria’s port putting it up in flames that reached the Great Library; destroying all the progress the humans and Mavens had made together. The Maven’s saw that the light from the humans began to fade during this battle and made the decision to leave Earth to find a different light source to save their home. This is when Syrus was struck with a burning arrow and her amulet had fallen and become lost. She had lost her powers to leave Earth and was stranded in the midst of fire and destruction. This is when Ptolemy figures out that Syrus is the lost Maven.

SCENE 9

Projections are mapped throughout the library, surrounding guests as Syrus illuminates the light within them. The light shared by scholars of the past.

As Ptolemy is reminded about the lost Mavens amulet, he pulls off the one his father gave to him when he was young placing it in Syrus’s hands. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she’d see it again. The amulet flickers and begins to dim, there is barely any light left within it as she restores it. Syrus tells Ptolemy that all she needs is for him to make a wish, for a wish is what ignites a humans heart and allows the light from within one to be shared with the world around them. Ptolemy doesn’t know what to do for he had always dreamed of knowing more about the Mavens but has also always been told not to trust them. He hesitates and can’t help her. Syrus opens up her arms and raises her glowing hands. She gives up her fading light to ignite the scrolls in the library, illuminating past scholars’ desires and discoveries… their dreams forged to scrolls. She does this to create another beacon for Mavens to not give up on Earth for she knows that they have the heart and ability to share their light. As she begins to fade, she ignites the heart of Ptolemy. As Syrus loses her light, Ptolemy looks at himself and he begins to glow.

SCENE 10

With Syrus covered in darkness, Ptolemy watches as a falling star passes over head and makes a wish on it.

SCENE 11

Ptolemy shared his light to reignite the spark within Syrus.

SCENE 12

Syrus departs

Voice Over as the show concludes

Syrus finally left Earth with a new hope that Ptolemy would help spread the word of the power of a wish. He used the Port of Alexandria as a way to spread wishing across the world by sending new scrolls that explained the power of wishing on a star. Syrus eventually reunited with the other Mavens and over time the Mavens collected enough wishes from Earth to save their home and ignite a new one. Their new nebula would be called Ambrosia, a place that will remind them of the past and keep them dreaming of a brighter future.

Ptolemy and Syrus together showed us that we all have a light to share with the world. It is up to us to believe in ourselves and ignite the spark that has the power to make wishes come true.

Everyone likes to end the night with a cool ride!

The Maven’s Nebula

• This section of the land is to the left of the library (seen in the last image above)

This section of AMBROSIA is where you can experience what it is like to be a Maven. Gaze into the night sky and watch Maven’s soar above AMBROSIA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feel the power within you and ignite a star. Whisper or talk into the shooting star and ignite its light. These interactives would be high touch points so maintenance on them would be needed.

If you look closely to the girls hand you can see the igniter bracelet that each guest would receive before setting off on their journey into the stars, giving them the abilities of a Maven.

Soar inside of a meteor with the Mavens as they bring a meteor shower to Earth and collect the wishes from down below. This ride vehicle would hold about 16 Mavens.

Estimated Cost

When designing this land, I was estimating that it would be the same size as Galaxy’s Edge or The World of Avatar in Orlando (when measuring it in SketchUp). With it consisting of two rides, interactives spread out and a nightly nighttime spectacular, I would estimate the price/budget to be around the same as the lands I mentioned above so around 500 million to 1 billion dollars.

Overall, Guest Experience

AMBROSIA is an experience for guests to realize and remember that everyone has a light inside of them. As they discover what AMBROSIA has to offer guests will keep the light within them shining and learn to share that light with the world. So, trust and believe in yourself, and share your light to keep the world shining bright.

Thank you for allowing me to share my light with you through my thesis and art, I hope that you will be inspired to share your light with the world!

Thank you for your time!

Matthew Morgan

 

Personal Website: https://www.matthewmorganart.com/

To read the full Nighttime Spectacular you can find it in the E-Book with this link Ambrosia E-Book