Empire Produces Panasonic Eclipse Live Webcast from Australia, 100% powered by Solar Power

Panasonic’s solar project, described as “Filming the Sun, using the Sun” captured the 2012 solar eclipse and broadcast it live over the Internet using only solar power. Panasonic’s “HIT” solar panels efficiently produce energy which is then stored on high capacity portable rechargeable batteries, ready to power all the equipment needed for the broadcast.November 14th 2012 saw a total eclipse that would be visible from the north-east of Australia. Panasonic asked Empire to help plan and execute an attempt to capture that eclipse and broadcast it live to the world. Months of planning went into the project which depended on many factors coming together at just the right moment.By the early morning of November 14th, the Panasonic-branded stage had been set up on the beach at Port Douglas with a second location ready 75Km away at the windy summit of Fitzroy Island. Tension was high as the forecast was not in favor of clear weather, and rehearsals the previous day had taken place in conditions of cloud, wind and rain. However, on the day of the eclipse, Scott Mellish, announcer for the broadcast, was able to describe a beautiful sunrise. Although there were clouds in the sky, each location was able to capture beautiful scenes of the eclipse with Lumix GH2 cameras. Just before “totality” the Sun was actually obscured by clouds, however - as if by magic – they parted right on cue, allowing the eclipse crew, thousands of visitors at the beach and hundreds of thousands of viewers online to witness the incredible spectacle of the Sun being completely obscured such that everything was cast into a cold darkness for over 2 minutes.In addition to over 800,000 views on the dedicated Ustream channels, our stream was picked up by broadcasters across Australia and the world – and was even mistaken for NASA coverage! The response to the broadcast has been phenomenal with thousands of people leaving messages of thanks on the dedicated website (http://www.facebook.com/PanasonicEclipseLiveBySolarPower). We are proud to have been instrumental in bringing this spectacular celestial event to so many people around the world. This a perfect example of how Empire can provide Branded Entertainment to our corporate customers in terms of executing a genuinely exciting event that appeals to a large audience such that the supporting brand gains huge positive feedback.

A digest video of the project and broadcast can be seen HERE.