Asst. Prof. Dr. Dynaya Bhutipunthu and Mr. Yuttana Suntivong
Abstract :
The study and the objective of the work for this project focus on the design of the stage, style, and scenery inside the Prince Mahidol Hall (PMH) for the Mahidol University Orientation 2025 event organized by the Mahidol Foundation on July 29, 2025. The event is set annually during the beginning of the academic year, aiming to celebrate a new chapter of freshman’s pathways to academic achievement with a warm welcome gesture with approximately 6,000-6,500 participants attending. The five key principles of Neuro Design; 1. Processing Fluency, 2. First Impressions, 3. Visual Saliency, 4. Nonconscious Emotional Drivers, and 5. Behavioral Economics introduced by Darren Bridger in “Neuro Design: Neuromarketing Insights to Boost Engagement and Profitability” (Bridger, D., 2017) are implemented through the creation of all the performance sequences. There are four sequences of the on-stage performances and one immersive built space; 1. University’s brief history reviews, 2. Executives and the president’s opening sequence, 3. MU Choir performances, 4. Live concert sessions, and 5. Immersive built tunnel walkway. The exploration and integration of diverse artistic works from various performance sequences mentioned above is the main challenge of this study in which the investigators apply the findings to create the linkages to the university’s core values and culture focusing on intellectual approaches to create new forms of meaning, expression, and experience, which is the theme of this year symposium “Synthesis: Aesthetics.” The implementation of material and technique; six LED screens positioned on stage, four with the dimension of 6 x 2.5 meters (15 square meter) and one with the 6 x 12 meters (72 square meter) dimension, five projectors with high brightness installed, four on the left and the right of the hall’s balconies and one projecting on the roof of the hall for projection mapping displays, also lighting design help enhance the storytelling through the audiences’ sensory support of all performances. The result findings are also indicated through the post event feedback surveys.
Objectives :
To design the stage, style, and scenery inside the Prince Mahidol Hall (PMH) for the Mahidol University Orientation 2025 event including works for LED display, for projection mappings, and for immersive built space.
Conceptual Framework :
With the large numbers of the participants, approximately 6,500-7,000, the investigators approach to the design of the stage, style, and scenery inside the Prince Mahidol Hall (PMH) is to apply the five key principles of Neuro Design (Bridger, D., 2017) through the creation of all works enhancing audiences’ senses through storytelling and series of visuals and lighting presentations.
Therefore, the conceptual framework of this study is to match Neuro Design five key principles introduced by Darren Bridger, 1. Processing Fluency, 2. First Impressions, 3. Visual Saliency, 4. Nonconscious Emotional Drivers, and 5. Behavioral Economics (Bridger, D., 2017) with the four onstage performances and one immersive built space during this year’s event; 1. University’s brief history reviews, 2. Executives and the president’s opening sequence, 3. MU Choir performances, 4. Live concert sessions, and 5. Immersive built tunnel walkway. The investigators identified core values of the university as the representative theme of this year’s event “Be Your Own Fireworks” introducing the seven characters covering the university’s core values through the letters coming from the university’s name, “MAHIDOL” as follows; M – Mastery, A – Altruism, H – Harmony, I – Integrity, D – Determination, O – Originality, and L – Leadership assisting freshmen to lit up their own fireworks for their academic good starts.
Process / Methodology :
The methodology/process of this study includes 1.) Literature Review and the review of best practice projects, 2.) The review of Neuro Design key principles, 3.) The matching between the five performance sequences and the five key principles for the design works directions, 4.) Design and production process, 5.) Feedback survey and results analysis, and 6.) Conclusion and suggestion. The linkage between Neuro Design key principles and the five performance sequences described as follows; for the “University’s brief history reviews,” the investigators applied 3D parallax movement effects for the key visuals and typography aiming to create first impressions among audiences using photo montages of the university’s familiar icons and symbols (Mahdiol University Archives and Museums, 2025), such as the portrait of Prince Mahidol and the university’s buildings, to drive the feeling of pride, proud to be part of the university’s community. In the second sequence, “Executives and the president’s openings,” the investigators achieved the five key principles by linking audiences to the excitement of participating in the event in getting to know the university’s cultures through core values complementing with the display of projection mapping graphics and lighting design intentionally provoke the sense of pride among audiences.
In the “MU Choir performances” sequence, the investigators created a series of visuals through storytelling complementing the impressive quality of the choir’s performances, dominating the overall environment with the popular university’s songs, such as, “Ruk Nong” (รักน้อง) and “Terd Phra Nam Mahidol” (เทิดพระนามมหิดล), the investigators built the feeling of pride. For the “Live concert sessions,” the investigators created variations of storylines and key visuals reflecting each song’s genre in the sessions, letting the live concert performances drive the audiences’ emotions creating their own networks, forming bonds getting to know more people, and embracing the university’s culture. In the “Immersive built tunnel walkway,” the investigators built the 12 meters long covered walkway that all audiences have to walk through when exiting the hall allowing them to explore the sensory of familiar visuals building positive connotation through sounds and university’s aroma reminiscing and embed good memories of the event.
Techniques and Materials :
There are four sequences of the on-stage performances and one immersive built space; 1. University’s brief history review, 2. Executives and the president’s opening sequence, 3. MU Choir performances, 4. Live concert sessions, and 5. Immersive built tunnel walkway that the investigators responsible for designing the stage, style, and scenery for visuals display on LED screens and projectors for projection mapping during the orientation event. For each sequence, the technique and material are applied and utilized as follows; in the “University’s brief history reviews,” the five LED screens positioned on stage, four with the dimension of 6 x 2.5 meters (15 square meter) and one with the 6 x 12 meters (72 square meter) dimension were utilized to create a parallax 3D effects giving optical illusion of the movements. For “Executives and the president’s opening sequence,” the five LED screens were used along with projection mapping displays through five high brightness projectors installed, four on the left and the right of the hall’s balconies and one projecting on the roof of the hall. For the president’s opening sequence, projection mapping from the five high brightness projectors were displayed simultaneously creating immersive experiences for the audiences.
For “MU Choir performances” and “Live concert sessions,” all LED screens and projection mapping projectors were fully utilized to maintain the audiences’ immersive experiences in the hall. Especially, for one song performed by the MU Choir “Terd Phra Nam Mahidol” (เทิดพระนามมหิดล), the extra roll-up and pull-down transparency LED screen was used to project the portrait of “Prince Mahidol” in the middle of the stage enhancing the the university’s pride. During the live concert performances, the live broadcast clips of the show taken by drone were also inserted displaying between the performances from the middle of the stage LED screen. For the immersive built tunnel walkway (5.), the 12 meters long and three meters high LED screens were installed and used for the display of the audiences’ photos taken while they participate in the event in the hall along the walkway aiming to create audiences’ good memories of the event.
Result / Conclusion :
In conclusion, the design of the stage, style, and scenery inside the Prince Mahidol Hall (PMH) during the Mahidol University Orientation 2025 event implemented five key principles of Neuro Design; 1. Processing Fluency, 2. First Impressions, 3. Visual Saliency, 4. Nonconscious Emotional Drivers, and 5. Behavioral Economics, linking with the four performance sequences and one immersive built space utilizing six LED display screens and high brightness projectors for projection mappings, replied to the main objective of the event which is to creating a warm welcome gestures for audiences embracing the pride, proud to be part of the university’s community. Based on the feedback surveys conducted by the university’s student affairs unit distributed after the event, the audiences were satisfied with the overall performance sequences. The feedback for each sequence are as follows; for the university’s brief history review, the audiences’ feeling of pride, proud to be part of the university’s community were driven. For the executives and the president’s opening sequences, the sense of pride among audiences was provoked through the introduction of the university’s core values and enhanced more through the MU Choir performances. For the live concert sessions, the audiences were allowed to express their emotions together with friends, having feelings as part of the whole community, creating their own networks, forming bonds, and embracing the university’s culture. The live streaming of the event can be viewed through the university’s FB: https://www.facebook.com/mahidol/videos/768780285726688/?locale=th_TH (Mahidol University, 2025). And part of the audiences’ feedback after participating in the event can also be viewed through We Mahidol Channel’s show: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=aTULhkRjgAA&t=5s (We Mahidol Channel, 2025).
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