V Motion Project — Zanuka Labs

The Challenge

Fugitive, Assembly, and ColensoBBDO teamed-up for a demanding deliverable, the V Motion Project — an interactive musical instrument built for a music-video shoot in Auckland, New Zealand. A breakdancer performed moves in front of the cameras; those gestures had to drive the entire beat and visual experience in realtime, with animations projected onto a building during the shoot.

The system had to feel like an instrument: reliable enough for a live performance on camera, expressive enough for choreography, and tightly synced across audio and projection.

Official V Motion Project video — live gesture, audio, and projection captured for Frucor / V.

Client & collaborators

The brand client was Frucor (makers of V energy drink), working with agency Colenso BBDO. Together they kitted out a warehouse space for the project to grow in and gathered a group of talented people from a number of creative fields. Delivery was through Fugitive, where the Gesture Management System and V Motion software were owned end to end.

Creative process

The live visual spectacle and music video were designed as one outcome: prove the technology was real and played live. The interface made that legible — realtime tracking and samples drawn as they fired showed the dancer controlling the audio. Visuals were generated live; the video is essentially a document of that night.

Constraints

Two Xbox Kinect devices capturing performer motion for both audio and visual output.
Realtime coupling of gesture → audio samples → projected visual effects with no room for lag on a live shoot.
Custom storage of specific dance moves and X/Y hand positions mapped to the right samples and animations.
End-to-end ownership of a six-month build in ActionScript 3 and Flex (PureMVC), plus on-site systems for downtown Auckland filming.

Contributions

Built a custom Gesture Management System (GMS) — stored the dancer’s moves and associated Kinect hand positions (X, Y) with target audio samples and visual animations used in the projection.
Owned the full deliverable in ActionScript 3 and Flex — architecture, realtime gesture/audio/effect syncing, and integration for live performance
Assembled and ran the live performance systems — on-site systems assembly and live-performance technician for the Auckland shoot, mapping Kinect gesture output into Ableton through MIDI sequencing so samples fired in sync with the dancer, camera, and projection.

Outcomes

V Motion shipped as a Kinect-powered interactive instrument featured in a music video filmed in Auckland. The GMS made choreographed moves addressable as mapped gesture → sound → projection events. It remains one of the most challenging interactive projects in this portfolio — a six-month build spanning software, hardware input, and live production support.

Credits

Paul Sanderson — developer
Jeff Nusz — developer
Mike Delucchi — developer
Joel Little — composer
Josh Cesan - dancer
James Hayday — sound designer
Jonny Kofoed, Zoe McIntosh, Matt von Trott — directors
Nik Beachman, Amanda Chambers — executive producers
Assembly — production company
Colenso BBDO / Jae Morrison — ad agencies