TEAR DOWN THIS WALL

TitleTEAR DOWN THIS WALL
BrandTHE DDR MUSUEM
Product/ServiceTEAR DOWN THIS WALL
Category B04. Mobile Games
Entrant THE DDR MUSEUM Berlin, GERMANY
Idea Creation VIRTUE Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation 2 NO SLEEP Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production BACON X Copenhagen, DENMARK
Post Production THIRTYSOUNDSGOOD Copenhagen, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Morten Grubak VIRTUE Executive Creative Director
Martin Nørgaard Furze No Sleep Executive Creative Director
Emil Asmussen VIRTUE Creative Director
Jacob Ziegler VIRTUE Senior Designer
Tao Thomsen VIRTUE Senior Copywriter
Camilla Ploug No Sleep Senior Art Director
Max Siegal VIRTUE Editor
Ogi Curcic Ogi Curcic Editor
Emil Fogh VIRTUE DOP Lighting Cameraman
Francois Andrivet VIRTUE 3D Animator
Maria Cristina Sega VIRTUE 3D Animator
Tom Costello VIRTUE DOP
Heidi Baltzer VIRTUE Head of Production
Bruno Carvalho VIRTUE Agency Producer
Mark Terkelsbøl VIRTUE Intern
Nis Nørgaard Thirtysoundsgood Sound Designer
Lasse Selvli Bacon X Colorist
Søren Gorm Gamborg Knudsen Bacon X Conform Artist
Rune Søndergaard Bacon X Producer
Eliana Carranza-Pitcher Bacon X Executive Producer
William Løkken VIRTUE Colorist

Background

THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT 29% of Germans were born after the wall fell and have no memory of the injustice and grief it caused — and no way to imagine that it could happen again. But unfortunately, border walls are coming back: Half of the world’s border walls have been built after 2000. And the low awareness among Berlin youth is a real problem, says Klaus Schroeder (Freie Universität): "Multiple studies show that the less high school students know about the DDR, the more likely they are to have a positive image of it".

Describe the creative idea

TEAR DOWN THE WALL IN MINECRAFT EARTH 30 years after the Mauerfall, the Berlin DDR Museum let a new generation tear down the wall —now in augmented reality. We built three iconic segments of the Wall in Minecraft Earth, the AR sequel to the popular game. Here, gamers were able to witness the wall in its full scale in Augmented Reality. And to gamify the installation, they could even take part in tearing down the oppressive wall on their favorite platform. MERGING EDUCATION WITH ENTERTAINMENT We partnered with the DDR Museum to create an exhibition space and developed a comprehensive package of teaching materials in concert with interactive learning specialists. This allowed teachers to not just drum up interest for the historical subject, but expand it into a fully immersive micro-course on the increase of border walls in our time

Describe the strategy

BRINGING OUR FORGOTTEN PAST TO LIFE We wanted to drive a new generation to visit the DDR museum and explore the impact of their past. By using a beloved gaming platform, we brought an overlooked piece of history to the attention of a new generation. ENABLING HISTORICAL EMPATHY A key component of cutting edge history education is giving students a real sense of what life was before. By using the newly launched AR applications interactive element, we transformed a dull history lesson to an immersive learning experience enabling real historical empathy. FOSTERING CRITICAL REFLECTION Finally, by expanding the gaming experience into a fully fledged teaching module, we fostered curiosity and critical reflection on the role of border walls in our own times — prompting questions like if walls necessarily needed to be physical, or the role of digital firewalls and internet equality in democracy and critical discourse.

Describe the execution

The campaign consisted of three coherent elements: AN IMMERSIVE AR EXPERIENCE IN MINECRAFT EARTH. To create a friction-free experience throwing users straight into the action, we used Buildplates, a social gaming feature that let’s Minecraft users invite friends to explore their creations side-by-side. So with one click, you could bring up a historically correct, 1-1 full scale model of the Berlin Wall in its original location — or wherever you were. A CUSTOM INSTALLATION IN BERLIN’S DDR MUSEUM Voted as one of the most interactive museums in Europe and drawing solid crowds year after year, Berlin’s DDR museum was perfectly poised to bring their historical expertise into the age of augmented reality. A FULLY FLEDGED TEACHING COURSE Developed in collaboration with immersive learning expert NAME, this five-module teaching material provided a full curriculum, group exercises and discussion guidelines to drive critical reflection and historical empathy in students from grade 6-9.

List the results

The project just launched, so the results are coming as we’re writing these words. Even before launch, the project has been greenlit by UNESCO in Denmark who’re sharing it on its various channels. “Tear Down This Wall fits perfectly with the values ​​of UNESCO: Education, culture and communication between nations. That’s why we’re supporting it and sharing it on our platforms.” Anna Enemark, Secretary-General, UNESCO