Today I went to brave the crowds at Fashion Show Mall, because although I’m not a huge Fashion Show Mall fan, I do like braving crowds.

While I was there, I saw what was easily the most amazing Santa (Shrek, actually) castle I’ve ever seen. Comprised of monitors more than anything else, it was a giant animated display made up primarily of what appeared to be DiamonVision screens whose seams were cleverly disguised by the scenery. The pixels were visible so the images weren’t being projected. I don’t know if that’s the actual setup, but form a cursory glance that how it seemed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgR9bwEfVsE&feature=youtu.be

On the other side of the castle was the system controlling it all. I asked if I could take a picture, but was told they’d have to ask the boss. So I took the one below that doesn’t show much and I couldn’t see through the side meshes well enough to determine the setup. I was also told the whole display was set up and run by DreamWorks, creator of Shrek, at a total cost of $2 million. There are others around the country as well, including California, New Jersey, and New York.

It was all pretty impressive, I have to give them credit for setting up a display like this. I’d be ok with it becoming a more commoon type of thing, once the cost of setting it up comes down.