Hueman · ZNM Events · Opening ceremony, 8 Dec 2026
ADWPW Opening Ceremony · LED storyboard
01
Storyboard
The new show run
The show run of 10 Nov: scenes 1 to 29 (there is no 7 or 8), on the V10 music.
S3, the centre screen: 9 x 4 m, 3024 x 1344 px
Chapter I: The Call of the Desert
Heritage, voice and vision – the land and the founding words
1
Darkness to amber desert
0:00:00 – 0:00:17 (17 s)
1The dunes at night, a first glow low on the horizon.
Screen content
The desert is enveloped in darkness. Subtle shifts in light reveal fleeting silhouettes against the night, creating a sense of mystery, stillness and anticipation.
Music
A subtle desert soundscape, with soft gusts of wind sweeping across the open dunes, creating a sense of vastness and stillness.
2
Al Taghrooda
0:00:17 – 0:00:48 (31 s)
2First light: the desert turns amber.
Screen content
The first light of dawn slowly breaks across the desert horizon. Warm amber hues spill over the dunes, revealing the landscape as it awakens.
Music
The desert winds gradually fade into the distance, creating space for the powerful voices of the Taghrooda to emerge and take the lead.
3
Sheikh Zayed archival voice
0:00:48 – 0:00:58 (10 s)
4-8aThe wind lifts the sand and it begins to gather into the words.4-8bThe line holds, written in glowing sand over the amber dunes.
Screen content
Lines of the poem form from drifting sand, hold, then dissolve back into the dunes.
Music
A delicate desert soundscape sits beneath the scene, accompanied by sparse musical notes and subtle oud melodies that gently support and complement the poetry recitation without overpowering the spoken word.
4
Poet
0:00:58 – 0:01:23 (25 s)
4-8bThe line holds, written in glowing sand over the amber dunes.4-8cThe words blow apart and settle back into the dunes.
Narration
Written by the poet
5
Al Taghrooda response
0:01:23 – 0:01:38 (15 s)
Desert background only.
6
Poet
0:01:38 – 0:02:05 (27 s)
4-8aThe wind lifts the sand and it begins to gather into the words.4-8bThe line holds, written in glowing sand over the amber dunes.4-8cThe words blow apart and settle back into the dunes.
Narration
Written by the poet
Chapter II: The Guide
The gazelle leads the seekers through the dunes to water
9
Hints of the gazelle
0:02:05 – 0:02:20 (15 s)
9The amber dunes settle into stillness.
Narration
Long ago, in the silence of the desert, instinct knew the way.
Screen content
The shadow of a gazelle briefly emerges from the darkness, appearing at 2–3 different points across the screen. Each silhouette is fleeting, visible for only a heartbeat before fading back into the shadows, like a distant presence moving through the desert.
Music
The oud fades to a single held note. Distant, light hoof-falls on sand move across landscape; a soft gazelle sound, each time the gazelle flickers into view.
10
Seekers enter and follow the gazelle's signs
0:02:20 – 0:02:35 (15 s)
10aA glimpse on the left.10bA glimpse on the right.
Narration
Some journeys begin with a question. Ours began with a sign
Screen content
Hoofprints appear in the sand on screen, leading the seekers forward from sign to sign.
Music
Mysterious but magical. Plucked qanun strings and nay ripple softly; the melody becomes the gazelle's own theme. Curiosity and excitement build with the tempo.
11
The gazelle appears in full
0:02:35 – 0:02:40 (5 s)
10cThe gazelle, life size, at the centre of the screen.
Narration
It did not wait. It did not explain. It simply knew.
Screen content
The gazelle appears in full, centre screen, and walks from front to back toward a glimmer on the horizon – the oasis.
Music
A swell as the gazelle is revealed: strings open up and the theme plays in full for the first time.
12
The seekers are led to fresh water and it becomes an integral source for the community
0:02:40 – 0:02:50 (10 s)
10dThe gazelle turns away and begins walking towards the oasis.10eIts prints appear, leading down the dune and forward.11aThe gazelle has gone; a few hoofprints are left on the dune where it stood.11bA last glimpse, on top of the dune in the centre.12The oasis is revealed; the gazelle reaches the water.
Narration
And so our ancestors followed. With hope, curiosity, and trust in what lay ahead.
Screen content
The oasis is revealed, the first ripple spreading across its surface.
Music
A moment of discovery: the gazelle theme resolves into one warm, open chord, layered with the gentle trickle of water. A collective breath of relief.
Chapter III: The Current
Water becomes energy – the network that powers Abu Dhabi today
13
Transition from an amber desert lighting to blue
0:02:50 – 0:03:05 (15 s)
13aThe gazelle drinks.13bIt turns to light.13cIt dissolves into water and light.13dThe light streams away over the water and behind the palms.
Narration
The water became a source.
Screen content
The gazelle drinks. The moment it touches the water, it transforms into liquid streaks of light that race out of the frame.
Music
The heritage instruments fall away and a modern, grounded pulse arrives with the coastal drummers' first strike.
14
Blue light streams travel from the desert pass the Sheikh Zayed bridge
0:03:05 – 0:03:15 (10 s)
14aThe stream races across the desert.14bThe bridge is drawn in light as it rises out of the sand.14cThe bridge lifts free, sand pouring from its sides.14dThe Sheikh Zayed Bridge.
Narration
And around every source, life gathers.
Screen content
The liquid light streams surge across Sheikh Zayed Bridge, flowing through Abu Dhabi’s city skyline. The energy then travels onwards to a second location (TBC). Interactive element: Each drum strike triggers a dynamic response, sending ripples and pulses of light through the flowing streams, as though the rhythm itself is powering the network.
Music
Cinematic and uplifting, with traditional coastal drumming at its core, layered with strings, brass swells and modern percussion.
15
Abu Dhabi skyline
0:03:15 – 0:03:47 (32 s)
15aThe stream crosses the water and the first towers rise.15bThe skyline is almost formed.15cThe Abu Dhabi skyline.15dDrum strikes: a glowing splash beside each drummer.
Narration
But the journey never ended at the water's edge. What began as a single source became a network, connecting our homes, our cities and the power that drives them.
16
TBC (potentially another Abu Dhabi location or circuits and energy networks)
0:03:47 – 0:04:06 (19 s)
15eThe energy flows through the city, seen from above.15fStraight down over Abu Dhabi.
Narration
Water gave us life. Power gave us the strength to build, to grow, to endure.
Chapter IV: The Handover
The next generation carries the energy forward to today's leadership
17
Transition to handover to the children
0:04:06 – 0:04:11 (5 s)
17The globe, with the light of Abu Dhabi's impact spreading out across the world.
Narration
Together, they carried a nation from the sand to the skyline.
Screen content
The skyline dissolves; every stream of light pulls into a single glowing point at the centre.
Music
The rhythm simplifies to one collective pulse.
18
Children enter
0:04:11 – 0:04:26 (15 s)
18Light and water surround the glowing core.
Narration
But every source needs someone to carry it forward.
Screen content
An abstract environment of floating particles and flowing lines of light. The children step in.
Music
A forward-looking soundscape emerges, layered with soft electronic textures and atmospheric tones.
19
Child 1 to child 2 pass
0:04:26 – 0:04:32 (6 s)
19bAs it changes hands, a bright pulse spreads outwards.
Narration
To protect what was discovered. To strengthen it. To share it.
Screen content
With every pass, a ripple of light spreads across the screen and the sphere glows a little brighter.
Music
Each handover triggers one soft spatial pulse that travels around the room.
20
Child 2 to child 3 pass
0:04:32 – 0:04:38 (6 s)
19cThe pulse travels outwards, leaving a brighter glow behind.
21
Child 3 to child 4 pass
0:04:38 – 0:04:44 (6 s)
19cThe pulse travels outwards, leaving a brighter glow behind.
22
Child 4 to child 5 pass
0:04:44 – 0:04:50 (6 s)
19cThe pulse travels outwards, leaving a brighter glow behind.
23
Child 5 to child 6 pass
0:04:50 – 0:04:56 (6 s)
19cThe pulse travels outwards, leaving a brighter glow behind.
24
Child 6 to child 7 pass
0:04:56 – 0:05:02 (6 s)
19dThe glow peaks on the final pass.
25
Child 7 to leadership
0:05:02 – 0:05:08 (6 s)
20aWater and light stream towards the core.
Screen content
The light lines converge on the final child and the leadership.
Music
The pulses gather into one rising tone.
26
Leadership places sphere on the pillar
0:05:08 – 0:05:13 (5 s)
20bEverything spirals in.
Narration
The source is in our hands now. Together, we shape what comes next.
Screen content
Key moment to showcase the leadership of today. The screen falls still.
Music
Drums slow and leave a ceremonial moment of stillness.
27
Let the moment breath (ceremonial and big)
0:05:13 – 0:05:18 (5 s)
20cThe last streaks of light disappear into its centre.
28
Energy is sucked back in
0:05:18 – 0:05:24 (6 s)
21The core rests on the pillar. The surrounding light falls still.
Narration
Abu Dhabi Water and Power Week 2026 is now officially open.
Screen content
All light collapses into one dot, bursts into the ADWPW logo, then settles on the client's holding visual.
Music
The sound inhales (a reverse swell), then a full impact as the logo lands, a sustained final chord, then applause.
Finale: The Arrival
All energy converges into the ADWPW identity
29
ADWPW logo
0:05:24 – 0:05:33 (9 s)
22aThe logo takes shape inside the core.22bThe logo.22cThe logo alone, before the holding visual.
Narration
Abu Dhabi Water and Power Week 2026 is now officially open.
Screen content
All light collapses into one dot, bursts into the ADWPW logo, then settles on the client's holding visual.
Music
The sound inhales (a reverse swell), then a full impact as the logo lands, a sustained final chord, then applause.
Hueman · ZNM Events · Opening ceremony, 8 Dec 2026
02
Animatic
S3, the centre screen
Animatic v004 on the V10 music, cropped to the centre 9 x 4 m screen. Click a block to jump to that scene.
00:00 / 00:00click a block to jump · space, arrows, comma and full stoptap a block to jump
Full view
The same cut across the whole board, all five screens.
00:00 / 00:00click a block to jump · space, arrows, comma and full stoptap a block to jump
