Get your face on Castle Rock as part of festival's Deep Time project

CASTLE Rock is an ancient volcanic plug onto which you could have your face, or those of your loved ones, projected as part of Deep Time, a spectacular event to open the 2016 Edinburgh International Festival.

The opening event of the Festival will see thewestern façade of Edinburgh Castle and Castle Rock used as the canvas for digitally animated projections. Picture: 59 Productions

The Evening News has teamed up with the EIF in an exciting collaboration that could result in your face smiling over the Capital this August, in the grand finale of the ground-breaking work.

Played out to a soundtrack by Scottish rock band Mogwai, Deep Time is an epic, outdoor, public artwork using animation, lighting and music to explore the Capital’s long history.

Director Leo Warner said: “We were inspired to create this epic story by Edinburgh resident James Hutton and his pioneering geological work, which impacts so much on how we view the world now.”

It was Edinburgh-born Hutton, now considered to be the father of modern geology, who, in the 18th century, first proposed that the Earth was billions of years old, drawing on evidence he found in the city around him.

Deep Time celebrates him and the Capital, as the city that inspired modern day understanding of the world’s deep history.

Mr Warner said: “As part of that story, we want to celebrate the people who make the city what it is today.

“We ask those who live here, or have moved away, to share with us photos of themselves or of family who have lived here.

“These images will make up the grand finale of the event and bring the story of Edinburgh over 350 million years bang up to date.

“Please share your photos and be a part of something truly epic.”

Photos must be submitted via the International Festival’s website at eif.co.uk/deeptime by Monday, July 25 and should be of individuals with faces clear in the picture.

EIF director Fergus Linehan said: “I’m so excited by the prospect of the Standard Life Opening Event: Deep Time and this amazing artwork through which we’re celebrating our home city’s impact on the world stage throughout history and today.”

With an expected audience of up to 27,000 gazing up at the Castle and the rock on which it perches, Deep Time is one of the largest architectural mapping projects ever undertaken by the event’s producers, 59 Productions.

The Tony award-winning company’s previous work includes the 2012 London Olympic opening ceremony and hit stage play War Horse, recently seen at the Festival Theatre.

Tickets for Deep Time, which will take place on Sunday, August 7, at 10.30pm, are free and available from 10am today via www.eif.co.uk

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