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Gesamtkunstwerk is a German term that translates as “total work of art”. It’s reserved for work that combines multiple disciplines to create something profound and sincerely compelling.

The idea came from German philosopher Karl Trahndorff but it was composer Richard Wagner who popularised the ideology. And while there were many creative specialties to choose from in the 19^th century, I don’t think either could have imagined the dazzling potential we have today with rich multimedia.

You may ask why it matters. Well, art imitates life; and life is deeply multi-sensory. Movies do well to absorb us in fictitious worlds, but they pale in comparison to the kind of immersive experiences that Sarner produce.

They use everything at their disposal, drawing talent from a wide range of creative backgrounds, merging digital flourishes with analogue twists to create multi-sensory, immersive experiences.

However, when Sarner first came to be in 1967, they weren’t directly creating these experiences.

Technology should be invisible

Instead, they were providing the tools to do so with high-end projectors and other audio-visual technology. Something which has been, and will continue to be, a great enabler for Wagner’s vision of Gesamtkunstwerk.

Technology continues to develop rapidly as shown by the increasing prevalence of AR, VR and AI. But these are just a handful of examples in a field of countless others. And with them comes renewed potential in storytelling that will enchant audiences in evermore engaging ways.

Over 50 years later, Sarner is now a world leader in creating immersive experiences for museums, theme parks and exhibition spaces. But despite new tech bringing new possibilities, Sarner’s Projects Director, Ed Cookson, warns me: “Technology should be invisible.”

It’s easy to be dazzled by technology. It’s shiny, it flashes, and it goes brrr. But that’s not Sarner’s goal when they produce exhibitions. Ed clarifies: “We design and create visitor attractions that feature technology to tell stories in immersive ways. We sometimes call ourselves immersive storytellers.”

Storytelling. That’s the key. Not just for Sarner, but for every single human being on this planet. Ed and I then had a love-in about the importance of storytelling to humans, how it ignited the explosion of homo sapiens and why it’s fundamental to the human experience even today.

We’re genetically rivetted by stories. They engage us not because they’re interesting, but because we’ve been trained to notice the teachings and valuable information embedded within them.

Sarner clearly understand this. In fact, their focus on storytelling is what makes them so successful at what they do. And like every good storyteller, Sarner do everything they can to ensure audiences stay immersed in that story. This might include the use of sensory stimuli like smell or a historically important image provided by 17�Թ�����.

How to control the story

When you’re writing a book or producing a movie, you have full control over what people experience. They’re linear formats. Everyone experiences movies in broadly the same way, even if our interpretations differ.

But when a punter first enters an exhibition, they’re encouraged to follow a prescribed route. You can’t control what people will read, where they will stand, and what they will see. So undoubtedly – and this isn’t legalese contingency – some people’s experiences may differ.

Here’s one of the ways in which Sarner approaches that challenge:

“Our experiences tend to work best with controlled lighting levels, so even if we’re working in an old building, we might use automatic blinds to create moments of darkness and surprise. But what you can never control is people. Well, you can control them to a certain extent.”

It may surprise you how easily we can be encouraged. Basic crowd control barriers may just be rope on poles and have no real ability in holding people back physically, yet they still work for the most part.

Ed tells me another technique Sarner uses: “We’ll often take them on a timed, automated dark walk experience. So a group of people would move as a batch through a series of rooms. Doors will open at set times, they’ll have a mini show, and then they’ll move on.

“But in a way, that’s what makes it more real. There’s always an element of free reign to look and act as they want to. It makes it feel like you are actually standing in, say, an 18^th century Cornwall tin mine. We can put people inside that mine in a different way than you would with a movie or a book.”

Synergising multiple creative disciplines

Nearly everything is multimedia these days. It’s one of the things that makes creativity so exciting in the 21^st century. The tools at our disposable are unbelievable.

, a free and open-source 3D modelling and animation software, has become very popular in recent years thanks to some big upgrades. It’s incredible the kind of 3D-modelling and animation that can be done from bedrooms now.

Sarner has an additional layer of creativity to play with too – the real world. They can projection map graphics drawn by a designer onto a mountain range moulded by a sculptor. There’s also the use of smoke, smell, and touch to further enhance the experience.

With so many creative disciplines working together, I wonder how difficult it must be to ensure all elements synergise well together. As Projects Director, that’s exactly what Ed oversees.

“We’ve got a few philosophies. Number 1 is, start out with your key objectives, and also your story. It comes back to storytelling. And let everything flow from that. Never let the technology dictate what you’re going to do. Let it be the other way round.

“That’s why we’re technology agnostic. For us, it’s doesn’t matter if we use projectors, or screens, or maybe we do it in a completely different way and use live actors. We’ve always got to think, what’s the best way of telling this story?”

Like any good project, you need a good brief. Ed lists all the usual questions that need to be answered at the start: “Who are our audience? What are we trying to achieve? Are we trying to scare them, educate them? How do we want them to feel?”

When Ed puts it like that, the process of creating an immersive experience sounds rather similar to any other creative pursuit. And indeed, Ed doesn’t believe they operate in a silo.

This is clear when he explains how they can attract talent from a range of industries whether it be from gaming, set design or theme parks. “Our challenges aren’t any harder or easier. They’re just different,” Ed concludes.

Why every Sarner project feels like a prototype

Most creatives work to a format. It’s not just that painter might choose to always work on canvas. They may also choose to stick to oils. Equally, a filmmaker is often working at 24fps on a 1.85:1 aspect ratio.

But Sarner have no home medium. Their canvas, I suppose, is a building. And their brush is, well, anything. Every creative craves this kind of freedom. Each project must feel new and experimental.

“Obviously, the past is a good starting point,” says Ed. Indeed, failures and successes provide crucial feedback, but they can’t always be relied upon.

What made it a success previously doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll be successful now. Past performance is not an indicator of future success as the adage goes. However, you should still ask why they failed or succeeded warns Ed:

“Things might have changed. Audiences might have moved on, but also, we might be telling a slightly different story, we might be in a different place. It’s really important to stay agile. We’re always having new challenges that almost makes every project we do like a prototype.”

Reliable technology is crucial

There’s also another challenge that Sarner must contend with. A book is a pretty reliable medium. Sure, it’ll develop some wrinkles over time and the pages will start fraying too. But it had been paid for years ago anyway.

In contrast, Sarner experiences attract new visitors for years; sometimes up to 15 years. That means a paying visitor would expect the same experience now as they would in 5 years’ time. So the technology and designs at a Sarner experience must hold up over that time.

“We have to look at the reliability, and how much a piece of kit has been tested. That’s why for us, diving into VR and AR, while they might have their uses, they’re also much more experimental than well-made projectors. We know when buying a good quality projector, we can have a much better sense of its shelf-life. There’s nothing sadder than a malfunctioning screen.”

But things do inevitably go down. Ed says it’s about minimising downtime and ensuring clients have got spares available so they can swap things out quickly if there’s a problem.

The future of immersive experiences

AR, VR, the metaverse. There’s no hiding from the increasing presence of these technologies. But what effect does this have on consumers?

Ed confirms that audiences are getting more demanding and more savvy. People are spending their free time learning from TEDTalks, and it’s often remarked that we’re more engaged by experiences rather than material goods these days.

This seems to benefit Sarner. And they recognise how powerful it can be to transport somebody back in time so that they can better understand a particular story or event in history. After all, what better way to enrich ourselves than to fully comprehend the plight of those that came before us.

In many ways, storytelling hasn’t changed for millennia. You need a strong intro, an intriguing build-up, a climax and then an end.

The advent of new technology doesn’t really change that. But it can provide new ways of presenting information or simply make the experience more realistic and thus immersive.

Ed also reminds me about the power of Unreal Engine and what you can render in real-time nowadays compared to when you had to pre-render graphics.

Even the advancement in projector technology shouldn’t be overlooked as Ed explains: “It’s starting to get to a point where we can start fooling the eye. It’s about that interplay between the real and the obviously fake, and how we engage people with these various tools.”

But new technology doesn’t necessarily make old techniques redundant. Ed’s still a fan of stop-motion, an old technique which we still see used today despite the ubiquity of computers. If it fits the goal, why not? Storytelling isn’t loyal to technology or techniques.

The way Ed sees it: “The future looks incredibly multi-faceted, which is really exciting. But tactile techniques and technology will still complement each other. It’s still about conjuring these very visceral experiences that can transport people.”