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What It Was

The renowned Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago had an intriguing idea, what if guests could really experience what it takes to create a movie? Working in partnership with Paramount Pictures and leaders in the motion picture industry, MSI designed an immersive experience in two parts. The first is a gallery guiding the guest through the process of bringing a movie from concept to release. This gallery is rich with artifacts loaned by industry giants, everything from movie scripts to props and costumes from films including Star Wars, Titanic, Seabiscuit, Spider-man and many, many more. The second half of the exhibit puts the guests right in the middle of the action in a working soundstage. The guests can either watch or participate as the magic of the movies unfolds on three large sets.

What We Did

Working with an eye always on a tight budget, Lightswitch designed a lighting system that not only looked, felt and functioned realistically in the soundstage, but also treated fragile artifacts in the gallery with the high degree of attention to detail necessary to ensure items were not damaged by light levels while on loan to the museum.

Why It Worked

Movie lighting has a style and design vocabulary all of its own. By focusing on a design that is 'authentic', lighting plays a key supporting role in ensuring this critically acclaimed exhibit gives the guest a true taste of the magic of the movies.

Lightswitch received a Themed Entertainment Association (THEA) Award for this project.