The Britannia Mine Museum located in British Columbia, launched a live-action, multi-sensory special effects show, called Boom! In the 20-story national historic building, guests are immersed into an experience which brings to life the reality of the 1920's when the Mill was booming as the largest copper producer. With the help of programmed special effects, the show demonstrates the story of the historic Mill, it's purpose and how it played a vital role in the economic community prosperity. The special effects programmed around the large machines that occupy the space leave guests with a thunderous rumble throughout. Eos Lightmedia's Lighting Programmer, Stefan Zubovic used the Mosaic MSC1 to program a majority of the lighting and special effects elements. The intension was to make it feel like the visitors were in the presence of live welders and live explosions as opposed to canned lighting effects.
The live show begins at the base of a "skip" track which is a preserved 3-ton steel rail car. This rail car runs along the side of the wall which has tracks guiding the car upwards of the Mill. Focused light is used to throughout the show to direct the audience's attention to different parts of the Mill as the host uses audio cues and a 70" portrait screen to educate the audience on different areas of the Mill. Speciality lighting was strategically used to emphasis depth and drama to compliment the projection screen.
Videos on a 14-foot projection screen aid the explanation and description of the machines that were once in the space. Following the videos, the old Mill is powered up and to the audience's surprise, the skip begins to move up the 45-degree track, with the audience viewing from the base. Special effects cause sparks to shower from the machines and the skip begins to plunge towards the crowd sitting at the base for a memorable and chest-rumbling finale. Custom, multi-coloured spark machines, lighting and dust cannons were programmed, synchronized and triggered with a Mosaic MRIO-A for timecode input.
With 18,496 windows, scattered throughout the 20-storey building, ambient lighting posed a challenge for the design team. Steve Bedard, Lead Lighting Designer at Eos Lightmedia specified the SGM P2 LED wash that would illuminate the Mill's challenging structure and allow for the special effects to shine through due to a high lumen output. Detailed eyes on the design allowed this project to have a sense of transporting authenticity from start to finish of this immersive experience.
- VISTA Collaborative Arts - Show Designer & Producer
- Eos Lightmedia - Show Lighting Design & Lighting/ SFX Programming
- Masters Digital - Sound Design
- Performance Solutions - Special Effects Design
- Dynamic Attractions - Skip Automation
- CPS Electronics - Show Control
- BOLD - Set Fabricator
- Gloo Studios - Visual Effects
- MVCC Video Communications - Video Supplier
- Echo West Developments - Project Manager