GETTYSBURG, PA — The Museum & Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park, which opened earlier this year and recently unveiled its restored Cyclorama painting, uses a wide assortment of AV gear to help inform visitors and give them a sense for the historic significance of the battlefields nearby, which served as a turning point in the American civil war.
Electrosonic provided design support to AV designer Bob Haroutunian of PPI and supplied and installed the AV equipment used at the 139,000 square foot museum and visitor center, and also supplied gear for exterior and interior signage.
The building, a National Park Service facility, is operated in partnership with the non-profit Gettysburg Foundation. It replaced the former visitor facilities located on the key battleground of Cemetery Ridge. “The Museum & Visitor Center is a large facility, and Electrosonic played a role in its multiple theaters, touchscreen interactives, map exhibits and the Cyclorama sound and light show,” said Andrew Kidd, business development manager and technology consultant.
Upon arriving at the Center visitors can watch a brief orientation presentation that helps them plan their visit. The presentation features three synchronized Alcorn McBride SD players and corresponding 50-inch Panasonic plasma screens furnished by Electrosonic.
Visitors then proceed to one of two identical 150-seat theatres for a 22-minute feature film, A New Birth of Freedom, narrated by Morgan Freeman, running in an alternating cycle, which sets the scene for the Cyclorama painting experience they are about to see. Each theater is outfitted with a 47-foot-by-13-foot curved Hurley screen, Christie projectors and three QuVis HD players genlocked together.
After viewing the film, visitors can ride a 35-foot escalator to a viewing platform that brings them eye level with the horizon of the Cyclorama painting. The 360-degree artwork, originally painted in 1884, measures 377 linear feet and is 26 feet high. It toured the country, bringing the battle to life for millions of people in the days before movies and electronic media. The Cyclorama experience includes the painting, a canopy and a three-dimensional diorama.
When the Cyclorama sound and light show concludes, visitors can walk downstairs to the mezzanine level where a smaller high-resolution photo of the Cyclorama painting is on view along with two supporting Cyclorama gallery kiosks.
Electrosonic furnished a pair of 17-inch JVC flat panels and two Alcorn McBride MPEG video players for the kiosks. From there, they can proceed to the entrance of the Museum Exhibit Galleries containing artifacts and numerous small theaters and touchscreen interactive components, which trace the Civil War’s timeline.
The Causes of War is an HD video presentation features Panasonic projectors, Alcorn McBride HD players and a display surface consisting of three textured wooden wallboards, each 9.5 feet wide.
Secession or Union? is a question posed on two back-to-back touchscreen interactives in another exhibit. It is configured with ELO 32-inch touchscreens, Dell computer sources and a second eye-level 46-inch NEC slave screen to facilitate viewing for visitors behind the touchscreen user.
Next is the first of two graphical map exhibits. The Animated Civil War Battle Map is entirely computer-generated and features a Panasonic projector and an 11-foot wide screen.
Visitors can then proceed to the first of two Voices Theaters, which details the campaign leading up to Gettysburg. The SD video is displayed on a 50-inch Panasonic plasma screen. The two touchscreen interactives, which follow, depict A Day in the Life of a typical foot soldier.
Three Battle of Gettysburg Theaters, identical in configuration but showing different perspectives of the three-day battle, have 11-foot wide Hurley screens, Alcorn McBride HD players and Panasonic projectors from Electrosonic.
After that, there are three more touchscreen interactives with 32-inch ELO touchscreens and one Signal Flag interactive with ELO touchscreen and 46-inch NEC slave.
Next up is the second Voices Theater, identical in its configuration to the first, which looks at the battle’s Aftermath.
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is explored in two computer interactives and a mini walk-in, audio-only theater.
The second graphical map exhibit, From Gettysburg to Appomattox, uses the same assortment of gear as the first. It takes visitors along the timeline to the end of the war. The After the War theatre is outfitted with a 14-foot wide screen, Alcorn McBride HD player and Panasonic projector.
An additional touchscreen interactive details the preservation of monuments. Visitors can also use the Resource Room, which Electrosonic supplied with 12 PCs and 12 24-inch Samsung flat panels, to access material used in the Center’s interactives.
The Exhibit Galleries feature AMX control; the timed shows in the theatres and the Cyclorama operate with Medialon control.
Both inside and outside the Center, Electrosonic has furnished equipment for digital signage applications. Two kiosks with sunlight-viewable screens in temperature-controlled cases by Suncutter preview the Center for visitors en route to the building from the parking lots.
Inside, four 46-inch NEC flat panels above the ticketing kiosks display animated graphical information such as prices and upcoming events. Additional signage includes a donor database touchscreen and an informational National Park Service screen.
Donna Lawrence Productions produced video media for all video pieces in the Center’s 150-seat theaters, the Cyclorama experience and the exhibit galleries. Second Story provided media production for the interactives and the signage. Bob Haroutunian headed the AV design team at PPI. Gallagher and Associates was the exhibit designer and Art Guild Inc. the exhibit fabricator.
At Electrosonic, Marcelo Videla was project manager and Bryan Abelowitz and Andrew Kidd provided design assistance. Tony Peugh handled all the programming and engineering for the theaters and the Cyclorama.
For more information, please visit www.electrosonic.com.
