3 Cool Things About the World War II Museum's New Movie

• World War II
• movies
• museums
• Digital Hollywood

1) Hardware pops out from the screen

Here at PM, we write a lot about 3D movie tech, but Beyond all Boundaries tries to be a 3D movie. The main screen in the theater, a scrim 115 feet wide by 28 feet tall, can handle multiple layers of projections. During the film, hardware rises from a hidden 18-foot pit in the floor and descends smoothly from the ceiling. The coolest use of these effects is when the movie meshes real-world items with on-screen scenes. For example, the nose of a B-17 actually juts seamlessly from the screen during the bombing of Europe. A computer coordinates all these movements, but a watchdog system uses door and proximity sensors to guard against human intrusion or injury.

2) Historical hyper-accuracy

You anticipate that a museum will get details right, and to live up to expectations, the producers of Beyond All Boundaries went to extremes. To achieve an obsessive level of accuracy meant deep research with museum curators, who pored over hours of archival footage for the details that could bring the experience to life. But as any curator knows, there is never only one version of historic hardware to choose from. "We had an hours-long debate over exactly the right paint scheme for the B-17," Boundaries producer Phil Hettema tells PM.

3) Special effects delivered to your seat.

It's one thing to watch a film about the Battle of the Bulge, it's another to watch it and feel the snow fall on your shoulders. Two SNOWMASTER T1600 snow-machine units produce flakes that fall on the audience during the epic battle of the Ardennes. Seats rumble as tanks go past and thud when artillery drops, and smoke curls around the seats. Six high-performance fans blow wind over the seats. After the show ends, the entire theater can be reset with the push of a button.

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