Brightening the Great Escape

Great Escape Theatres (New Albany, IN) and Paradigm Design Inc. (Grand Rapids, MI) sought to develop a state-of-the-art movie theatre for the Harrisburg (PA) Mall. The elaborate design included such unique features as an 80-ft.-long, undulating, color-changing light wall and airfoil-shaped, color-changing entrance walls. The design intent also included signage elements in the mall entrance, theatre lobby and theatre hallways.

Bruce Taffet, president of Taffet Co. & Assoc., a well-known, theatre-construction consultant, and Rick Whitaker, VP of construction for Great Escape, assessed project needs and contacted our shop. Custom Finishers manufactures custom signs, architectural-metal accents and decorative lighting. We also offer design, engineering, and project-management services – our skill and experience enable us to integrate diverse applications. Once selected, Custom Finishers provided the blueprint for the project.

Planning and prototyping

Projects only succeed with clearly defined client expectations. A successful job requires an explicit work scope and timeline, a detailed plan for achieving key benchmarks, solid communication and proven implementation processes. After having met Great Escape and Paradigm, we knew they expected high-quality work with an aggressive, 12-week turnaround.

We immediately began designing the interior signs. We envisioned a sign package that would complement, but not detract from, the theatre’s design. Custom Finishers’ design VP, Keith Denny, handled this task admirably.

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The property’s primary sign program comprised LED-lit “Great Escape” channel letters; non-illuminated, pin-mounted letters throughout the lobby that advertise concession-stand treats; freestanding, aluminum marquees; and non-illuminated wayfinding. Denny also designed theatre-entrance signs and collaborated with Great Escape’s Jamie Bowles to place LED signs at each theatre entrance to ensure maximum patron visibility.

The most prominent architectural feature, and the theatre lobby’s focal point, was the dynamic, programmable, color-changing wall. The wall features 20, 3-Form® (Salt Lake City, UT) Quo Mezzo+ mint-colored, 4 x 8-ft., 3/8-in.-thick panels. We secured the panels with decorative retainers and puck-style hardware.

Unexpected things can occur when integrating translucent materials and lighting. The original intent isn’t always achieved. Potential pitfalls include shadowing, hot spots or uneven illumination.

Therefore, uniform lighting requires proper planning, experience and prototyping. To perfect such key attributes as depth, LED spacing and beam angle, and material translucence, we built a 4 x 8-ft., prototype wall. To achieve proper illumination, we tested such Philips Color Kinetics products as MRG2 bulbs and the Color Blast before selecting iColor Cove low-profile, color-changing LED strips. They best satisfied the required 12-in. depth from the back wall to the panel’s face. We placed the iColor Cove strips in rows spaced 24 in. apart and used the same process for the theater’s entrance elements.

Construction time again

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After having aggressively worked through the prototype process and finished the sign design, we began fabrication and installation. Our CAD director, Jack Tusman, prepared all shop layouts using Gerber’s Omega® software. After we’d completed the drawings, we converted them to files suitable for our Gerber Sabre 408 CNC router. After we’d machined the channel-letter faces, we staged them for fabrication. We assigned individual projects based upon a fabricator’s capacity and individual talent.

To create the Great Escape’s channel letters, which we installed at the mall’s theater entrance, we welded the channel-letter returns to the letters’ backs. Welding provides a cleaner method for interior applications, as opposed to rivets or staples.

Fabricators cut the channel-letter faces from red Plexiglas® #2793 acrylic, which we wrapped with red trim cap. Inside the letters, we placed red Permlight LEDs. Installers situated the letters on a stud-framed drywall with ¾-in.-thick, plywood blocking. They mounted the LED power supplies remotely behind the wall.

We created all interior letter sets from Acrylite’s ½-in.-thick clear acrylic and drilled and studded the letters. We polished the edges to clean them and painted the letters with Matthews' brushed-silver, acrylic-polyurethane paint. We used a paper-mounting template to drill. We dabbed the studs with silicone and drilled them into the wall.

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Custom Finishers fabricated the lobby’s marquee displays from 1/8-in.-thick, aluminum, angle-iron frames painted with Matthews brushed-aluminum paint. Atop the displays, we installed Schult Industries’ (Blue Springs, MO), Dater Style marquee poster cases to display coming attractions. Using slotted baseplates and concrete-expansion anchors, we mounted the displays to the floor. We covered the hardware with a painted, decorative, aluminum base cover.

Behind the 3-Form panels, we installed 12-in.-long strips of iColor Cove RGB lights. We placed the lights 24 in. apart and on-center to maximize light output and color consistency. To avoid shadows, we installed the DMX control system and power supplies in the ceiling. We purchased pre-cut, airfoil-shaped, 3-Form panels to construct the theatre-entrance walls.

We framed the panels on the wall to create a 12-in.-deep, curved recessed area. We mounted the iColor Cove fixtures on the walls with the secondary wiring that runs up the back of the wall and through the ceiling to the DMX controller. We set the panels in place carefully to maintain even spacing. To give the wall a clean, finished look, we installed the decorative retaining system.

All worthwhile

This finished project was unforgettable. I remember arriving at the theatre the night of the VIP opening; the glistening channel letters proudly displayed the Great Escape brand. As the crowd congregated in the lobby, I was overwhelmed by the compliments and conversations related to the light wall.

I believe our signs achieved the classy, subtle look our customer wanted. As I entered the long theatre hallway, it seemed to be alive. The airfoil-shaped panels slowly changed colors in unison, and the recessed, LED marquee displayed the movies playing as the theatre’s identifying numeral shined with the ambient light.

As Jack and I started to exit the theatre, the customer and designer thanked us for our work. I looked at Jack, gave him a high-five and said, “This is what it’s all about.”

Bill Lockett is business-development VP for Custom Finishers Inc. (Levittown, PA).

Equipment and Materials

Coating: Brushed-aluminum paint, from Matthews Inc. (Pleasant Prairie, WI), (800) 323-6593 or http://corporateportal.ppg.com/na/refinish/matthews/default.htm

Displays: Dater Style poster cases, from Schult Industries (Blue Springs, MO), (800) 783-8998 or www.schult.com

Plastics: Quo Mezzo + plastic panels, from 3-Form Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT), (800) 726-0126 or www.3-form.com; Plexiglas® and Acrylite® acrylic sheet, respectively from Arkema Inc. (Philadelphia), (800) 523-7500 or www.plexiglas.com, and Cyro Industries (Parsippany, NJ), (800) 631-5384 or www.cyro.com

Lighting: iColor Cove color-changing LED strips, from Philips Color Kinetics (Burlington, MA), (888) 385-5742 or www.colorkinetics.com; Red LEDs, from Permlight (Tustin, CA), (714) 508-0729 or www.permlight.com

Router: Sabre 408 CNC router, from Gerber Scientific Products Inc. (South Windsor, CT), (800) 222-7446 or www.gspinc.com

Software: Omega® sign-design software, from Gerber Scientific Products Inc.

About the Author

Bill Lockett is the business-development vice president for Custom Finishers Inc. He has been with the company for three years. Lockett’s sign-business career has included serving as project manager and senior account executive. His efforts have been a catalyst for growth that’s tripled the size of Custom Finishers’ business. Lockett credits President James Gross; Executive VP Fred Wenclawiak and Operations VP Bill Blaney for their role in shepherding the company’s growth.