The events design group behind last year’s Star Wars exhibition at County Hall in London’s Westminster will next week launch what it hopes will be the UK’s leading movie museum attraction.
Film, theatre and production design group Weird & Wonderful is set to launch Movieum, a ‘low-cost’ visitor attraction aimed at children and families, located on the site of the former Saatchi Gallery in County Hall.
The venture is Weird & Wonderful managing director Jonathan Sands’ own concept and creation, while the naming, branding and exhibition design has been devised in collaboration with director Bob Keen, production designer Martin Hitchcock and Weird & Wonderful’s design team.
The permanent exhibition, which Sands has ambitions to travel with, will feature at least nine rooms, including a mock sound stage, a history of film studios, real-life film sets, prop art, animatronics and modelmaking, as well as costumes and make-up, each with the aim of exploring various aspects of filmmaking.
The emphasis of the attraction, according to Sands, will be on interactivity and engaging with the audience. His idea for the exhibition design has been to move ‘beyond the glass’ by creating areas where visitors can produce their own projects, be it putting together their own film, or creating their own animation.
‘We wanted to create pockets or zones that focus on interaction or live demonstrations, as opposed to walking around a load of glass cabinets,’ says Sands. ‘One of the biggest challenges we’ve had so far in creating the exhibition has been clearance of copyright and distribution, but the reaction has generally been sympathetic since we’re showcasing the British film industry.’
Weird & Wonderful started out as a film prop hire and publicity company, but has since evolved into filmmaking and events, as well as theatre and production design.
The Movieum opens on 22 February.
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