Cape Canaveral, FL, USA — KENNEDY SPACE CENTER — Newly open at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Space Shuttle Atlantis is an attraction devoted entirely to NASA’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program and featuring an up-close viewing of the Atlantis orbiter. The creative team at Mousetrappe, led by Daren Ulmer (Mousetrappe President and Chief Creative) and including David Briggs, s.Logan Wince, and Adam Bezark of The Bezark Company, produced media that are a unique part of the visitor experience at the center’s new attraction.
The pre-show and main show use a combination of live-action reenactments, original historical footage, and computer-generated animation. The main show plays in an immersive architectural environment that surrounds the audience, transporting guests to the center of the action. It employs a super-high resolution 8K format (16 times the resolution of full HD television).
Mousetrappe, a Burbank, Calif. based design & production studio, collaborated with Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, operators of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for NASA, as well as PGAV Destinations and Nassal. “We begin every project by focusing on what the audience will be thinking, feeling, and saying as they exit the theater,” says Ulmer, “For this project that moment is the apex of the overall Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction experience – a chance to create context and peak the audience’s overall emotional connection with the experience.”
Ulmer added, “It was the often-untold part of the story that piqued our interest right away. We saw a story of aspiration, imagination, challenge, and ultimately, of human triumph—the stories of NASA engineers and personnel who dreamed of a reusable space transportation system and then brought that dream into existence with stunning success.” These stories were told partly through personal accounts from NASA all-stars such as Robert “Bob” Thompson (Space Shuttle Program Manager 1970-1981) Thomas L. Moser (Hdq. Dep. Assoc. Admin. & Director, retired) Space Station Program Mark Craig (NASA Account Manager), Ivy Hooks (Requirements Expert, NASA Johnson Space Center, retired) and others.
As Mousetrappe Senior Media Director David Briggs shared, “It is an honor to be part of this groundbreaking attraction during a crucial stage when we celebrate the accomplishments of Atlantis and her sister ships and look forward to what will come in the future.”
Experts in large format media design for shows and attractions, Mousetrappe has also created experiences on 180’ tall castles at theme parks and 4D cinematic experiences such as Beyond All Boundaries with Executive Producer Tom Hanks at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
Culver City, CA-based House of Salt created animation for the 6-minute preshow. House Of Salt Creative Director Eric Fulford states, “I love working with the Mousetrappe crew, they always have really unique, meaningful projects. Being part of the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction was an opportunity to salute the incredible achievements of NASA’s 30-year space shuttle program.”
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is located 45 minutes east of Orlando, Fla. Tickets can be purchased at www.kennedyspacecenter.com.
