The Courtroom exhibit features a seven-minute show that uses Christie, Digital Projection and Panasonic projectors [INSTALLED] Mob rule
A museum telling the story of organised crime and its battle with law enforcement is making extensive use of show control technology, writes Paddy Baker
FROM EDWARD G Robinson in Little Caesarin 1931 to The Sopranosand Boardwalk Empirein more recent times, the world of organised crime has been a mainstay of the worlds of film, TV and books. Now, we can add visitor attractions to that list, with the opening of the Mob Museum in Las Vegas – Sin City’s newest crowd-puller. The location of the museum
is appropriate to the subject. Not only does Las Vegas loom large in the annals of organised crime, but part of the building housing the museum was formerly a federal courthouse.
One exhibit is devoted to material relating to Oscar Goodman, who – before serving as mayor of Las Vegas between 1999 and 2011 – participated in trials here during his career as a lawyer.
Opened in February, the
attraction tells stories from the ongoing battle between organised crime and law enforcement. In the words of its tagline: “There are two sides to every story.” Iconic artifacts on display include the actual brick wall against which the mobsters were shot during the St Valentine’s Day Massacre and the barber’s chair where
one-time Murder Inc boss Albert Anastasia was sitting when he was murdered. Among the interactive exhibits and environments are FBI wiretap surveillance and weapons training. There are also a number of high-tech presentations, in which Alcorn McBride audio, video and show control equipment features strongly. “We have three floors of exhibits, and a large portion is content. Visitors start at the third floor with the birth of the mob and continue down to the first floor, which documents the mob today,” explains Ryan Markus, IT manager. “There’s so much amazing content: the average leg walk [for visitors] is two hours. Most of our equipment is controlled by Alcorn gear – we have several racks full.” Five Alcorn McBride V16 Pro
Interactive exhibits include an FBI wiretap surveillance area 42 August 2012
frame-accurate show controllers for serial and network devices control six Digital Binloop HD multitrack video players, which play loops of a diverse range of content
tailored to particular exhibits. One exhibit calls for visitors to pick up a rotary telephone that sends a tone to one of the V16 Pros telling it to play a certain audio track. The tone in turn signals an Alcorn McBride AM4 Digital Audio Machine, a professional MP3 and WAV audio player.
A total of 10 AM4s are in use in the museum; some provide playback for phones that give visitors an idea of what ‘mob speak’ sounds like. Asked to nominate the most complicated exhibit, Michael Lewis, design engineer with lead integrator AVI-SPL, chooses the Courtroom. This consists of a seven-minute, four-projector show. Two custom Da-Lite Electrol
projection screens flank the judge’s bench, showing images from Digital Projection’s dVision 30-1080p-XL projectors. Behind the judge’s seat, a Christie LW640 projector illuminates a custom translucent plexiglass material to provide “a somewhat holographic effect”, according
VIDEO Alcorn McBride AM4 Digital Audio Machines Alcorn McBride Digital Binloop HD video players Alcorn McBride Show Touch Christie DHD800 HD DLP projector Christie LW650 3LCD WXGA projector Digital Projection dVision 30-1080p-XL projectors iTech FOB2400-SAW-S LCD monitors Magenta HD-1LX receivers Panasonic BT-LH2550 25in LCD display Panasonic TH-42PH30U 42in plasma display Panasonic PT-DX800US LS XGA projector RGB Spectrum Media Wall
AUDIO Electro-Voice ZX1i-90 8in two-way composite speakers Elo 12in, 15in and 19in touchscreens JBL Control 1, Control 126W and Control 65 P/T speakers K-Array K10 amplifiers K-Array KKS50 subs, KT20 and KZ10 speakers
CONTROL
All Alcorn McBride V16 Pro show controllers DMX machines LightCue DMX recorder
to Michael Lewis, design engineer with lead integrator AVI-SPL. Behind the translucent rear projection, background