Case Study
Client: City of Homestead
Project Scope:
Project Management
Graphic Design & Creative Development
- Style frames, wireframes, storyboards, and animation
Research & Story Development/ Scriptwriting
- Collaboration with librarians and archives for direction of timeline, video vignettes, and scripts
Media Content Creation
- 5 video vignettes each in a unique visual style, displayed with 360 immersive backdrops, featuring VoiceOver, music, and sound design
VR, Interactive Display & Web Development
- On-site installation in Cybrarium VR Cube, interactive
Project Team
Janelle Picard Creative Producer
Brian David Media Director
Project Location
Orlando, FL
Timeline:
3/21 – 8/21
Budget
$50,000
Project Summary
The City of Homestead’s new Cybrarium offers patrons access to high-tech innovations in their VR Cube and they desired to create an original installation that would tell the history of Homestead from prehistoric times through 2021. MDSX was enlisted to research, plan, produce and install this custom experience. In addition to the VR interface, MDSX also corresponding website and interactive touchscreen display as alternate ways of viewing the production from within the Cybrarium or outside. Viewers can take a virtual walk through the timeline of Homestead’s history, accessing facts, photos from public and private archives and video vignettes with 360° backgrounds to immerse the viewer in the stories of the city and it’s people.
Features of the exhibit include the Everglades; Lily Lawrence Bow, Homestead’s first Librarian; Military & the Cuban Missile Crisis; and hurricanes, including Hurricane Andrew in 1992 that devastated much of south Florida, especially Homestead. The experience culminates with the centennial celebration and the exciting opening of the Cybrarium.
Research and Story Development/Scriptwriting
Historical Research Resources:
- Charlie Hudson, Town Hall History Museum
- Katherine Fleming, Town Hall History Museum
- Bob Jensen, writer of “Homestead Florida, From Railroad Boom to Sonic Boom”
- Pinky Munz, early family ties to Homestead and worked on the Homestead-Miami Speedway project; recommended by a Councilmember for consultation
- Yvonne Knowles, Director of Homestead Main Street and Chair of the Historic Preservation Board
Military Vignette
The military history of Homestead began with WW1, 114 brave men of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds were sent to the Army and Navy. Then in the 1940’s during WW2, Homestead played a major role in military aviation. In 1942, the PanAm Services airfield was converted to the Homestead Army Airfield, a fully operational air base. By the end of the war, the airfield was hosting the large
Hurricane Vignette
In 1926 a mighty hurricane rocked the town of Homestead, and as the waters receded so did the population boom. On Labor Day in 1935 Homestead was spared from the most intense hurricane to ever hit the United States. While the city itself was safe, the hurricane had damaged the railroad extension to the Florida Keys and resulted in a tremendous loss of many WW1 veterans who were working the construction line.
