Beyond all Boundaries: Facts at a Glance

Beyond All Boundaries

Premiering November 6, 2009 at the

Solomon Victory Theater

The National World War II Museum

Concept, Design and Production

Beyond All Boundaries, a five-year project – from concept to design and production – was commissioned by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans and led by 30-year industry veteran Phil Hettema and The Hettema Group’s creative design team. 

The cinematic journey incorporates state-of-the-art special effects all specially designed by The Hettema Group for the Solomon Victory Theater.  The multi-sensory experience plunges audiences into another time, another place where they will feel the steam rising from the Guadalcanal’s jungles, brush snowflakes from their cheeks while trailing troops in the Battle of the Bulge, and flinch at anti-aircraft fire as they fly with bomber crews above Nazi Germany.  How is this possible?

Behind the Scenes:  Facts at a Glance

·          Tom Hanks is the executive producer and narrator of the film.

·          True stories of 44 individuals are voiced by 30 well-known actors, including Kevin Bacon, Patricia Clarkson, James Cromwell, Blythe Danner, Viola Davis, Jennifer Garner, John Goodman, Neil Patrick Harris, Tobey Maguire, Chris Pine, Brad Pitt and Gary Sinise, among others.

·          Of the 44 individuals featured, six are still alive today, four of whom are WWII veterans.

·          Immersing the audience in the full cinematic experience, the Solomon Victory Theater screen is 120-feet wide, dwarfing large screens in most traditional theaters.

·          9 Digital Cinema DLP Projectors (a regular theater has only one projector).

·          Full surround custom audio system features 27 speakers:  11 in the front of the theater, 4 surround speakers on the side walls, 4 surround speakers on the back wall, 4 overhead speakers and 4 subwoofers.

·          250 special effects theater seats are equipped with full range oscillating vibration. (The seats shake, e.g., when tanks are rolling.)

·          A B-17 aircraft nose lowers from overhead rigging above the audience in less than 12 seconds.

·          A 25-foot guard tower rises ominously before the audience from a deep pit below the stage.

·          An anti-aircraft gun rises, rotates and appears to fire above the audience. 

·          Six full-sized “Dragons Teeth” tank traps (large steel construction used to stop or disable tanks) appear in the D-Day beach sequence. 

·          Special effect snow falls on the audience (actually, soap bubbles).

·          305 archival photographs are shown.

·          Approximately 517 film clips of archival footage are shown.

·          More than 6,000:  Number of hours spent researching archival footage and stills.

·          75 images of original CGI art appear on screen.

·          Master Show Control System – This state-of-the-art cinematic experience is fully automated and designed to play, reset and standby for the next show all at the press of a single button.

Download full press release.