May 12, 2022—Congratulations to GSCA member Masters Digital for their work on the museum exhibit BOOM!, winner of the Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement—Museum Experience, Limited Budget. Masters Digital was responsible for the audio design and installation. The TEA 28th Annual Thea Awards were held April 23, 2022, during the TEA Summit at Disneyland in California.

Tim Archer of Masters Digital on location at the BOOM! exhibit. Tim was responsible for sound & audio design, edit, and site mix for the TEA award-winning exhibit.

The BOOM! exhibit at the Britannia Mine Museum, in Britannia Beach, British Columbia, Canada, tells the story of Mill No. 3—an emotional story of heritage, groundbreaking innovation, and engineering, dramatizing the historic mill's use in its heyday as the premier producer of copper during World War II.

It was important to the Britannia Mine Museum that in housing BOOM!, the designers preserve the 1920s infrastructure and maintain the authenticity of the 20-story space. Modern technology and storytelling devices were seamlessly integrated and concealed until their reveal in the story.

Guests first enter the apparently abandoned structure, and next are welcomed into a 40-seat space with found artifacts and built-in effects synched with multi­-sensory media and show action equipment. A replica of the original three-ton, 100-year-old skip car used to haul ore in the mill is used in the show to haul props and other thematic elements using modern custom rail technology.

The climactic scene simulates the mill operating at its zenith, choreographed to a dramatic soundtrack of welding, crushing rocks, and pneumatic pipes. Discreet channels of sound from weather-resistant speakers, mock dust plumes, flickering antique lights, and pine oil scents were just a few of the multi­ sensory elements employed to achieve this 13-minute experience.

The layering and world-class execution of the show action elements and scenic environments was emotionally evocative as well as technically impressive. The achievement of BOOM! demonstrates the power of multi-disciplinary collaboration where experts in their respective fields all come together towards one common goal—to re-enact the spirit of the Mill, authentically and with a sprinkle of theatricality.

“It was an absolute pleasure to be involved with the award-winning BOOM! Project," says Master Digital's Tim Archer,  Sound & Audio Design, Edit & Site Mix on the project. "I personally want to thank Producer & Director Scott Weber, Producer & Creative Director Randal Ormston, and Project Manager Nancy Holme for the opportunity to be a part of this truly unique project and congratulate the other creative teams involved.”