Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

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underwater scene
Tim Lay

Making the Movies

Unlike a stereotypical natural history display of static objects, the Ocean Hall will be alive with movement. From all corners of the hall, video presentations will bring ocean critters, ocean processes, and ocean peoples to life. How does the museum put all these fascinating presentations together? That's the job of the exhibit's audio-visual producers.

Jill Johnson

Planning the Exhibit

Building the Ocean Hall – like any major exhibition – is a huge undertaking. Over the course of five years, it requires hundreds of people with a vast array of skills and backgrounds. One group of people shapes the project from start to finish. This is the exhibit's core team.

Text panel

Writing the Script

If you've been to museum exhibits, you know that introductions, explanations, and details about the photos, images, and objects on display are usually displayed as text printed on walls or shown in cases. If you're interested and you like to read, you've probably read many of these panels. If not, you may have just breezed past them. But one thing you can know for sure – a lot of effort went into deciding exactly what those words are.

Carver Douglas Chilton working on canoe

Carving a Legacy: A Northwest Coast Canoe

During the coming months a traditional ocean-going canoe will be created for display at the new Ocean Hall. Carver Douglas Chilton is at work now in Alaska. A web cam is following his progress.

 

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