TRAPPED
Sovereign Hill Ballarat
Trapped is a media and scenic exhibit to highlight the plight of miners trapped in a mining accident. All the miners passed away, as they were never able to dig them out.
Mine walk experience
ThinkOTS created a unique environment where patrons were constantly walking deep into the earth into a dark simulated mine environment. The Environment was built on side of a hill so patrons were never actually underground.
Using a Film set design approach, we created and entire Mine walk experience channelling the visitors through a series of underground scenic spaces that simulate the conditions that miners worked in during the 1800’s. The Show used ‘first person’ case studies of the miners – recounting their personal moments of their final days.
450,000
Visitors annually
Ride experience
through a mine
Major attraction
Soverign Hill
Mine environment
Scenic build on side of a hill
Services
+ Concept and technical design
+ Historical research
+ Storyboard design and scripting
+ Scenic design and fabrication
+ 3D Mapping & media design
+ Original Music score
+ Project installation
+ Design / production / installation
“By the Sweet Bye and Bye”
During research we discovered that the miners sang the song “By the Sweet Bye and Bye” to lift their spirits during their ordeal. We committed to the idea that as the waters rose the voices singing would be reduced to a single voice in the dark as the accident claimed its victims one by one.
We took a filmic approach to the music and it paid off as the song became the main theme of the entire show and the music became the emotional core of this experience. Audiences cannot help becoming involved in the first-hand experiences of the many men who never saw their friends and families again.
The culmination of script, interpretive design, scenic art, soundtrack, lighting and video made Trapped! one of the most rewarding projects we’ve been fortunate enough to be involved.
