Glencairn Museum in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania has selected TDI Productions to produce the museum's most ambitious video program to date. Research for the production should be complete by January of 2005 and shooting is slated to begin in March.

This will be the second time TDI Director Christopher Smith has teamed with scriptwriter and Glencairn Curator, Ed Gyllenhaal. Their first production, Cairnwood: A Home in the Country (2003), received three major awards in 2003-4 including The Communicator Award of Excellence, The Aegis Award, and The Omni Award.

The yet unnamed 2005 production will focus on Glencairn Museum, which was designed and built by Raymond Pitcairn, son of famous industrialist John Pitcairn. The magnificent structure houses a collection focused on religion throughout the ages and features artifacts from ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, as well as those of medieval Christian, Islamic, Asian and Native American cultures. TDI has already produced numerous digital still photos of the museum's architecture, galleries and artifacts. These are used in marketing, trade journal and various other applications.

The video production will actually appear in multiple forms to further the museum's goals. The first will be a 15 minute tour orientation video which will introduce guests to the subject matter and explain the motivations behind the builder's massive undertaking. This production will also help guests to understand and appreciate the rich symbolism found in the building's architecture. The second version of the production shall be a 30 minute DVD documentary which shall contain all of the elements above, but deal in depth with the content and acquisition of the collection. This documentary will appear in a retail form for distribution via libraries, bookstores and the Internet and will include interactive "special features" which allow viewers to examine texts, maps, photographs and archival film footage not used in the main body of the documentary.

The entire production will be filmed using Panasonic Varicam High-Definition cameras. Extensive use will be made of robotic crane and dolly systems designed and operated by Abad Rosa of Gato Inc., and helicopter mounted camera hardware by Gyrocam.  The production will also include the newest cable-mounted gyro stabilized cameras to achieve spectacular fly-through effects in and around the museum's main tower. These systems (widely used in sporting event production) will allow detailed shots of the building's exterior as well as sweeping panoramas of the building and grounds.

During post production the writers, producers and researchers will be able to see the editing process unfold via a password protected web page. This is one of the key ways TDI allows client input at every stage of production, saving time and minimizing costly re-edits.

This documentary has been made possible through a generous grant from Glencairn Foundation and is slated to premier in September of 2005.

For more information on Glencairn Museum please visit www.glencairnmuseum.org