On February 22, 2019, Atlanta History Center opened Cyclorama: The Big Picture, featuring the fully restored cyclorama painting, The Battle of Atlanta. At the centerpiece of this new multi-media experience is a 132-year-old hand-painted work of art that stands 49 feet tall, is longer than a football field, and weighs 10,000 pounds.
To bring a new medium and layering of interpretation to the painting, Cortina Productions produced a panoramic multi-projector film projected directly onto the painting. This dramatic, towering film experience not only places visitors in the context of what happened during the Civil War, but what happened after the war and how that has shifted people’s perceptions. “It was important to maintain the humanity of the characters,” says producer Kia Meredith-Caballero, “and represent all the people that were affected by the Civil War in a way that was honest, authentic and respectful, even if they weren’t represented in the painting, particularly African Americans and women.”
Special effects editor Andrew Prasse grew up learning all he could about the Civil War. “I saw the prejudices and inaccuracies about what the Civil War meant to different people, and I wanted to be a part of something that puts all that in context and asks: ‘How can we take this horrible event in American history and learn from it?’”
We are proud to have partnered with the Atlanta History Center on the new Battle for Atlanta Cyclorama multimedia experience.