Here's the backstory behind the retro 1920's style main drape, viewed by nearly 40 million people on the night of the 2012 Academy Awards. Enlisted with less than 2 months before the air date, Rose Brand fabricated this beautifully designed and elaborately detailed curtain for Hollywood's biggest event.

The Academy sought to recreate the aura of the opulent movie palaces of the early 20th century. The vision included a swag valance that had hung in the Kodak Theatre many years ago. Production Designer, John Myhre, provided Rose Brand with photographs of historic movie theatre stages that represented the look and feel that he wanted to achieve. With John’s design in hand, we searched for the right fabric and trim to recreate an old time masterpiece.

While many theatre curtains are made from inherently flame retardant fabric to insure the flame retardant’s longevity, we knew that our show curtain needed to last just a single night. This expanded the variety of fabrics from which we could choose the perfect weight, texture and color to match the designer's objectives. After testing a number of fabrics, the Academy chose Rose Brand’s 21 Oz. Marvel Velour in a custom dyed, rich red color.

With the fabric set, attention turned to the development of the trim and fringe. The design called for 4’8” high trim that consisted of 204 hand sewn medallions, a sequin lace, woven gold banding, and a custom 30” bouillon fringe. Rose Brand flew Brent Porter, the head of our East Coast Sewing Department, to our LA facility to supervise the rapid development of the spectacularly ornate curtain.

To insure that there were no surprises during installation at the Kodak theatre, we transported the finished 40' x 80' curtain to a nearby community college theatre where it was installed on stage and inspected. It hung beautifully.

The 2012 Academy Awards grand drape weighed nearly 2,000 pounds, and it required 8 people to move both of the custom boxes that Rose Brand built to transport it. It was sewn at 150% fullness and featured 210 linear feet of fringe and a custom band. It was a spectacular recreation of a retro 1920’s grand drape, exactly as the Academy had envisioned it.

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Take a look at Rose Brand’s Digital Printing Project Manager, Ernesto Gomez, talk about the different options available for digitally printed flooring.

Every designer knows how to take advantage of a scenic backdrop. It provides the perfect medium to brand your company, enhance an event or create a beautiful set. Yet, most people forget there is a whole wealth of possibilities at their feet, literally. You can expand your canvas by digitally printing on floors.

Digitally Print on Matte Ballare Flooring

Ideal for use in live theatre, touring shows, as well as special events. Ballare is quick and easy to install, remove, and transport. These lightweight rolls are more convenient than decking and will enable you to save money on labor and freight charges.

Digitally Print on Studio Tiles

Finally, there's a floor that can withstand treading and usage and still maintain vibrant, crisp colors.  Studio tiles are perfect for temporary or permanent flooring in television studios, retail, restaurant, and theme park environments.

Digitally Print on Carpeting

Depending on your needs, we can do both dye sublimation and solvent printing on carpeting. Choose any size, shape and design to create your custom carpet.

Learn more about digital printing.

Rose Brand's Rigging Project Manager, Jesse Adams, discusses the Nicopress Power Inline Swaging Tool at the LDI show this year in Tampa, Florida. 

The Nicopress Swaging tool enables single-handed, quick and perfect compression of swage fittings. Follow the easy instructions and your crimp is neither too tight, nor too loose. Power swaging helps you to avoid both mistakenly cutting into your wire rope, or having your combined wire ropes come apart. The power tool's pivoting head and compact size allow it to reach into confined spaces, while its lightness in weight makes it easy to use. With interchangeable dies ranging from 3/32 to 3/8 of an inch, the Nicopress Power Tool is the most convenient and efficent compression device available.

In addition to the Nicopress Power Swaging Tool, Rose Brand also offers a Manual Nicropress Tool that is available in three different sizes.

Rose Brand met with Kevin Nute of Screen Goo America’s at the 2011 LDI Tradeshow this year in Orlando, Florida. Kevin provides a clear understanding what Screen Goo is and why it is changing the projection industry.

Screen Goo is a water based acrylic coating that can be used on any paintable surface, regardless of size or shape, to create a high performance projection screen. Screen Goo also offers a wider viewing angle than regular projection surfaces e.g., it can allow viewers to see images on both sides of the projection surface, creating a 360° viewing cone. In addition, Screen Goo enables remarkable image depth and dimensionality, whether you use the Goo products made specifically to produce a 2-D or 3-D screen. It is appropriate for all levels of video use including home theatre, houses of worship, conference rooms, point of purchase displays, large-scale commercial venues and even outdoors.

Screen Goo can be used for both Front and Rear Projection surfaces. There are seven different Screen Goo coating options to choose from depending on the projector being used and the projection application. To find out which coating will work best for your next project try using the Screen Goo Selector Tool, which will choose a coating for you based the answers you give to a series of questions.

For more information on Screen Goo visit http://bit.ly/rosebrand-screen-goo or call a Rose Brand Representative at 800.223.1624.

LitePads are amazing versatile LED light sources that offer super-slim (.3”) profiles and soft, even illumination. They come in a range of standard sizes and shapes, but can also be customized to fit your needs (maximum size of any individual unit is 48” X 96”).  LitePads can be hung on a wall, held in your hand, or embedded almost anywhere. Use the LitePad^TM when larger, heavier luminaires simply don’t fit your application. Two versions of the LitePad^TMare shown below.

LitePad^TM DL

This model was designed with display, event and architectural designers in mind. It offers more economy but less light output than the LitePad^TM HO model described below.

LitePad^TM DL Standard Sizes Photometrics Table 

LitePad^TM HO

The LitePad^TMHO (High Output) is a 33% brighter version of the DL. It is a simple, fast and economical solution for the film, video, and still photography applications, as well as a diverse range of projects in theatre, scenery, architecture or retail lighting. 

LitePad^TM HO Standard Sizes Photometrics Table 

*Additional LitePad Specs:

-          Color Temperature: Approximately 6000° Kelvin

-          Thickness: .3”

-          Operating Temperature: -30C - +85C

-          Lamp Life: 60,000 hrs.

-          Power: 12v DC input

Please visit http://bit.ly/litepads for more information on LitePads and accessories.

Here’s an interesting story on a gorgeous grand drape and rigging project that we did for Delta Stage, who was hired by Holy Land Experience to install theatrical equipment & lighting for the new Church of All Nations. Delta brought Rose Brand on board to help with certain aspects of the job, including the development of a Venetian Contour curtain and a motion control system. The objectives of Rose Brand’s project included:

1)      Enhancing architectural esthetics with a beautiful grand drape for the pulpit.

2)      Providing a curtain control system that could raise and lower the curtain in a wide variety of patterns.

3)      Controlling other scenic elements with the same motion control system.

4)      Enabling efficient installation of the curtain and system on-site.

A Venetian Contour curtain has vertical lift lines in back, which raise and lower independently to allow the curtain to be shaped as it’s opened or closed. Rose Brand developed the curtain out of silver Lurex sheer fabric, which gave the grand drape a silky, flowing, elegant look as it’s drawn by the lift lines.

In terms of the motion control system, Rose Brand Project Managers developed a sophisticated, modular solution comprised of 16 ADC winches, eight programmable Raynok controllers, and truss. The controllers were integrated with motors that controlled both the main curtain as well as the numerous independent tracks of a mid-stage traveler curtain.

The main curtain lift system consisted of eight individual segments of truss. Each segment had multiple winches and a controller mounted on it. The modularity of the 63’ long system enabled us to build, program, and test it locally while prepping it for easy, remote installation. Once the system was fully tested, it shipped to the Orlando theatre for installation by a Rose Brand Project Manager working with the Delta Stage Lighting crew.

See more information on Technical Project Management for design and installation of curtains, curtain track, and stage rigging at http://bit.ly/project-management-installation .

Our friends at MMD Events in Tampa, Florida have shared with us an explanation of how they created the perfect, custom made Huppah for a client's wedding.  

“We were contacted by a florist that needed our help, and he needed it fast. We had just three weeks to design, create, and make a custom Huppah.  This Huppah was a custom, one of a kind design that the bride wanted and was set on having. We knew exactly what products we needed, and we knew we could get all of them at Rose Brand.

We ordered the Tendo Box Truss Covers to cover the truss structure.  So when we added our up-lighting  into the Huppah, the truss would be covered but  would still glow. At the base of the truss, we constructed four custom boxes to put the lighting into. We also ordered Voile sheer fabric that we custom cut and sewed together. The four layers of this fabric were connected at the top of the Huppah for covering. Once this Huppah was all put together the final result was remarkable. The bride and florist were both blown away by what we created." 

MMD Events is a design and décor company located in Tampa, Florida. They are usually hired directly by clients for wedding or events, but can also be hired directly by other vendors. When it comes to custom creations, vendors contact them because of their outstanding reputation. Owner Amanda Allen was named a finalist for Event Designer of the Year for both the 2011 Event Solutions Spotlight Awards and 2011 BizBash Florida Reader’s Choice Awards. 

 If you would like to be featured as a guest blogger, please send your ideas to blogcontest1@rosebrand.com.  

Rose Brand congratulates our fifth blog contest winner, Gilbert Monroy. His blog entry described how he built aluminum frames to make the process of hanging up strech shapes quicker and easier.

Here is how HE did it...

He started off buying a 6 Point Splat #2 and a 5 Point Splat #1. After trying to hang these up at various venues for DJ events, he had to figure out a faster way of hanging them up to get an even stretch. It was too hard to find tie points and get them to look correct. So, Gilbert made frames for each one using 1X1 aluminum square tubing shaped to each splat. These were used to project visuals for DJ events featuring Dead Mau5, Bad Boy Bill, The Crystal Method, Lee Burridge, Infected Mushroom to name a few plus events for his mobile DJ service Rhythm & Dance Factory. Visuals are projected using Eiki projectors and visuals are sent using a MacBook Pro and Arkaos Grand VJ along with Serato Scratch Live during video DJ shows.

Rose Brand is accepting applications for the How Did YOU Do It? Blog Contest until April 25. For a chance to have YOUR work featured on Rose Brand's Blog, simply post an explanation of your project and a representative picture or video on our Face Book Page. In your explanation, indicate which Rose Brand products you used, if any. If you end up as a contest winner, you'll also receive a $50 Amazon.com gift certificate and a link to your blog article from the homepage of our ecommerce site at RoseBrand.com. It's a chance for exposure to tens of thousands of people in our industry.

Rose Brand congratulates our fourth blog contest winner, the team at InOvation Group. Their blog entry described how they built a projection header and “Chinese Lantern” looking balls on a tight budget for the First Bank Center Arena in Broomfield, Colorado. Here is how THEY did it...  

Project Description –
InOvation Group was approached in January of 2010 by AEG Live and Kroenke Sports Enterprise to design and supply a VERY large custom projection header piece for use in the new First Bank Center Arena in Broomfield, Colorado. The project budget was fairly tight, and the delivery date was also short. The project also asked for the design and supply of three sets of 3 large “Chinese lantern” looking balls, which could change color and have custom designs applied to the surface to provide a silhouette look.

Design Challenge –
The header size (132’ in width x 43’ at tallest point) had to be installed and/or More...