Every movie filmed has some form of graphics used to decorate the set and over the last 20 years, hundreds of set production departments have relied on PDI. At PROLAB Digital imaging, printing 16 foot x 100 foot seamless backdrops and banners are no problem on our Scitex XL Jet Grand Format printer. Custom movie backdrops can be produced on backlit VU lite material which looks really fantastic on set, provided your digital file is decent. As you know, garbage in… garbage out, so it is imperative that your original file is scanned or shot with enough resolution for the backdrop printing. If you do not want a backlit movie set backdrop, PDI can print onto a no glare Airtex Regular canvas that hangs nicely and is the mattes material for printing backdrops. Many times we will use Airtex Magic for press junkets backdrops because it has a coating on it that gives the image more punch and saturation.
Some of the theater murals requested are larger than 16 foot wide and splicing panels together is done using our Miller Weld Master heat seamer for 100’ x 100’ super custom backdrop banners. When we go that large for outdoor installations, 7 times out of 10 we will use a mesh banner material for the movie backdrop to allow wind to easily pass through it and not have the super sized banner act as a sail and go flying with the first large gust of wind.
We also produce the 10’x15’ movie backdrop banners that are used to market the new release movies that hang in the theater lobbies with quantities that range from 1 to 1000’s, packed and shipped bulk to one fulfillment location or directly to the movie theaters.
The set departments for movies “The Fifth Element” and “Armageddon” used backlit Duratrans graphics extensively for on set backdrops in the command center and elsewhere. Another neat effect that backlit Duratrans can be used is to imitate is stained glass windows which PDI produced for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movie “Judgment Day.” The graphics department had us print the backlit Duratrans to look like stained glass windows and was used in the scale model church to simulate real stained glass windows at a much lower cost. A wise choice, since that movie set and every backdrop in it was destroyed in the explosion when Satan arrived.
