JOHN MURRAY PRODUCTIONS, Inc. Blog

The San Francisco Chamber of Commerce held their yearly City Beat Breakfast at the Marriott Marqui, and John Murray Productions, Inc. was asked, once again, to create the environment for the Chamber’s annual event. Based on the Chamber’s theme of the city rising in the twenty-first century, silhouettes of some of San Francisco’s most notable landmarks against a foggy sunrise created a vibrant background for the Chamber’s keynote speakers, including Mayor Gavin Newsom and Vice President of Microsoft Corporation, Chris Weber. John Murray Productions provided the scenic fabrication using five custom designed 4′ x 10′ flats, as well as overseeing technical direction and stage management for the filmed event.

The annual Ace Awards were held this January at San Francisco’s Palace hotel. John Murray Productions, Inc. worked in conjunction with the designers at InVision Communications and Legrand Designs to create the environment for the two day event, which featured 24′ x 12′ backdrop of interwoven stainless steel mesh panels and 10′ tall brushed aluminum columns flanked by custom steel framed projection screens. The result was a multi-faceted surface which allowed for dramatic light changes, thanks to lighting designer Chris Legrand. For the second day of the event, John Murray Productions, Inc. fabricated a custom built retro television frame for the surrounding screens.

photos courtesy of Chris Legrand

http://legranddesign.com

For the product launch of Paco Rabonne’s new fragrance, 1 Million, John Murray Productions, Inc. worked in conjunction with Hunter Events to transform the penthouse suites at San Francisco’s Clift Hotel. A custom built 10′ x 7′ x 4′ vault featured mounted faux bouillon engraved with the 1 Million logo, as well as a life size safe used to showcase the new product. Surrounding gray drapery and accent lighting completed the polished look of the suite. The result was a simple yet sophisticated environment which succeeded in promoting the latest extension of the Paco Rabonne brand. Photos courtesy of Bay Area Event Photography.

John Murray Productions, Inc.  was selected to provide staging, scenic design and installation services for Adobe’s Worldwide Sales conference.  We incorporated our translucent tile set, 50′ wide seamless cyc, circular stage thrust and lectern into this presentation.    Here is what our client at Live Design had to say,

“It couldn’t have gone better, really! (We) are very pleased with our vendor choices, management team choices, and creative decisions not the least of which was your set which not only looked like it cost more than it did but went up and came down in record time allowing us to shave labor costs and bring the whole monster in on schedule and on budget. Thank you for your cool concept, quick turnarounds on drawings and overall professionalism. You made us look good and we are grateful.”

Event Design Magazine (www.eventdesignmag.com)  recognized our work on the Academy of Sciences Steinhart Aquarium with a Gold Award for Best Museum Environment.  Designed by Thinc Design, and Urban A&O, John Murray Productions contribution started with the mock up of all the aquariums window shapes and continued with the fabrication of 9 of the museums interactive exhibits.  See blog posting http://johnmurray.com/blog/?p=58.

We are very proud of this collaboration with Thinc Design and honored to be recognized by Event Design Magazine.

Event Design Awards 2009 Page 40

News Clip

As far as I know this is the only truly interactive holiday lighting installation in the Bay Area.  We combined state-of-the-art LED lighting with a text messaging service to give visitors to Jack London Square control of 2500 full color LED lights.

Our original mission was to design and holiday treatment for the square at the foot of Broadway.  The new grove of palm trees seemed like the logical place to start.   The trees are planted in a 5 x 5 grid which creates a wonderful three dimensional canvas.  I decided that I wanted to play with intelligent lighting in this volumetric space.  The lights evoke a holilday tradition of lighting trees and the intelligent computer control would give visitors a fun interactive experience.

The system uses 25 power supplies from Color Kinetics that are all networked via a LAN.  We have two 50 node strings on each power supply.  The networked is managed by a Mac Mini and a Philips Video Server Engine.

Designed by John Murray

Custom programming was provided by the very talented John Taylor.

The text message service was underwritten by Msgme.com

Concept sketch

John Murray Productions, Inc. was hired as the design/fabrication team for the CNA House of Delegates at the San Francisco Marriott.  The challenges were threefold.  To design a stage set for the plenary room that was dynamic and allowed for a variety of uses (general sessions, awards dinner, delegates meeting); to design and install a multi-functional environment in the ballroom foyer; and to produce and creatively display all event graphics and signage.

In the foyer, we designed, fabricated, and installed four unique environments to meet the many needs of the California Nurses Association.  The first area consisted of four kiosks where attendees could send ‘health issue specific’ postcards directly to their elected representatives.  The second area was designed to assist attendees in understand the technology associated with various hospitals.  The third area provided access to counsellors on the many benefits CNA provides.  The fourth area was a 400 sq ft retail area for the selling of CNA branded merchandise.

Union Store CAD Rendering

Actual Photo of the Union Store

The ballroom set design consisted of a 14′ x 45′ wide RP screen, two 16′ x 16′ flat walls (located stage left and right) for oversize event graphics, and four 16′ x 16′ projection surfaces.  In the ceiling we designed and rigged two, 80′ x 50′ chandeliers, each consisting of over 250 plexiglass pieces, and lit with over 200 LED Color Blasts.  As the focus of the meeting in the ballroom changed from general session plenary, to awards and gala dinner, to delegate session, the four projection surfaces were utilized for slogans, video, and still photographic content.  Additionally, the lighting of the chandeliers and the room overall allowed for completely different environments without have to complete a room ‘change over’, saving time and money.

Main Ballroom Photo

Ceiling Treatment

Ceiling Detail

In partnership with Presentation Services Audio Visual, John Murray Productions Inc. was hired to design the layout, rigging and installation of a an Apple inspired backdrop for an Apple sales meeting where executives were invited to learn about some of their latest products. Our solution included an oversized re-creation of the popular Cover Flow feature found on Apple products. A custom borderless screen was fabricated and used for the presentation. The screen was flanked by large, vibrant, Cover Flow images that appeared to float above the stage.  Rich black velour drapery, accented with lighting, completed the backdrop creating a clean yet striking environment for the presentation.

Guests joined together to watch the Oscars at this years Academy of Friends with also reveling in the ambiance of the events theme of Superheros, Villains, and Divas. John Murray Productions was responsible for the main stage at Fort Mason where we donated five 12 ft x 4 ft painted flats of superheros and villains in a similar style to the invitations. We also hung 25,000 sq/ft of drapery, built and installed two 32′ long glow bars, stretched a rented marley dance floor, and made a paper reveal where characters burst through and entertained guests.

Producer: Winslow and Associates

Artist: Nicole Ziedses des Plantes