March 6th marked the grand opening of Chasing Rainbows, the new interactive
museum at Dollywood. Located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, Dollywood is a
magical theme park inspired by the life and accomplishments of country
musician Dolly Parton. The new museum houses a collection of historically
significant items from Dolly's illustrious career.

In the fall of 2001, the creative team at Dollywood contacted UV/FX with the
idea of designing a finale room for the museum; a space which would serve as
the culmination of the visitors' experience at the museum. The folks at
Dollywood wanted a space that physically replicated the Smoky Mountains
landscape, and that was conceptually inspired by Miss Parton's song "The
Light of a Clear Blue Morning". The basic idea was that visitors would
enter a night time environment, which would subsequently evolve into sunrise
over the course of the song's playback. The space was to be a combination
of painted and 3-dimensional scenery.

Armed with reference materials supplied by Dollywood's creative team, UV/FX
designer Jon Craine began sketching concepts. Early in the design process,
Jon traveled to Dollywood to experience firsthand the space in which his
design would be implemented. Still under construction, the space was
roughly a box 25' tall by 30' wide by 30' deep. Included in the space were
recently completed 3 dimensional scenic elements: a waterfall, boulders,
rock outcroppings and 25' tall pine tree trunks. With a better
understanding of the space's perspective and dimensions, Jon returned to LA
with the task of creating a scene that lead the audience to believe they
were standing on a ledge within the forest overlooking the Smoky Mountain
region.

Within a few short weeks, Jon had his design approved by Dollywood and UV/FX
immediately began making preparations to produce the design over a three week
period in February. Jon and his two best painters executed the design without a hitch.
The end result is a breathtaking effect; standing within the space, one feels as if
they are surrounded by a forest under the moon light. Along with the
2-dimensional painting, the physical elements in the space were fluoresced
with UV/FX's unique ultraviolet sensitive materials, achieving a realistic
nighttime environment. Magically, the night time sky turns to day and a
whole new scene is revealed! This night to day design is a reversed program
of UV/FX's ever popular Day to Night scenery.
Needless to say, everyone at Dollywood was thrilled and their opening was a
success.

Richard Green
President
UV/FX Scenic Productions- Los Angeles
uvfx@uvfx.com
310-821-2657

The Cave under normal light	The Cave under UV light