CASE STUDY
FANTASY: WORLDS OF MYTH & MAGIC
INTRODUCTION: Fantasy: Worlds of Myth & Magic is a featured permanent exhibition at the Museum of Pop Culture, celebrating the history, evolution, and enduring power of fantasy in literature, film, and popular culture. The gallery showcases legendary artifacts, film props, costumes, and rare manuscripts—including icons from The Wizard of Oz, The Princess Bride, Conan the Destroyer, Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, The Legend of Zelda, Dungeons & Dragons, Xena: Warrior Princess, Labyrinth, and many more.
MUSEUM BRIEF: Curatorial Theme / Narrative Focus: Fantasy: Worlds of Myth and Magic invites visitors to explore one of humanity’s oldest storytelling traditions, showing how fantasy helps people make sense of an unknowable world and escape the everyday into realms of wonder. Featuring iconic costumes, weapons, props, concept art, and film clips from works such as The Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, and The Dark Crystal, the exhibition reveals how creators build immersive worlds through image, narrative, and design. Designed for a multigenerational, highly eclectic audience—families, teens, lifelong fantasy readers, gamers, and casual pop‑culture fans—it balances nostalgia and discovery, allowing older visitors to reconnect with formative stories while younger visitors encounter them as living, cinematic worlds. Scope of Work: Develop soundscapes for four (4) distinct gallery zones: Entrance, Kiddie Caves, Main Gallery & Light & Shade (Exit).
SOUNDSCAPE BRIEF: Our soundscape strategy was designed as a seamless, immersive journey: gently guiding visitors from the ordinary world into realms of imagination—and back again. Each exhibit zone features a distinct sonic identity, unified by a continuous flow of music and ambient sound, with transitions that reflect narrative and emotional progression.Throughout the experience, defined tracks are replaced by evolving, organic transitions. Every guest is continually immersed in the drama, magic, and peaceful wonder at the core of the fantasy genre.
SOUNDSCAPE EXECUTION, Entrance Gallery: For this welcoming space, we drew stylistic inspiration from Led Zeppelin’s “The Battle of Evermore” a fantasy infused English folk song. Composer Steve Fisk chose harp and violins to create melodies that drift through a bucolic, enchanted forest.
EXHIBIT ENTRANCE
ENTRANCE GALLERY
INTERACTIVE:ENTRANCE GALLERY
FANTASY ENTRANCE SOUNDSCAPE: Steve Fisk, Composer. Wayne Horvitz, Artistic Director
SOUNDSCAPE EXECUTION, Kiddie Caves: The audio in this playful zone uses sparkling chimes and friendly voices, creating a bright, imaginative sound environment that encourages the youngest guests to explore and dream.
Fantasy Kiddie Cave Soundscape: Steve Fisk, Composer. Wayne Horvitz, Artistic Director
SOUNDSCAPE EXECUTION, Main Gallery: Inside the soaring Main Gallery—anchored by the towering Wizard’s Tree—the soundscape melodically reflects the bucolic forest where musical themes occasionally give way to birds chirping, leaves rustling, distant water, and the subtle movements of unseen woodland creatures. These natural sounds, combined with open architecture, foster calm, reflection, and the sense of entering a living, magical forest.
MAIN GALLERY SOUNDSCAPE: Steve Fisk, Composer. Wayne Horvitz, Music Director
SOUNDSCAPE EXECUTION, Light & Shade Gallery: Wayne Horvitz's dynamic soundscape dramatizes fantasy’s ancient motif of good versus evil. Radiant melodies and organic textures are set in contrast to deeper, shadowy harmonies on the opposite side, with creative transitions that evoke the genre’s dynamic balance of light and darkness.
LIGHT & SHADE SOUNDSCAPE: Composer, Wayne Horvitz