Sherlock's Big Promotion

When movie studio Warner Bros. sought to promote the December 2009 release of its blockbuster film Sherlock Holmes, it was elementary to turn to its long-time print provider LAgraphico which specializes in printing marketing collateral for the entertainment industry, including theatrical posters, publicity and press materials, special packaging, theatrical and in-store home-entertainment displays, and grand-format billboards, banners, and wallscapes.

In addition to printing theatrical one-sheets and standees, banners, and mall and transit promotionals for the Holmes project, LAgraphico produced a 110 x 195-foot wallscape on a prominent side of the Iron Mountain storage building at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd. and Highland Ave. in the heart of Hollywood.

To begin, Warner Bros. supplied the image, uploading it to LAgraphico’s FTP site. The image was then color corrected and “tweaked and prepped” for output by LAgraphico using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

A PDF proof of the Iron Mountain wallscape was then sent to the client for approval. Of note: LAgraphico also provided hard proofs for the smaller promotional pieces, if a billboard-size proof can be considered small. “We actually printed a ‘proof’ on 14 x 48-foot billboard vinyl here and hung it on the side of our building for the client to approve,” reports LAgraphico. “But, for the Iron Mountain installation, naturally, we did not provide a hard copy proof.”

Once approved, the image was ready for output. LAgraphico printed the graphic onto 12 16-foot-wide panels of Seattle Textiles 9-ounce woven mesh using its 204-inch, 8-color EFI Vutek 5330 and Vutek inks. The panels were then grommeted and welded together using an Edward Segal automated pneumatic grommeter and Forsstrom RF welder to form four larger, 109 x 49-foot panels. Printing took almost three days, as did finishing.

When completed, the four panels were entrusted to CBS Outdoor for installation. The 21,444-square-foot project remained installed for one month.

LAGRAPHICO
www.lagraphico.com