[prodestrian]

I've been working on some other background props for the South Australia Ghostbusters, but one of the ones I've wanted to replicate for years is the giant flashing light displays in the lab in Ghostbusters 2.


Now, as much as I'd love to build one of these full-sized, I decided early on that it would be best if it fit on a shelf in our booth. So I'm looking at making a highly condensed version which includes some of the more interesting elements. Specifically the grid of flashing lights, the rows of 7-segment LED displays, and some of the buttons/switches.

Unfortunately we don't get a good look at these in the film, but luckily for me these props (along with many of the others in GB2) were rented from Modern Props. And so began a deep dive into trying to find more reference material.

The one which I already knew of (because they're ridiculous) is the Firefly episode "Trash", where they're used as an excessively complicated door security system.
Here's Yo-Saff-Bridge and Mal using them to lock the door and stop the guards:


Now we can finally see some of the detail and verify that these match the GB2 props.
As a bonus we get some nice closeups:


And another shot from the inside of the building, but I don't know if this is the same prop or if they used two separate ones:


Now, I have no idea how many of these Modern Props had in their inventory. The two props in GB2 seem to be completely identical (no variation in layout, despite how the panels seem to be detachable). And they seem to exactly match the prop (props) in Firefly. But it's possible Modern Props had more than two of these.
I did quickly skim through every Firefly episode, and although there's a ton of Modern Props gear visible (especially in the Alliance) this particular one doesn't show up anywhere else that I can see.

The Modern Props website is gone, but John Zabrucky has a portfolio section on his website which has some great photos:
https://johnzabrucky.com/exhibitions/ex ... artifacts/

Under GB2 he has the Latent Image Sensor prop from the montage scene.

He actually shows the prop I'm looking for under the film "Independence Day":

It's labelled as "Large Vertical Device", and the filename is "195-1250_Digital_Rack". That number (195-1250) is a Modern Props reference number.

Before I start looking at Independence Day I did a quick search and managed to find this incredible page on Ex Astris Scientia:
https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inco ... nsoles.htm

There it is, it's appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: TNG:


Interesting sidenote, "195-750-1" appears in Egon's university lab:


Also "195-650-2" is right next to it:


Modern Props must have made a killing from GB2

Anyway, back to the digital rack prop. The two screenshots from TNG don't really add any value, except that again they look identical to the GB2 props. I don't think we get any closeups but I could be wrong.

Oh look, there they are in Independence Day! Super blurry, not useful:

What's interesting though is that in this other shot you can see that 3 of the other units have the same trademark rounded light panels at the bottom, which suggests that there's additional configurations of this prop. Maybe it was actually modular? But again, it looks like this one is also identical to GB2.


And here's where things get REALLY interesting...

John Zabrucky has an exhibition in Ohio right now (running at the Medici Museum until June 2025) with many of his film and TV props on display.
And in this promotional photo you can see our prop right behind him, it's part of the exhibition!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DF2e1fJpyKG/


This exhibition only opened a few weeks ago so I haven't found many photos yet, but there's already been some videos posted:


Hmm, another distant shot:

Feels like they gave us closeups of every prop except the one we're looking for!

https://www.wfmj.com/story/52146826/med ... g-exhibits

Interesting, seems to be a sideview here, look how thin it is!


This video from the museum gives us a nice shot of it:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DEqeV4gsTTn/
Too blurry to make out any new details:


Maybe someone will post something clearer in the next few months before the exhibition ends so I can actually read more of the text...

Anyone here live in Ohio?

[prodestrian]

Here's what I've come up with so far (told you it was going to be a smaller version!):


There's going to be a main box/enclosure, and then two faceplates bolted to it (probably with black thumbscrews).

The upper panel will contain two rows of three 4-digit LED segments, as well as two toggle switches.
Something like this:


The lower panel contains three flashing light grids which should replicate the blinking sequence in the film, as well as a smaller control panel on the left side:


I've designed this so both panels (and probably the enclosure) can be laser cut out of MDF and/or acrylic, and I should be able to etch the text/diagrams into them as well. 3D printed bezels will surround the LED segments and light grids too. I'll be deviating from the original on the small lower left control panel, it will be a separate plate which bolts onto the front (making it something I can swap out as needed). I haven't yet decided what will go there, but I'm thinking it'll be at least one push button, one or two toggle switches, and the "alert" button can be replaced with a cable port. Potentially a panel mounted aviation connector so we can plug additional devices into this.

First mockup of the pieces:


I can't read the text on the original prop so I just made up some technical sounding jargon, threw in a couple of Apollo references just for my own entertainment.

I've tested some LEDs and decided to go with warm white:

Probably going to use an HT16K33 module to run them, I've got plenty of those laying around and I2C keeps the wiring to a minimum.

7 Segment displays work nicely too:


There's still a lot to figure out, and right now other projects have jumped ahead in priority over this one. But so far it's been an enjoyable process, and I can't wait to get stuck into it again!

[tobycj]

I love this so much Chris!

[prodestrian]

Another photo!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/131880544 ... 180434250/

Not a clear photo, but it's cool seeing it at the warehouse. The caption says "Modern Props, 72"H, $525 each (3 pictured)"
So it's 72" tall (182cm) and in 2015 it cost $525 per week to rent it

Also found this photo from 1998 showing how one of their similar thin "server racks" is wired up:


And on the Modern Props Facebook page they have this video showing what seems to be one of the light panels but customized slightly:
https://www.facebook.com/Modernprops/vi ... 126161332/

[prodestrian]

I don't know how I missed this one!
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=862798823744864

It's called the "Black Test Rack Series 87"H X 20"W", and there's two of our props along with three similar variants (probably the ones from Independence Day)


And as you can see racks 1 and 4 seem to be identical to each other.
Video doesn't have very good closeups but it's something:



And videos of those two props from Egon's university lab:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=897392360285510
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=874433289248084

[prodestrian]

Watching the Modern Props auction videos from 2019 to see if anything shows up in the background. Nothing so far, it's mainly furniture and other more generic props (telephones, clocks, etc). But there's a cool shelf of microscopes and other scientific equipment, this one looks familiar:


If I'm understanding correctly, John Zabrucky donated around 500 of his scifi props to the Trumbull County Historical Society in Ohio so I doubt they ended up in these auctions. A tiny portion of those props are what's on display until June, but I believe the plan is for the rest to go on display in a new science fiction museum they're planning to build.

[mrmichaelt]

^Neat, the skull from the Institute. Right after Dana enters the building. Like 5 minutes into GB2?

[One time]

This is awesome!!!

[Rafaed]

I'm loving this post so much. I'm kind of obsessed with background and set dressing props too.

[Kingpin]

This might not be all that useful as reference, but the panels appeared in at least one scene in 1993's The Fugitive: LINK.

[prodestrian]

This might not be all that useful as reference, but the panels appeared in at least one scene in 1993's The Fugitive: LINK.

That's definitely them! I clicked through and couldn't see any good closeups but it's still good to know.

At this stage I think the only thing I don't have clear reference on is the text on the lamp grids. I've already laser etched my own (as shown above) so I probably won't re-do them anyway, but it'd still be nice to know what they really say:


We may not be able to find that out without someone actually visiting the museum and taking a close-up photo unfortunately.

[prodestrian]

A little more progress today. I've ordered some black M4 thumbscrews and slightly adjusted the hole positions in the CAD files to match (they were a little too close to the edge).

I've also mocked up the design for the 7-Segment panel so I can laser etch it. May need to tweak some of it if the lines and text are too narrow for clear etching, but I'll do a test run next time I'm near the laser cutter.


It's close enough I think:


I'm assuming the "MO-PRO" in "MO-PRO-4063-R-A" stands for "Modern Props". I like it.

Edit: Mockup of the Lamp panel as well:


Note that it will have a separate removable control panel plate mounted to it, this is where I'm intentionally diverging from screen accuracy. It will allow me to swap this out in future if needed without etching a whole new panel.


And here's a very rough test print of the control panel with a red push button, potentiometer (I couldn't find a spare knob for it), a toggle switch (I'll probably use a flat trap-style switch here), and an aviation connector (similar to the HasLab traps).


I think the spacing is pretty good, but the mounting holes are definitely too close to the edges. Aside from that I think this will look good and could add some fun interactivity with the electronics.