Overture
A large-scale video projection in the heart of the Age of Mammals hall establishes the core theme of the exhibition: that as continents move, climates change, and mammals evolve.
This motion graphics piece depicts—in three minutes—the global events that have shaped our planet’s trajectory over the past 65 million years. Projected on a large central glass screen, the looped media program is a cinematic overture for the entire exhibition. Headlines punctuate the action as major global events, such as a giant meteor strike, ice ages, and shifting tectonic plates play out on the beautiful blue-green canvas of our planet. Visitors witness how continental movement affects the planet’s climate, and how we mammals have responded, migrated, adapted, and flourished throughout the Cenozoic Era.