Over four years in the making, the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, opened in March 2025 with a groundbreaking exhibition that brings to life the stories of the nation’s highest military honor recipients. As the premier institution dedicated to preserving and sharing their stories, the museum honors the lasting impact and legacy of these individuals.
Redglass Pictures, a leading studio in nonfiction immersive storytelling, was approached by the National Medal of Honor Museum in late 2023 to lead the creation of media for the newly built 40,000 square-foot exhibit space. With a reputation for crafting emotionally resonant narratives, Redglass utilised SLAPSHOT, the cutting-edge AI-powered VFX toolkit, to bring these complex human experiences to the forefront.
As media leads, Redglass oversaw the creation of nearly every moving image in the museum, including over a dozen biographical films, large-scale interactive pieces created with Dome Collective that merged VFX-generated landscapes with archival material, and the centerpiece of the museum, The Courage Within, the introductory film featuring 20 Medal of Honor recipients.
Viewed across the 22k projection surfaces of the massive circular theatre in the heart of the exhibit, The Courage Withinis the starting point of the journey for every museum visitor. Fully surrounding the viewer, the film presented both technical and narrative challenges due to its innovative format, pushing the boundaries of immersive cinema. This is where SLAPSHOT’s cutting-edge VFX toolkit proved indispensable.
Tom Mason, Director and Co-founder of Redglass Pictures, shares, “One of the most challenging aspects of the project was filming the 20 Medal of Honor recipients, who were scattered across the country. With many recipients in their 70s and 80s, we traveled to film in hotel rooms, conference rooms, and private homes, all with different backgrounds and lighting conditions. This made traditional chroma-key techniques impractical, but SLAPSHOT’s Roto tool allowed us to get the accuracy of a key without having to spend thousands of dollars to manually rotoscope everything.”
“We used SLAPSHOT to do rotoscoping on each of the 20 subjects,” adds Redglass Post Supervisor, Steven Holloway. “We were able to produce flawless matte extractions in a fraction of the time it would have taken using any other method. With SLAPSHOT, we were able to bring these important tales of heroism to life beautifully, seamlessly and with ease.”
While rooted in military history, the museum aimed to go beyond traditional battlefield accounts, focusing on the personal, often conflicted stories of the Medal of Honor recipients. Sarah Klein, Director & Co-founder of Redglass Pictures notes, “These are individuals who, despite their heroic actions, often struggled with their roles as symbols of valor. They shared their moving experiences with humility, and we were committed to telling their stories in the most profound way possible – to honor their sacrifices, bravery, and above all, their unwavering commitment to the country they love.”
At the end of The Courage Within, Redglass envisioned using the circular theater’s immersive design and massive scale to create a powerful moment where the visitor is surrounded by all 20 of the Medal of Honor recipients who step forward from the shadows and sustain eye contact with the audience. It’s a moment where these heroes turn their story around and ask the viewer to reckon with their own personal connection to sacrifice.
Steven further explains, “SLAPSHOT’s Roto AI tool allowed us to create a composite of all 20 recipients that was crisp and precise enough to hold up on a 22k projection, something that’s never easy, even when you’re doing everything manually. The accuracy of Slapshot’s Roto allowed us to pull it all off.”
Tom adds, “In the final result, SLAPSHOT’s work is invisible but absolutely key to making an unforgettable impact. Being able to blend all the individual shots into a seamless, immersive experience is what made this project so profound. It feels like these guys are all in the same room at the same time, surrounding you in the film’s emotional climax. You find yourself holding your breath. It’s just incredibly powerful.”
Co-Founder and CEO of SLAPSHOT, Jon Mason, commented, “I think we learned with the Medal of Honor Museum project that we’re swimming in a much bigger ocean than most people in traditional VFX realize. If you look at the highest-grossing films of the last couple of decades, nearly all of them have VFX at the center. So, there’s no doubt that people want content with high-end VFX. The problem is that it’s normally too expensive for non-VFX productions. This is what makes SLAPSHOT special. By using AI to produce professional quality rotoscoping with just a few clicks, it really opens up the market to a lot of new content creators and enables them to tell better stories. That’s exactly what we saw on this project.”
Looking ahead, Jon envisions a wide range of new possibilities for SLAPSHOT within the realm of fine art. “When new tools are introduced, artists often find innovative ways to push the boundaries of their craft, and SLAPSHOT is no exception,” he said. Whether used for immersive art installations, museum exhibits, or other creative projects, SLAPSHOT empowers artists to explore powerful VFX techniques that were once out of reach, opening up exciting new opportunities for people to express themselves.
Redglass Pictures is a leading production studio with a deep respect for the craft of storytelling, specialising in nonfiction content for museums, editorial, and brands. For nearly two decades, they’ve created short-form documentaries and immersive, site-specific media installations. Their clients include The National Medal of Honor Museum, The World Expo, HP, The New York Times, the New York Historical Society, the National Museum of American Jewish History, and PBS.
Redglass Pictures’ work has also been featured at major film festivals including Tribeca and Sundance, conveying powerful narratives with profound and lasting influence on individuals and communities.
Tom Mason concludes, “At Redglass, we believe that storytelling has the power to leave a lasting mark, no matter the length of the film. With each project, we focus on distilling the essence of a story into something meaningful and impactful. Working on the Medal of Honor Museum project was a true privilege. It allowed us to capture the heroism and legacy of these extraordinary individuals, bringing their stories to life in a way that will resonate with audiences for years to come.”
To learn more about Redglass, visit redglasspictures.com.