Of course, not everyone has a Broadway-size budget, but not to fret: Creativity need not be sacrificed. Various software options are out there to help achieve great results on smaller-budget productions.
Monday, October 10, 2016
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Of course, not everyone has a Broadway-size budget, but not to fret: Creativity need not be sacrificed. Various software options are out there to help achieve great results on smaller-budget productions.
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3 comments:
I love the message of this article. I do agree that most theaters are trying to incorporate more media. Since increased technology advances, media has been the "oohs and ahhs" of theatre, particularly broadway. Once it is the smash of broadway it trickles down over the years to regional then community theatre. We try to emulate what we see on the great white way. However, it does pose challenges when you have very little money and very high expectations. Media is something that can be done very poorly, very easily. Without proper tools you can run into a plethora of issues, glitches and show stoppers- and not in the good way. I think it is fantastic that this article highlights the programs available to help small lower-budget theatres achieve a higher quality performance. I think this technology will help increase the use of projections and higher quality media by making it more accessible to theatres that traditionally could not afford it.
While I appreciate the idea here, I don't think media technology is at a point yet where it can be done well without a sizeable budget. Before I continue, I will say that media-driven, modern shows can be an exception. For the most part, however, video and media is so alien to us, compared to "traditional" hand-assembled sets and comparatively "natural-looking" lighting, that it can be difficult to digest. Making video and media content look more integrated or seamless can make the audience more receptive to it. However, doing this often requires specialized hardware, more planning on the part of the scenic designer, more labor to load the show in, and more time to program the show. All of these extra considerations can add up to a hefty sum, which is why truly ground-breaking uses of media are (usually) only seen in large-scale productions. What's interesting to me is that today, media is almost inseparable from the concert world, even in very small shows. I think that's because media in a concert doesn't have to be so seamlessly integrated into the show design; it can function as an element (and often does function as the primary scenic element). The good news for us is that, over time, the cost of using video and media in theatre will decrease, allowing more artists and theater companies to explore and develop its use.
I'm inclined to disagree with Sam about budgetary constraints restricting the amount of things you can do with media. Pico projectors, relatively cheap, small, easily moveable projectors can easily create small pockets of media, even on the biggest stage. I agree that it might not be the most natural extension of the theatrical experience, but as sets become more and more complex, designers have a chance to encapsulate more of the world of the play through projections. Part of the issue is that media is such a new technology, and the software is typically very complex, but budding designers have taken to writing the programs they need to execute their designs, and creative coding is on the rise every day. When you think about sound design, a similarly new field, there are certainly folks (looking at you, Tony awards) who don't have a good handle on the contribution to the field, and yet the shows can't be executed without competent sound design. Every single aspect of design needs to contribute to the world of the play, and in each of the photos in the article, there is a clear contribution to the scenery that the media is making that shouldn't be taken for granted. Although the technology is new, if you build it, they will come. Theatre is changing and adapting every day, and media design is no exception.
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