SoundGirls.org: 2020 was the year that Broadway, and so many other theaters, closed their doors. Consoles remained covered. Houses stayed empty. The lonely ghost light stood center stage. However, the year also came with great innovation, which is something that cannot be ignored by those who remain working in this industry. Though our theatre doors may be shut, many have turned to other ways to safely continue community involvement.
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One thing that came out of the pandemic that most definitely would not have happened otherwise is the integration of film and live theatre. The contrast between the two had been becoming more of an issue that I was aware of in the "before times" as there were many people that I talked to who were trained in live theatre tech but who had had to pick up film skills in order to maintain jobs year round. Because the two were seemingly so in conflict with each other I am glad to see that they now have discovered how to merge, even though it was because of a global pandemic. I think that the skills from each are a great help to the other in many ways and that it is a good thing to have a little bit of both up ones sleeve at any given time so that you are prepared for whatever occasion may arise. I think that this merging will lead to more similar productions even after live theatre are open because it has almost become a third platform to perform on. My guess is that it will turn into its own platform somewhere between film and live theatre.
The shift from normal in person theater to an online format required much experimentation with trial and error. It was interesting as Hadley said above about the integration of film and live theater. I feel as if online Zoom theater lives in a strange in between world of theater and film because most of it doesn't have the same level of production as film but it most definitely is not traditional theater. It also is interesting to consider what delineates a piece of theater to a movie. For example if it is a piece of zoom theater or online theater recorded in advance is it merely a poor quality movie? I know a lot of people say that Zoom theater will continue after the pandemic is over but in all honesty, I don't think it will. While for actors it maybe engaging to watch, from a design perspective it truly is lacking. People are so sick and tired also of spending time on their computers with zoom and such so I think that any opportunity they can to see theater live in person they will take.
The more ideas that people have come up with in terms of making theatre virtual, the more the line between film and theater has been blurred. People have been filming their productions for years. However, these shows are usually filmed to be included in the archives for later study or review and not for audience viewing. Filming a production in order to present it to an audience is where things get tricky. The way that people in the theatre industry have been able to think on their feet and adapt to this new way of making art is inspiring and makes me very excited for the future. However, I do hope that we don’t have to rely on theatre being solely virtual for too long. While it’s great that theatre is still being created to show to people around the world, there definitely remains a lack of magic that comes with live theatre in an auditorium filled with people.
This has been an incredible transformation of our industry during this past year of being in the pandemic. I have seen dramatic shifts in how we do things to adhere to limitations, but I think that many of these new techniques will stick. I was talking to somebody who works in the concert lighting world, and they were explaining to me that a lot of their work during the pandemic has involved augmented reality and other unique technologies that they had to adapt to for their company to survive. These skills will be necessary going forward. Learning how to do things for the camera has been something that no one was ever really formally trained in, but now it is a staple of our new education and how we do things in the entertainment industry. Faculty are shifting their syllabi to include doing things for the camera because this is something that is not going to go away. Now that the door has been opened for virtual theatre, I think it is something that is going to stay around to potentially make theatre more accessible to view. It might be a positive thing for our industry but it is definitely strange.
I know a lot of the changes that the theatre were a lightning response to the myriad of problems and obstacles presented by COVID, but I think many of those responses will be here to stay. I do not know if Zoom theatre or online theatre will stick around, but I think the accessibility benefits it comes with are worth considering since theatre or opera or other performing arts in the Before Times as we know it is not exactly the most accessible art form out there. Things like Augment3d, though, I think will stay pretty relevant since previz has been so helpful in letting designers plan out and program their designs. A lot of technicians are now learning about and adapting to theatre for the camera, which kind of blurs the lines between theatre and film, but is also an endlessly useful skill in the times to come.
There has definitely been a great of innovation in theater during the pandemic. I don’t know if this article does a good enough job of showcasing it. The interview section sort of skips how this production of Sex was ever handled. There were filmed components, but also live actors and it was streamed on YouTube. However, I’m not really sure what was streamed. They did film together, was it the brady bunch gallery. Not enough time was spent covering those logistics. However, I guess I know that QLab was involved. The article did do a good job of acknowledging some of the unique elements of digital theater: copyright issues on YouTube, being able to work with people across the country, not having access to in-person rehearsals. However, between the author’s experience of just turning a musical into a film-musical and Sierra-Lee’s work on what sounds like a typical zoom theater piece, none of this felt innovative which is disappointing. I really hope that theaters consider incorporating digital programming into future seasons in order to make theater more accessible, and I hope they do so in actual innovative ways.
My hope for coming out of this pandemic is that we will get more opportunities to explore the elements of film creation at school!! A lot of the experience we get is through playground- that’s where I was a boom operator for the first time, and it was so much fun!! I think practicing filming our productions would be great for learning other skills, especially for the VMD, sound, and theatre technology majors!! Many of us are considering branching out to film and television and concerts in our careers, and getting experience would aid in figuring out what we want to do. I’d love to get to work on projects that are made specifically for the short film format, or even like a documentary series!! Exploring how to work a camera can be really useful for media designers, as well!! And, as a sound designer, a lot of the projects I’m asked to work on outside of school will probably be films, so getting to learn how to do sound for films would be really useful.
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