Amanda Parker on tech use in theatre

www.thestage.co.uk: Typically, we bridle against change: innovators attract criticism in their lifetime, only for ideas to become standard practice later. Edward Gordon Craig’s ideas to make stage performances a three-dimensional experience – replacing flat backdrops with moving, built designs and lighting – may have been anathema then, but are the origin story of modern theatre staging now.

AV after COVID 19 | designing safer experiences

blooloop: I’ve been a bit quiet during this period of social distancing. I’ve been thinking of how AV will endure after the threat of COVID-19 has passed. It’s made me reflect on a few things in terms of how we approach AV, and how some of us in the industry have been truly preparing for this for some time now.

How ‘Ad Astra’ Got Around The Issue Of No Sound In Outer Space

www.forbes.com: Then comes the sound design...or lack thereof. Since no sound can exist in the vacuum of space, the filmmakers found a clever way to incorporate noises into sequences that unfold in the cold silence of the celestial frontier.

This Prop Master’s Work Is Hidden in Plain Sight

YouTube: Ross MacDonald makes his paper by making paper. For the last 25 years, he’s created tens of thousands of paper props for movies and television shows like “Baby’s Day Out,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “Parks and Recreation.” From handwritten letters to driver’s licenses, each piece is custom made and thoughtfully imbued with backstory.

More than half a billion pounds needed to sustain the UK’s theatre buildings over the next five years

ETNow.com: Research conducted by the Theatres Trust, in conjunction with UK Theatre and SOLT, has found that more than £550million is needed over the next five years for capital projects to upgrade and maintain theatres across the UK.

What is it like to design a brand new theme park?

www.themeparkinsider.com: What is it like to design a brand new theme park, using one of the deepest entertainment libraries in the world? That's what Dave Cobb and his team at Thinkwell Group got to do.

I sat down with Dave to talk about about the design and development of Warner Bros World Abu Dhabi, the world's largest indoor theme park. Let's hear how he and his team brought places such as Metropolis, Gotham City, and Bedrock to life.

Design disciplines: What’s the difference?

ThoughtForm, Inc.: Many organizations are working to become “design driven.” The Design Management Institute (DMI) latest Design Value Index in 2015 showed that over the last 10 years, design-led companies have outperformed the S&P by 211%. Hopefully, your organization is working to build out your design capabilities, either internally or through strategic partnerships. However, for many leaders, there is some confusion around the design disciplines available and the problems each excels in.

A Peek Inside College Dorms Around the World

mymodernmet.com: Back-to-school season is officially upon us. With more dorm-approved decor readily available now more than ever (think, removable wallpaper, tiered storage trolleys, and stylish floating shelves), tweaking your tiny, temporary space to work for you is finally a feasible undertaking.

Flyhouse Motorized Curtain (Shedd Aquarium)

www.flyhouse.com: A few years back, Flyhouse installed one of the largest motorized curtains in the United States at the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Today, we received a video from a friend of Flyhouse showing the curtain in action during one of its recent daily performances. We continue to be excited by this project and love that people share the excitement with us!

How to Choose the Right Lighting Fixture for Any Job

LightSoundJournal.com: It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been designing lighting for shows and events. What matters is how your end product looks. And moreover, how long did it take to achieve your end product and how much did it cost?

Lighting for the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Stage Directions: It’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival time again—the month of August where for almost four action-packed weeks, the Scottish city becomes a maelstrom of innovative, provocative, and entertaining new theatre and performance, with works embracing all genres.

Green Hippo Salutes Tall Ships

LightSoundJournal.com: The Three Festivals Tall Ships Regatta 2018 saw a magnificent fleet sail from Liverpool to Dublin and then on to Bordeaux. Marking the fifth time Liverpool has hosted a Tall Ships event, extensive celebrations were very much captain’s orders and Stage Sound Services, complete with Green Hippo tech, was on duty to deliver a brace of stunning projection-mapped light shows.

Klang:fabrik Masters Mixing at Liberty Church

Church Production Magazine: With six campuses spread throughout the greater Pensacola area, Florida Panhandle-based Liberty Church is known for hosting services that are both contemporary and uplifting. In keeping with the contemporary theme, the non-denominational church’s 200-seat Gulf Breeze campus recently became its first location to integrate a Klang:fabrik 3D IEM mixing system, with the goal of making the monitor mixing at this house of worship more streamlined.

This theater company rebuilt the Titanic and sinks it in a lake every

www.fastcompany.com: A theater company outside Atlanta is putting on a production of the musical Titanic that features an ambitious centerpiece: a massive three-story structure that sinks into the middle of a lake during the performance—only to rise again and do it all over the next night.

Diving deep into the detail of Warner Bros. World

www.themeparkinsider.com: Not since Universal's Wizarding World of Harry Potter has a theme park provided such detailed fan service as Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi delivers through its six themed lands. The creative team that designed this park, led by Thinkwell's Craig Hanna & Dave Cobb, has crafted immersive environments that effectively sell the illusion that you are standing in iconic locations such as Superman's Metropolis and the Roadrunner's American West... leaving you to forget that you're actually walking around inside a giant box in the Abu Dhabi desert.

Warner Bros. World impresses in its Abu Dhabi debut

www.themeparkinsider.com: With so many canceled projects and half-baked debuts, I would not blame any theme park fan for giving up on the region. But stick with me here. Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi will erase your frustration and remind you why you fell in love with theme parks. It's the simply the most remarkable park built in the last few decades by a company not named Disney or Universal — and it's better than some of their parks, too, even out of the gate.

Designer Zoe Spurr Brings Magic to Life for The Beginners

Stage Directions: Oversized flowers bloom, waiflike stalactites fly, and the leaded-weight of “adult” concerns lifts like the morning mist in the final third of TheBeginners. A play-within-a-play featuring 4-10-year-olds, this memorable passage opens a window into the boundless and colorful imaginative powers of childhood. Adding impact to this wondrous play, and making its fantastical characters come to life even more vividly during a production at London’s Unicorn Theatre, is the rich assortment of colors created by Zoe Spurr.

Production Notes: Drive Without Driving

Nevada Film Office: There are a variety of ways to film driving scenes without having an actor actually drive, which helps reduce the risk of running into danger on the road and offer more control over the environment and setting. Below are a few of the many different ways that filmmakers can shoot driving scenes without requiring actors or stunt drivers to drive.

liz west's first permeant installation colour transfer redefines paddington bridge

www.designboom.com: an optically vibrant and kaleidoscopic installation was created using multiple angled colored mirrors and brickwork. as you walk through the tunnel, the prismatic shapes of the mirror which compliment the architecture of the bridge’s underbelly, allows for the colors to change depending on where you are located. thus, the piece will appear differently depending to your line of vision with the tunnel.

carlo ratti and sidewalk labs' paving system can quickly turn a highway into a pedestrian plaza

www.designboom.com: carlo ratti associati has collaborated with toronto’s sidewalk labs on a prototype of a modular paving system that can adapt to people’s changing needs, making the streets reconfigurable, safer, and more accessible for everyone. ‘the dynamic street’ proposes an alternative to the curbs and painted lines used to separate forms of traffic in today’s cities, showing instead how embedded lights can communicate crossings, pick-up zones and other uses in a flexible and safe way.