Making League of Legends’ stunning holographic Worlds opening ceremony

 The Verge: In 2017, Adam Mackasek helped summon a dragon in Beijing. During the annual League of Legends World Championships at the 80,000-seat Beijing National Stadium — better known as the Bird’s Nest — Mackasek and the rest of Riot Games’ e-sports events team created an augmented reality spectacle when a virtual dragon modeled after an in-game monster flew around the stadium. Mackasek wasn’t able to enjoy the moment for long: just a few minutes after the event ended, his boss came up to him and asked “‘How are you going to do that bigger next year?”

These colorful, metallic garments are made of recycled VHS tapes

www.fastcompany.com: In today’s era of sustainable fashion, eco-friendly garments take on many forms: there are sequins made from plant matter, fabric dyes made from fruit, and even thread made from bread. But repurposing natural materials isn’t the only avenue to climate-conscious clothes; recycling manufactured products—already present on our planet—are worthy ingredients too.

Why Paper Is the Real ‘Killer App’

getpocket.com: Every January, Angela Ceberano sets goals for the 12 months ahead. And on Sunday nights, she plans and organises the coming week.

But instead of spreadsheets and fancy smartphone apps, the Melbourne, Australia-based founder of public relations firm Flourish PR, uses notepads, an old-fashioned diary, coloured pens and a stack of magazines. With these, she brainstorms, makes lists and creates a vision board.

disguise Powers Video Intensive MTV 2019 VMA’s Show

TPi: MTV hosted its 36th Annual Video Music Awards at the Prudential Center in Newark, USA. The awards saw performances from Taylor Swift, Shawn Mendes, Missy Elliot, and Miley Cyrus to name but a few.

The show featured an eye-popping array of video elements throughout the show with used during performances and for stage design and text listings of performers and presenters.

Entertainment design firm Visual Noise Creative LLC deployed ten disguise gx 2 media servers to facilitate the video intensive environment.

Turnkey immersive solutions & HOLOGATE BLITZ

HOLOGATE | blooloop: The market leader in compact multiplayer virtual reality (VR) systems, HOLOGATE produces exclusive virtual reality turnkey systems and games from inception through activation. At IAAPA Expo 2019, the company will be showcasing the HOLOGATE BLITZ premium motion platform. Ahead of the show, Blooloop talked with founder and CEO Leif Petersen.

Comtra Theatre's Devilishly Charming "Sweeney Todd"

Pittsburgh in the Round: Maybe Sweeney Todd isn’t being egregiously hyperbolic when he says there is a place in the world full of shit called London. The plague looms heavy; perfidious law-makers and judges prey upon the innocent with impunity; cats are snatched up for pies; and depravity generally seems to run amok. And yet, even though the historical and cultural backdrop of London is utterly, and intentionally, dire, the murderous barber of Fleet Street is so vehemently opposed to the scourge of London for much more personal reasons.

What Is Automation? (+ 5 Creative Tips)

Pro Audio Files: Automation is programmed change.

When we mix a record, the initial idea is to set the balances between every element in the arrangement. This includes setting levels, getting the tone of everything working with EQ, sculpting the dynamics with compression, and adding a little flavor to our elements with FX like saturation, delay and reverb. This is our primary mix.

Can You Detect the Truth in "The Ravages of Now"?

Pittsburgh in the Round: Non-State Actors latest production tackles cults and their susceptible nature in The Ravages of Now. The devised play puts the audience in the middle of a meeting for, “The Collective,” a no-technology, non-religious group who are eagerly looking to recruit new members. Once taken into the fold of The Collective, audiences are exposed to a weirdly brilliant production that leaves you questioning everything.

How the way she spoke Resuscitated the Power of Storytelling Through Minimalism

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Since the invention of the hot stage light, innovation in the performing arts has increased audience expectations. The theatre, which was once a gathering place to simply hear new stories and perspectives, has increasingly become a space for the privileged critique of how these stories are told and how much innovative spectacle is used to thrill its high-paying listeners. Insurmountable cast sizes, rotating seats, giant puppets, flying characters, and more have all added to the exciting visual glamour of theatre, but have ironically diluted the core meaning of storytelling and instead built consumer-first audiences desperate for glittering effects.

Review Roundup: CYRANO Opens Off-Broadway Starring Peter Dinklage - Read the Reviews!

www.broadwayworld.com: Cyrano, adapted by Erica Schmidt from Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, with Music by Aaron Dessner and Bryce Dessner of The National, Lyrics by Matt Berninger of The National and Carin Besser, and Choreography by Jeff and Rick Kuperman, directed by Erica Schmidt, launches The New Group's 25th Anniversary Season.

Shakespeare’s "The Tempest" explores colonialism, resistance and liberation

Salon.com: Last winter, at the Studio Theatre at Ryerson University in downtown Toronto, Canadian actor Antoine Yared played Caliban in "The Tempest." He stood, centre stage, looking out over the audience as he reassured his companions that the magic music of the island should not frighten them

japanese company ARAKAWA invents the world's most compact gripper mechanisms

www.designboom.com: designboom’s editorial team is comprised of architects and designers with a passion for well-resolved details. during DESIGNART tokyo 2019, we discovered a japanese company that produces robust and tiny tools for the creative world: gripper mechanisms. in 1975, dr. hideo arakawa, founder of ARAKAWA, invented the first gripper mechanism, which could be adjusted along the wire with one push, and locked without a set of screws.

How to Estimate Delay and Level Offset Between Speakers in Your 3D Models

www.sounddesignlive.com: Finding a spatial acoustic crossover point in the field is pretty simple. Once you have defined the on-axis (ONAX) point for source A and source B, match their levels, then walk in a line between the two points until they sound equal. Place our measurement microphone at this point, then use the audio analyzer for verification.

Where Are the Classics?

WSJ: The most revealing news of the 2019-20 theatrical season was the announcement last month of a pair of big-ticket revivals, Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?” and David Mamet’s “American Buffalo,” both of which are set to open on Broadway next April. What made it so noteworthy is that “Virginia Woolf,” first performed in 1962, has already been done there four times, most recently in 2012-13, while “American Buffalo,” first performed in 1975, has been done three times, most recently in 2008.

Color Factory: how pop-ups are trying to conquer the experience economy

The Verge: PeoplePeople can’t be left alone in a pop-up. Sure, most of the tens of thousands of attendees will get through the 14 rooms of photogenic eye candy just fine. But there are exceptions: the ones that’ll write nasty things on your walls, tangle their hair up in your confetti, or chip your acrylic pegs that form a life-size Lite-Brite to create, essentially, pretty daggers. The Color Factory team has seen what humans will do to a place.

Travels of a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Cobalt Studios 2019

Drypigment.net: I teach a specific class for Rachel Keebler at Cobalt Studios in New York once a year. Over the course of three and a half days, I lecture on historic scene painting, train students in handling dry pigment, and explain painting techniques while students complete several dry pigment projects.

This Is Not Another Slave Play

Theatre Development Fund – TDF: Regardless of how you identify, The Black History Museum…According to the United States of America at HERE Arts Center will probably make you uncomfortable. An immersive theatrical experience, the show/exhibition takes audiences on a satirical yet harrowing journey through slavery, Jim Crow and contemporary oppression. It's an endurance test in many ways, including physically since you're on your feet participating for two jam-packed hours.

NFTRW Weekly Top Five

Here are the top five comment generating posts of the past week:

After decades in theater, Tony-winning CMU alum knows what it takes to succeed

The Pittsburgh Jewish chronicle: In her Oct. 24 talk in CMU’s Philip Chosky Theater, deRoy urged the students to refrain from “bad-mouthing” other people’s work in public, and to adhere to what she called “the three-block rule” after leaving a performance.

“If you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it within a three-block distance of the theater,” she said, because, with everyone leaving a theater at the same time, it is likely that someone who worked on that show will overhear the comments.

Posted by David at 11/08/2019 10:58:00 AM

Stage Manager Career Spotlight: BEETLEJUICE's Matt DiCarlo Is Our Guide To Stage Managing on Broadway

www.broadwayworld.com: We're spotlighting different off-stage careers on Broadway to answer some common questions people might have about perusing a career off the stage!

This week we're spotlighting Beetlejuice on Broadway's Production Stage Manager Matt DiCarlo! On Broadway everything... EVERYTHING happens for a reason, and it usually starts with a stage manager calling "Go!"

Posted by David at 11/07/2019 10:58:00 AM

Actor James Dean Will Be Digitally Reanimated For A New Vietnam War Movie

Nerdist: It seemed inevitable. Digital technology has been improving. Older actors appear as younger versions of themselves in movies from Ant-Man to The Irishman. In 2016, a CGI version of the late actor Peter Cushing appeared in the Star Wars flick, Rogue One. Dead actors have been resurrected for commercials, to sell everything from vacuums to chocolate. So really, it was only a matter of time before a beloved, long-dead celebrity had their likeness reappropriated for a starring role in a film.

Posted by David at 11/07/2019 10:55:00 AM

'Joker' fans flocking to a Bronx stairway highlights tension of media tourism

theconversation.com: New York’s newest tourist attraction isn’t a museum, park or art installation.

It’s a stairway.

Sandwiched between apartment buildings in the Bronx, it’s been dubbed by moviegoers the “Joker Stairs,” earning its name and fame after being featured prominently in “Joker.” Since the film’s release, fans have flocked to the stairs, where they’ve been posing for photos – much to the annoyance of some local residents – and uploading them to social media.

Posted by David at 11/05/2019 11:08:00 AM

“But Does It Pay?”

HowlRound Theatre Commons: During our busy season, this role may involve fourteen-hour workdays, six days a week. It will be demanding, but it is a fantastic opportunity for hands-on exposure to the industry. Upon completion of your internship, we can offer you a small stipend to cover the cost of a monthly MetroCard. I have been that hiring manager more times than I would like to admit, looking for a host of unpaid (or severely underpaid) interns to serve as the labor force for an arts organization.

Posted by David at 11/08/2019 10:49:00 AM

‘Star Trek: The Experience’ brought otherworldly fun to Las Vegas

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas is a cosmopolitan sort of place, but nothing like it was when Andorians, Klingons and Ferengi hung out here.

It was during the days when “Star Trek: The Experience” offered fans of the now-iconic science fiction franchise the most intriguing entertainment offering this side of the Neutral Zone.

After decades in theater, Tony-winning CMU alum knows what it takes to succeed

The Pittsburgh Jewish chronicle: In her Oct. 24 talk in CMU’s Philip Chosky Theater, deRoy urged the students to refrain from “bad-mouthing” other people’s work in public, and to adhere to what she called “the three-block rule” after leaving a performance.

“If you don’t have anything positive to say, don’t say it within a three-block distance of the theater,” she said, because, with everyone leaving a theater at the same time, it is likely that someone who worked on that show will overhear the comments.

Shadow Theatre: Performance and the Imaginary in Contemporary Egypt

The Theatre Times: Since its beginning, Egyptian theatre has tended to adopt the colonizer-perspective in defining theatre. Until now, the majority of theatre practitioners and scholars still prefer to look at the performing arts from the viewpoint of the West, decreasing the value of popular and folkloric arts. This perspective positions the folkloric arts as non-arts, or as practices of lesser and immature minds and imaginations, and therefore, practices that do not fit a modernist lens. Fortunately, there have been legitimate attempts within Egyptian theatre to venture in an opposing direction on this issue, whether through theatrical and performative endeavors or through studies and theoretical essays that are -unfortunately- seldom considered by the average reader or even by professional theatre practitioners.

Living Skill At Work

The Theatre Times: In order to analyze the concepts “skill”, “artistry” and “virtuosity” within the performing arts, I need to unpack their meanings. If they imply spending a long time with a practice or task and formalizing it (and oneself) within a given institutional framework, then the work spent immediately becomes labor, recognized as part of an economic system to which the art world belongs. Moreover, the work gains a certain value. But the transition from “any work”, to a valuable skill isn’t that clear – the distinction between “work” and “labor” in the context of art is tricky.

Inside the Wig Room at the RSC

Stage Directions: Head of Wigs and Makeup Sandra Smith shows us backstage and inside the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC) Wig Room, where actors have their wigs fitted before they go onstage. She shows how the team works and talks through the different styles of wig the RSC uses for a show, and what happens when an actor steps into the wig room and they've had a bad day...

New Content Creation Event Set for Washington, DC

ProSoundNetwork.com: Content creators from across a range of industries—including broadcast, podcasting, sports, news, corporate video, independent film, government video, education and event video—will gather at The Video Show (www.thevideoshow.com), a two-day event taking place in Washington, D.C., Dec. 4–5, 2019. The event will feature more than 100 sessions on nine presentation stages, as well as a dedicated screening room, demo areas, a streaming studio, and exhibit floor.

American Theatre Wing: Working in the Theatre Looks at Devised Theatre

Stage Directions: American Theatre Wing’s Working in the Theatre documentary series features fascinating people on the stage, behind the scenes, and in the audience. From Tony Awards® and Obie Awards® winning artists to the next generation of theatre makers, they capture theatre’s inner-workings, industry luminaries, and unique stories that surround important work. In this latest episode they look at Devised Theatre.

Mixing Peter Frampton’s Final Tour

ProSoundNetwork.com: A mainstay of rock radio since the 1970s, Peter Frampton recently concluded his performance career with an arena-packing last run, dubbed Peter Frampton Finale - The Farewell Tour. Along for the ride to mix house nightly was FOH engineer, Jim Yakabuski, who oversaw a SSL Live L550 desk at each stop.

“But Does It Pay?”

HowlRound Theatre Commons: During our busy season, this role may involve fourteen-hour workdays, six days a week. It will be demanding, but it is a fantastic opportunity for hands-on exposure to the industry. Upon completion of your internship, we can offer you a small stipend to cover the cost of a monthly MetroCard. I have been that hiring manager more times than I would like to admit, looking for a host of unpaid (or severely underpaid) interns to serve as the labor force for an arts organization.

Meet the raunchy dance teachers who helped shape the modern world

theconversation.com: Get ready for some romance on the dance floor as the second series of Flirty Dancing kicks off. For those that missed the previous outing, it’s the UK dating show where singletons learn one half of a dance for a week and then perform it with a stranger without saying a word. Viewers are treated to “just a few intense minutes of beautiful choreography” to see if sparks fly.

Highmark Health and Carnegie Mellon University expand longstanding relationship with new building to address student well-being

www.cmu.edu/news: Highmark Health and Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) today announced a $35 million grant from Highmark Inc. to support the construction of a new student health, wellness and athletics center at CMU. The 160,000-square-foot building will, for the first time, unite critical student well-being services under one roof on the university's Pittsburgh campus.

Check Out This Drum Machine Created With Microsoft Excel

lifehacker.com: I like to think I’m pretty decent with Excel. I know my way around a pivot table, I love automating anything and everything with formulas and conditional formatting, and I am as skilled with a vlookup as the awesome new xlookup. Excel macros, however, are an entirely new ball game, and I only wish I could do what Dylan Tallchief does with them.

Historic Pittsburgh Church Hosts Dance Work Inspired By Religious Pilgrimage

90.5 WESA: Choreographer KT Nelson said that before she could create a dance work about a legendary religious pilgrimage, she literally had to walk the walk.

Nelson hiked the more than 500 miles of one of the many trails that constitute the Camino de Santiago, an ancient Catholic pilgrimage in Spain. Though not a Christian, she’d been inspired by hearing, in 2015, “Path of Miracles,” British composer Joby Talbot’s 2005 a cappella choral work honoring his late father. Nelson wanted to create a dance piece, but didn’t feel she could understand the music without taking the trip herself, she said.

Stage Manager Career Spotlight: BEETLEJUICE's Matt DiCarlo Is Our Guide To Stage Managing on Broadway

www.broadwayworld.com: We're spotlighting different off-stage careers on Broadway to answer some common questions people might have about perusing a career off the stage!

This week we're spotlighting Beetlejuice on Broadway's Production Stage Manager Matt DiCarlo! On Broadway everything... EVERYTHING happens for a reason, and it usually starts with a stage manager calling "Go!"

To Witness

HowlRound Theatre Commons: Building trust and relationships across difference is key to decolonizing theatre and building arts spaces that are of and by their communities. Many community development and audience engagement strategies aim to do this critical work. However, the way we come to these practices is often with a history and language steeped in seeing groups as “other,” devoid of closely shared connection. Two often-used buzzwords to identify privileged individuals working to decenter themselves are “ally” or “accomplice.” These labels, while well intentioned, run the risk of becoming passive identities—in other words, “I’m a good person.”

Steel City Kitty Boat Show pays homage to a Pittsburgh showboat raid that happened in the '30s

Theater | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: As a dedicated researcher to the history of burlesque in Pittsburgh, Steel City Kitty founder Kat de Lac has found some wild stories.

One example: On May 15, 1930, the Pittsburgh Press reported that federal agents raided a floating speakeasy and gambling parlor called the Showboat, stationed on the Allegheny River by Sixth Street, according to the article. "[Four] held in raid on 'Show Boat' by Dry Sleuths," the headline read. "Bottles of Guests and Roulette Seized; Park Promises State Action."

Actor James Dean Will Be Digitally Reanimated For A New Vietnam War Movie

Nerdist: It seemed inevitable. Digital technology has been improving. Older actors appear as younger versions of themselves in movies from Ant-Man to The Irishman. In 2016, a CGI version of the late actor Peter Cushing appeared in the Star Wars flick, Rogue One. Dead actors have been resurrected for commercials, to sell everything from vacuums to chocolate. So really, it was only a matter of time before a beloved, long-dead celebrity had their likeness reappropriated for a starring role in a film.

Celebrate the 22nd year of the interdisciplinary arts festival wats:ON?

Music | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: The annual interdisciplinary arts festival wats:ON? was born in the aftermath of tragedy, but now brings a celebration of art, activism, and culture to Pittsburgh every year. The festival was founded in the memory of Jill Watson, a Carnegie Mellon University alumna of the School of Architecture and later an adjunct faculty member, who died in the 1996 TWA Flight 800 crash, which killed all 230 passengers. The festival was founded with a grant endowed to CMU by her family to both bear her name and celebrate her commitment to the arts and her transdisciplinary philosophy as an artist.

Review Roundup: THE LITTLE MERMAID LIVE! - What Did the Critics Think?

www.broadwayworld.com: Last night, November 5 , The Wonderful World of Disney presented The Little Mermaid Live! The production honored the 30th anniversary of the beloved animated classic with a never-before-seen hybrid format that will take viewers on a magical adventure under the sea as live musical performances by a star-studded cast are interwoven into the broadcast of the original feature film.

ACT hosted public tryouts to cast 'Rocky Horror.' This is who showed up

Datebook: Some came in hot pants, fishnets, towering high heels, thick eyeliner, lacy corsets. Others went more idiosyncratic: wearing a giant turtle shell straight out of a “Super Mario” game, Spider-Man spandex, goat horns, a peacock feather vest, a shark suit.

A Hack At The Opera

Butts In the Seats: No, no, no, this isn’t a story about someone with little talent and unoriginal ideas, quite the contrary.

Recently my Arts Hacker colleague, Ceci Dadisman, had linked to an article about an Opera Hack-a-thon that happened at the end of July.

Review Roundup: Death of a Salesman in the West End - Read the Reviews!

www.broadwayworld.com: Death of a Salesman opened at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End, London. Boasting a sold out run at the Young Vic theatre, this critically acclaimed production of a??Death of a Salesman will play at Piccadilly Theatre for 10 weeks only.

Written by a??Arthur Millera??, this American classic follows an ageing, self-deluded salesman, his family and their idea of the American dream. This latest production of a??Miller'sa?? classic work reimagines the play through the eyes of an African-American family.

How The Rosco Braq Cube® Became The Footlight Of Hadestown

Rosco Spectrum: The hit Broadway production Hadestown is the winner of eight Tony Awards®, including Best Musical and Best Lighting Design for Lighting Designer Bradley King. The show, which was written and composed by Anaïs Mitchell, began as a concert and slowly evolved into a fully realized musical. When Bradley joined the production team, the show was performing Off Broadway. The production – along with its lighting and scenic design – changed a lot during its journey to Broadway. When Hadestown finally arrived at The Walter Kerr Theater, Bradley’s design changed again – this time calling out for a set of footlights.

Ivo Van Hove and Broadway's Secret Reliance on State Funding

The Atlantic: Ivo Van Hove is arguably the most sought-after theater director in the world. In February, his version of West Side Story—with new choreography—will open on Broadway. His adaptation of the film Network was nominated for five Tony Awards last year (winning one). Before that, he directed Gillian Anderson and Lily James in All About Eve, Ben Whishaw and Saoirse Ronan in The Crucible, and Mark Strong in A View From the Bridge.

Do's & Don'ts: A Veteran A1 Shares The Keys To Success For Aspiring A2s

ProSoundWeb: Joe Dougherty is one of my oldest friends in the pro audio business – we first worked together in the mid-1990s while serving in the U.S. Air Force as sound technicians for the Airmen of Note big band jazz ensemble. We covered tens of thousands of miles together, working together on hundreds of gigs with their associated load-ins, setups and teardowns.

How to Build a Shadow Box

This Old House: Precious objects from our past have an unfortunate habit of ending up squirreled away in the attic or basement, neglected and forgotten. With a glass-fronted shadow box, however, those collectibles can have a worthy display space, safe from dust and dirty, clumsy fingers.

When Your Audio System Fails

Church Production Magazine: Anyone that has been involved in sound reinforcement for any amount of time would agree that having some piece of equipment fail during a service is more of a ‘when' question than it is an ‘if' question. If you work in church audio long enough, sooner or later something will go wrong and you will find yourself in a room full of people turning around to look at you while you desperately wish you had been given the gift of invisibility.

Photo Coverage: Times Square Gets Decked Out with Broadway Show Globes

www.broadwayworld.com: This holiday season, Times Square celebrates the creativity of Broadway designers and the power of live theater with four Show Globes. These globes feature designs inspired by some of the most-loved musicals on Broadway and invite passersby to admire the imagination and talent that give life to every show.