Project Number: LT10 Design and Implementation of a Live Feed System for WPI's Little Theatre An Interactive Qualifying Project Report: Submitted to the Faculty of the WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science By __________________________ Peter Borge __________________________ Tristan Spoor July 31, 2010 Approved: _________________________ Professor Susan Vick, Advisor _________________________ Thomas L. Collins III, Advisor 1 Abstract Design and Implementation of a Live Feed System for WPI's Little Theatre documents an IQP for the WPI Drama/Theatre division of the Department of Humanities and Arts, and Masque. We developed and implemented a Live Feed system for the Little Theatre and expanded our technical theatre definition to include Live Feed. This document contains plans and design ideas for academic theatre students to incorporate Live Feed into their shows. 2 Acknowledgments Our Advisors: Susan Vick Thomas L Collins, III The Academic Technology Center (ATC) and Bruce Fiene Patrick Crowe, Andrew Wilkins and Rick Desilets for their support The Department of Humanities and Arts and specifically Karen Hassett and Mary Cotnoir 3 Table of Contents Title Page ………………………………………………………………………..…...... 1 Abstract ……………………………………………………....………..…………….... 2 Acknowledgments …...............................................................................…................... 3 Table of Contents …………………………………………………….……….………. 4 Authorship …………………………………………………………………………..… 5 Table of Figures ……………………………………………………………………..… 6 Project Proposal …………………………………………………………………….… 7 Smoke and Mirrors • Design Considerations ……………………………………………………………. 10 • Equipment ………………………………………………………………………. 22 • Installation …........................................................................................................................... 24 • Design Handbook ………………………………………………………………... 25 • Beta Test ……………………………………………………………………….... 37 Conclusions …………………………………………………………………………... 38 Annotated Bibliography …………………………………………………….....……. 39 Play List ………………………………………………….....……....………....……... 41 Appendices: A: Log of Hours ………………………………………………………………….. 45 B: Design Template ….............................................................................................................. 48 C: Original Purchase Proposal …........................................................................................... 49 D: Photos ….............................................................................................................................. 50 E: Technical Documents …...................................................................................................... 55 4 Authorship Project Proposal …................................................................................................... Both Design Considerations............................................................................... Tristan Spoor Design Templates ….................................................................................................. Both Equipment ..................................................................................................Tristan Spoor Installation …............................................................................................................ Both Design Handbook ….................................................................................. Tristan Spoor Beta Test …................................................................................................................ Both Conclusions …........................................................................................................... Both Annotated Bibliography ….......................................................................... Peter Borge Play List …................................................................................................................ Both 5 Table of Figures Figure 1: Standard camera plot …............................................................................. 26 Figure 2: Thrust with audience near the doors camera plot …............................... 28 Figure 3: Thrust with audience near the booth camera plot …............................... 30 Figure 4: Theatre in the round camera plot ….......................................................... 32 Figure 5: Camera plug chart ….................................................................................. 34 Figure 6: Video switch and distribution amplifier plug chart …............................ 35 Figure 7: Plug guide...................................................................................................... 36 6 Project Proposal Modern theatre fuses art and technology, creating an unparalleled performance that enthralls an audience. A lone actor holds the power to wow an audience, and when we add theatre technology to support the performance a show becomes something greater. This combination of technology and art drives theatre at WPI and creates powerful and moving performances. WPI theatre has experienced many transitions in recent history. The transition from Alden Hall, where shows originally took place, to the Little Theatre has allowed for an increased focus on the technical aspects of theatre. The Little Theatre provides a dedicated space where new technologies can be explored and new techniques developed. Much of the focus in theatre has been on the traditional aspects: sound, lighting, scenography, and special effects. This IQP will augment the classical approach by creating a new Live Feed system, and will create uses of the system in three areas: utility, effects, and artistry. Creating a permanent Live Feed with appropriate documentation is instrumental to creating new experiences in the Little Theatre. Our Live Feed system will provide easy to use technology that can be applied in all productions in the theatre, whether it is as a tool for the production staff, or the centerpiece of a show. It will be fully expandable allowing for future updates to the equipment. This project will provide resources immediately available for current students to use the new system, and will offer new techniques to designers and directors. In many ways, the use of Live Feed is a well-documented process that has been in use since the first live television broadcast. Live Feed technology can be applied as a utility to provide a view of the performance inside and outside the theatre, to create special effects, or as an artistic tool to enhance live performances. Previously, Live Feed has been limited to sharing performances in the Little theatre with Riley Commons. We are taking an in depth look on how Live Feed can be expanded for far greater 7 usage. With this project we will take on the installation of a permanent Live Feed in the Little Theatre. Designs for lighting, sound, and scenery are developed and implemented several weeks before the first technical rehearsal, while Live Feed is often left until the last minute. Live Feed has been employed in many professional theatres including London’s National Theatre, Washington’s Pacific Place Theatre, and the simulcast of the Broadway’s You’re Welcome America. There have even been nationwide concerts in which different elements of the program we're scattered across the country. Live Feed made possible a concert in which children in Chicago performed following children in Washington D.C. while both were viewed by children in Boston, all in real time. We will interview theatre professionals in the area to see what practices are currently in use in the industry. Next, we will interview recent Live Feed managers at WPI to see how our current practices compare to professional theatres. Finally, we will seek to interview members of the Academic Technology Center (ATC) regarding their work with campus wide Live Feed technology. Additional resources will include the WPI Theatre Resource Library (SL 20), and also books written on professional theatre such as Opera Journeys' Guide: Met Opera HD Simulcasts 2008-2009 Season by Burton D. Fisher. We will also reference various internet articles regarding current and recent examples of Live Feed as it is employed in professional theatre, as well as the technical and artistic considerations for Live Feed and projection technology. Some plays call for elements which are difficult to express in the theatre space. We will research and design methods to artistically solve these challenges using Live Feed. We will use these professional insights to build a resource directory and an enduring Live Feed system which can be employed in all future shows in the Little Theatre at WPI. The project will consist of three main phases. The first phase will consist of researching how Live Feed is used, and then coming up with ways it can be used in the theatre. The second phase 8 focuses on implementing the design and creating the resources that we will make available with the Live Feed equipment. The third and final phase will apply the new system during the Sunburns 2010 performance. Each of the phases is broken down as follows: Phase 1: • How do you practically transmit a performance from one location to another? • What systems have others created and how do they use them? • What artistic uses could the system have in the Little Theatre? • How could Live Feed be used to streamline the front of house and lobby experience? • How could Live Feed be used as a tool by the Stage Manager? • Specific plans for the shows Take Me Out and Six Characters in Search of an Author. Phase 2: • Take the results of phase one and create a list of equipment. • Generate pricing quotes and alter the list to fit our budget. • Purchase the equipment list. • Receive equipment and install it in the Little Theatre. • Experiment with the installation, learning its strengths and weaknesses. • Write all appropriate guides and documentation. Phase 3 will take place in July and we will provide the following for Sunburns: • Live Feed in the green room, booth, and vestibule. • A method to display relevant show and house information. • A remote feed to a trusted individual. • Live projection of an external location in the theatre. Once these three phases are completed we will have created a set of guidelines and potential uses for the Live Feed equipment. We will have an easily accessible inventory with instructions and we will have a design book that lays out standard Live Feed designs as well as sample uses. Theatre is an organic thing and by contributing Live Feed to the Little Theatre we have created new growth and the potential for even greater growth. The techniques created by this project are infinitely mutable and as the system is used by different people we will see techniques that we could never imagine. This technological progress is the ultimate goal of this IQP. 9 Smoke and Mirrors Design Considerations Recently, the Little Theatre Live Feed has had very limited usage. It has been used almost exclusively for overflow audiences seated in Riley Commons. With our project we not only upgraded that experience, but created an artistic tool which can be used in a variety of different shows to achieve special effects previously impossible. We now have greater control over recording and projecting higher quality, live or pre-recorded video. Upgrading the Live Feed system also gave the production staff a tool to use during the performance. During a show, the stage manager needs to know where everyone and everything is at all times. Depending on the set or location of props, it might be difficult for the stage manager to see the entire stage. With the addition of three cameras hanging in the grid, the stage manager can get a second, third and fourth supplemental view of the stage. This allows the stage manager to see who is ready to enter and exit, whether the actors are in places, or if all the props are in the right place or in the right hands. This technology will be accessible to the entire booth, whose occupants are in contact with every production person in the theater. There will now be an additional set of eyes which can easily detect something that isn’t supposed to be happening, notify the appropriate people, and fix the condition immediately. The house manager can also take advantage of the Live Feed during pre-show and intermission. The system which will bring Live Feed of the show to the overflow audiences in Riley Commons can be re-purposed. The house manager has the option to create a slideshow featuring cast bios, quotes, trivia, show announcements, upcoming productions and anything else relevant to the show. This system can be used to send out announcements regarding the opening of house, seating of specific ticket numbers, and continuation of the show after intermission. This is a very powerful tool for the house manager and the ushers to have. 10