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I'm extremely interested in the use of digital scenery.  I think it would be an excellent way to add to our production value.  I would love some more information but have had some trouble finding anyone who could discuss things like cost, equipment, software and the like.  If you've any experience, please do share.

Thank you!

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Bernadette MacLeod
Charlotte NC
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Wow... a simple question with so many possible answers!  :-)

I'll try to keep this brief; we can always expand it if you want.

I'm going to assume that you're interested in projected scenery (as opposed to digitally printed scenery), just because you mentioned equipment and software. Projected scenery has its uses and can be very effective, but it also creates a lot of additional planning and work. It all starts with defining what you're trying to accomplish as far as telling the story and how the projections do that -- IOW, is a projection the best way to present the director's vision of the story? Once you define that, you can design the set and the projections.

Then it gets interesting. Once you decide where a specific projection goes, you figure out where the projector goes: the projector itself, distance, angle, lens, power, and so on. Do you need to hide the projector? Is there anything in the way of the projected beam (set pieces, furniture, or even actors)? Which leads to the question of front projection or rear projection.

If it's front projection, you will need to adjust the stage lights one way, and, if it's rear projection, you will need to adjust them a different way. If you have both front and rear, it's even different. Other wise the projections will either dominate the stage or get washed out by the lights.

And so on.

Don't get me wrong: this can all be done, and is done all the time, and can be very effective. But there's a lot more to it than the equipment itself.

Can you give us a little more information on what you want to do with projections, and why? You mentioned production value; cool, tell us more about that. That'll help us give you some useful responses.

In the meantime, you can do a web search for "scenic projections" and get a plethora (I love that word and hardly ever get to use it   :-)  ) of links, some of which will tell you about projections while others will just try to sell you equipment.

You can also look at a couple of sets I did with projections, working with a lighting designer who has lots of professional experience in this:

Dog Sees God

Cuckoo's Nest

And if I was wrong and you meant digitally printed scenery, sorry about that. Hate it when that happens!  :-)

Keep us posted!

------------------------------
George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net

Original Message:
Sent: 05-11-2016 10:08
From: Bernadette MacLeod
Subject: Digital Scenery

I'm extremely interested in the use of digital scenery.  I think it would be an excellent way to add to our production value.  I would love some more information but have had some trouble finding anyone who could discuss things like cost, equipment, software and the like.  If you've any experience, please do share.

Thank you!

------------------------------
Bernadette MacLeod
Charlotte NC
------------------------------

Wow... a simple question with so many possible answers!  :-)

I'll try to keep this brief; we can always expand it if you want.

I'm going to assume that you're interested in projected scenery (as opposed to digitally printed scenery), just because you mentioned equipment and software. Projected scenery has its uses and can be very effective, but it also creates a lot of additional planning and work. It all starts with defining what you're trying to accomplish as far as telling the story and how the projections do that -- IOW, is a projection the best way to present the director's vision of the story? Once you define that, you can design the set and the projections.

Then it gets interesting. Once you decide where a specific projection goes, you figure out where the projector goes: the projector itself, distance, angle, lens, power, and so on. Do you need to hide the projector? Is there anything in the way of the projected beam (set pieces, furniture, or even actors)? Which leads to the question of front projection or rear projection.

If it's front projection, you will need to adjust the stage lights one way, and, if it's rear projection, you will need to adjust them a different way. If you have both front and rear, it's even different. Other wise the projections will either dominate the stage or get washed out by the lights.

And so on.

Don't get me wrong: this can all be done, and is done all the time, and can be very effective. But there's a lot more to it than the equipment itself.

Can you give us a little more information on what you want to do with projections, and why? You mentioned production value; cool, tell us more about that. That'll help us give you some useful responses.

In the meantime, you can do a web search for "scenic projections" and get a plethora (I love that word and hardly ever get to use it   :-)  ) of links, some of which will tell you about projections while others will just try to sell you equipment.

You can also look at a couple of sets I did with projections, working with a lighting designer who has lots of professional experience in this:

Dog Sees God

Cuckoo's Nest

And if I was wrong and you meant digitally printed scenery, sorry about that. Hate it when that happens!  :-)

Keep us posted!

------------------------------
George F. Ledo
Set designer
www.setdesignandtech.wordpress.com
www.georgefledo.net

Original Message:
Sent: 05-11-2016 10:08
From: Bernadette MacLeod
Subject: Digital Scenery

I'm extremely interested in the use of digital scenery.  I think it would be an excellent way to add to our production value.  I would love some more information but have had some trouble finding anyone who could discuss things like cost, equipment, software and the like.  If you've any experience, please do share.

Thank you!

------------------------------
Bernadette MacLeod
Charlotte NC
------------------------------

I'm extremely interested in the use of digital scenery.  I think it would be an excellent way to add to our production value.  I would love some more information but have had some trouble finding anyone who could discuss things like cost, equipment, software and the like.  If you've any experience, please do share.

Thank you!

I’m going to throw out a low-tech rear projection that I have used for a few years with great success—overhead projectors.  You need two fairly powerful ones (mine, I think are 3000 lumens),  I hang a scrim or even a sheet of  white butcher paper from a pipe about 10-12 feet off the ground.  I have had students draw scenery on overhead transparency paper; I have color photocopied images, photographs, so many possibilities.  I generally use two, and cross fade between them using a very simple low tech system--creating a flap out of cardboard that can be flipped up and down on the top mirror and switching between the two, or blocking them entirely so there is no projection.  You can easily use for shadow theatre as well, which is how I got started on this—  I use them in my teaching space (a small black box type theatre) and in our main auditorium. And as George said, you do have to adjust your stage lighting accordingly— Our stage is large enough that there is enough throw space between our projectors (run by students) and the screen--about 6-8 feet is my guess, and I just make certain that my front spots fall short of the screen.  It took some perfecting, as it created some points on stage that were difficult to light (solved by some creative side, and downlighting and inventive blocking) but what I like is how low tech it is and students (I am at a middle school) love being in charge of changing the transparencies during a show.  The other advantage is your school probably has so many projectors that no one uses.  I have collected from our storeroom about 10 that I use for teaching/practice/rehearsing, saving my powerful ones, for tech runs and the shows.  I should add that I agree with George on the concept of thinking how this approach helps to tell the story.  Sometimes I overused it in my early experimentation because it seemed cool.  I did learn a lot by this excess.  I’ll be curious at what you discover.

I'm extremely interested in the use of digital scenery.  I think it would be an excellent way to add to our production value.  I would love some more information but have had some trouble finding anyone who could discuss things like cost, equipment, software and the like.  If you've any experience, please do share.

Thank you!