Driscoll created footage especially for the show which, taking the rhythms, words and thoughts of songwriters Morrissey and Johnny Marr as its starting point, is a musical with a difference. Paul Wood is project managing for XL, who supplied the video hardware including a Barco G5 projector, a Catalyst digital media server and a Hog 500 lighting desk to run all the video cues. The images were projected the full height and two thirds of the width of the backdrop, subtly asymmetric, erring to stage right.
The desk was programmed by Steve Parkinson, a regular XL/Driscoll collaborator. They took full advantage of the flexibility of the Catalyst to produce effects like varying the aspect ratio of the clips, which were shot in a variety of film formats; 1:1.77, 1:1.85 and 1:1.33. The majority of the film playback was locked into sync to the sound track via MIDI timecode transmitted from the sound console. At other times without music or where visual cues were taken from the action onstage, manual cues were triggered by projectionist Tim Perrett for precision timing. The video projections are central to the narrative and a cerebral key to understanding the story. They run through most of the 90 minute show.
The set was designed by Andrew Wale and Nicolai Hart Hansen, and the projections were developed as an integrated scenic element of this. "It was all a very organic process," says Driscoll. Wale and Manzer had specific ideas for what the projection should convey - each song was to have its own piece of film. Driscoll also had the freedom to add his own ideas and express himself through the camera. Together they created a storyboard and a shot list for each song - much of it done inspirationally during company rehearsals and as the work developed day-to-day.
Driscoll waited till the last possible moment in rehearsals before starting to shoot the footage - so he could gauge how each segment was developing through the many changes of direction. They visited several different locations in the intensive two-week shooting period, and also discovered an abundance of excellent locations right nearby in Hammersmith. Child actor Patrick Harper was cast to be their onscreen character, Driscoll and Wale shot a series of filmed sequences over two days with him. The final projections were beamed onto a mottled plaster effect surface onstage, which softened the images, making them appear more filmic.
(Lee Baldock)
