The production is a collaboration between Theatre de Complicité and The National. It encompasses several firsts for video - the first time a Catalyst digital media server has been used at the National Theatre; the first time video images from camera playback have been manipulated live; and the first time that the whole performance area floor has been utilized as a projection canvass.
Video takes on many roles throughout the performance. It's used as a scene and location setter and as moving metaphorical backgrounds or textures to emphasize the interaction and dramatic tension between characters. Live cameras are used to heighten specific moments of the play. The video and projection system is designed by Mesmer's Sven Ortel, working with his colleagues Dick Straker and Ian Galloway, and the project was coordinated for XL by Malcolm Mellows.
XL Video supplied the two 2GHz Catalyst media servers, complete with a special version of its proprietary software, written by developer Richard Bleasdale. This offered more layers than usual, and allowed them to take in the two live camera feeds per unit. XL is also supplying a Barco G10 for the floor projection - complete with a customized vertical flying frame to allow it to be rigged at the correct angle - and a 40" plasma screen. The rear projection employs a double stack of the National's own Barco 6500 projectors.
Ortel has previously worked with the show's lighting designer Paul Anderson, sound designer Chris Shutt and set designer Tom Pye. This time he proposed to manipulate live camera feeds to create distinctive looks for some of the shows different locations: for example, some major scenes take place in prison, an opportunity to create an edgy atmosphere with a low-res surveillance camera look.
Ortel also specified the Catalyst, primarily because it was the only reliable system available with sufficient capacity to be able to handle live video inputs, manipulate them in real time as well as playback good quality at high resolution. The Catalysts are operated by Ian Galloway and handle a total of four video inputs including of the DV cams.
The Catalysts are run in high XGA resolution 1024 x 768 mode. This is needed for the scale of the projection surfaces, and the fact that the playback material contains a lot of detailed information needing to be viewed clearly. Ortel also wanted to experiment with graphic textures on the floor, which was only possible using the G10 pointing vertically downwards in tandem with the Catalyst's high-resolution settings. The Catalyst is run from a Hog PC controller, triggered for the show by the National's Dataton Trax system, which takes care of the triggering and switching, and freeing up the hands of operator Ian Galloway for the vision mixing with one of the NT's Panasonic MX20s.
Sven Ortel comments: "This show would have been impossible to realise in time without using Catalyst, and the creative potential of the project excited everyone I spoke to. Richard Bleasedale (developer), Hugh Davies-Webb (High End Catalyst support), Ross Williams (Catalyst service provider) and Malcolm Mellows (XL video) were all waiting for the next opportunity to prove that Catalyst can do it all, so when this specific design challenge arose, they all pulled together to make it happen. It's definitely the best and most flexible system for theatre I've encountered so far!"
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
