In order for my performance to have my desired technical elements, I met with the team at the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre to arrange my lighting, sound and video projection for the final performance.
Lighting
It was very important that I chose something which reflected the structure of my piece. Because I move in and out of characters on the stage, I chose tight and large spots. In large spots I was more focused on projecting towards the audience, my character or myself speaking to them. The tight spots were for when I was preparing myself for my upcoming character of Ophelia or the moment I dressed in a jacket to become myself. These moments were more personal to the inward moment of the performer, the dressing up and down of a character.
I then chose to light just the audience. This space becomes the moment I choose to involve the audience in my performance, yet the distinct line between performance space and audience space showed that they would never become a part of the performance. Both times I asked a member of the audience to join me, I told them to sit back down. This showed that I was the only important performer on stage, the solo performer.
Projection
I have two projectors for my performance. One is from up above, to create the illusion of the projected version of myself. This made sure that I was able to project something which was the same size as me. Projector two was from the floor, done so that the image on the black filled the space on the wall.
Original Video
Camera
Finally, we set up the live feed from the camera. We found that this would not be possible to link to the projector. Instead, we linked it to the television, the audience still being able to clearly see the live feed of my facial expression as Juliet. In this image, I sit in a tight spot with the camera focused on my face and shoulders. The audience are able to see both my face from the camera and from the light I am sat in.
What’s so important about technical apparatus?
Coming back to earlier ideas raised about the importance of atmosphere in the start of the semester, I have learnt that controlling your own stage space is as important as deciding on the content of the performance. I felt that the restriction of lighting showed the trapping of my characters to just the stage with the audience never entering that space. The projection explored distancing between characters, it being important that the size of the projection I walked into was able to be the same size as me, as I walked in and out to explore the idea that a character can be walked in and out of. Earlier on in the semester, when we performed an automatic writing task and I was asked to consider lighting, I began to acknowledge the importance of technical elements in solo performance. This is why, when creating my final piece, I chose my technical aspects with careful consideration.
Works Cited
Beastall, J. (2014) Projection 1. [online video] Available from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55Vnmpmrxzg [Accessed 26 May 2014].