Once again, VYV collaborated with renowned director Robert Lepage on a theatre project involving a motorized set. The director’s company, Ex Machina, has built an expertise in sophisticated multi-layered set-ups that evolve over the course of the play.
Courville, the company’s new creation, is a suburban coming of age story taking place in a single house during the 1970’s. Multiple rooms of the house and some outdoor locations had to be represented in the same space on the stage. To achieve this feat, the geometry of the performing space undergoes radical transformations using motorized components such as an articulated floor as well as a roll-up projection screen. Video projections aimed at the entire set (screens, walls and floor) would complete the mise-en-scène.
This approach to stagecraft creates major challenges for video projection designers as they have to take into account the evolving nature of the set. Multiple calibrations were needed to adjust projections to the scenery and animated masks were used to block video spillage. Luckily, by using PHOTON’s automation tracking features, the creators were able to acquire the data sent by the motors’ controller. Once converted using our handy FX Graph logic nodes, this data was used to drive content playback and animate masks. PHOTON’S ability to reconstruct space in 3D combined with real time data acquisition and treatment made Courville possible.
Text, Design and Staging:
Robert Lepage
Production Company:
Ex Machina
Design and Creative Direction:
Steve Blanchet
Technical Direction - Creation:
Olivier Bourque & Catherine Guay
Image Design and Creation:
Félix Fradet-Faguy
Production Manager:
Marie-Pierre Gagné
PHOTON Programmers:
Alexis Rivest & Gabrielle Martineau (VYV CA)