We've done it several times in our 60 seat theater. We don't have the back stage room so we put the projector above the actors and project onto a white painted flat. The digital projectors have a keyhole correction that fixes the distortion caused by the downward projection. We tape out a small area on the stage for actors to stay out of so they don't cast a shadow (or have a picture projected onto themselves).
In one case ("Waiting For MacArthur")the playwright suggested a series of painted curtains that could be changed out rapidly. In this case we were able to have many more scene backdrops than the playwright envisioned (from inside a submarine to the deep jungle). In the other case ("Dixie Swim Club") we used it to set the year of the scene (The play took place over 27 years). We had calendars flying away to show the passage of time, then we projected newspaper headlines to show what was happening in the world the year that the scene takes place.
We have never done it but I saw another small theater that actually used it to project costumes onto actors for a flashback scene. Mirrors were strategically placed so the actors could position themselves accurately. It worked vary well.
We also use it for self promotion before our shows: We have a "How Many Of Our Shows have YOU Seen" promotion. We project photo's of our productions onto a screen and let the audience guess the name of the show.
The projector was very expensive for us but it has paid for itself many times over. I think small theaters will find more and more ways to use them in our productions.
DougLast edited on Wed Aug 31st, 2011 03:04 pm by Doug B
|
