October 5 and 6, 2020

The principal singers at the Cox Center in Tulsa on Monday.  We recorded a wide shot  with our handy camera for blocking camera shots. All the principals where 40 feet away from each other.  

Tuesday we started the first pass at blocking our shots.   I know that we will have to change some of them because the dimensions of the ballroom will be different than the ball field.  The show is Friday night, so I hope I don't have to be up all night Thursday changing shots. Let's have fun!

Rehearsal at Cox Center.  Plenty of social distancing.

                                                          Blocking camera shots in the score.

                                            

                                             Rehearsing Wednesday  night.  Interesting the 

                                             cast had a wider "stage" so their movements covered

                                              a lot more territory so we will be reblocking shots

                                              tomorrow morning getting ready for another rehearsal

                                              tomorrow night.  Get some rest.

 October 5, 2020

I am in Tulsa to direct the capture and IMAG of Rigoletto in Drillers Stadium Ballpark.  For all those baseball fans, it's one of the LA Dodgers minor league clubs.  Yes, we will shoot in the Diamond with 5 cameras.  It will be a 90 minute version a Rigoletto (usually it's 2hr and 30 minutes including an intermission).  It will be a taste of opera for the fans and first time fans who attend.  The singers will be in the infield near each base which are 90 feet from each other.  The orchestra will be at the backstop behind home plate and the chorus will be either in short left or short right field.  Great to use baseball lingo.

My cameras will be high home looking at the grande wide and also doubling up to get the close ups.  It has a 44x1 lens.  Two other cameras will be on 6" risers to just behind home plate to  pick up singles of the singers and head to toes.  The  other two cameras will cross shoot from the 1st and 3rd base side  to compress duets and quartets.  That's the plan today.  Going out to the Ballpark for my first site survey this AM.  We have been prepping this shoot over the phone during this pandemic.  

                                        Here is a diagram of the field and position of singers.

Here's a photo of the ballpark as the grounds crew get it ready.  They are changing it from a soccer configuration back to the baseball.  They will build up the pitchers mound.

OperaVision: A New Twist on an Old Classic at the San Francisco Opera

OperaVision: A New Twist on an Old Classic at the San Francisco Opera

October 4, 2015 - Lucia di Lammermoor

This afternoon the  HD crew and I watched and recorded our first look at the Final Dress Rehearsal of Lucia Di Lammermoor at SF Opera.   We captured this afternoon's rehearsal so the marketing group at the opera can promote it on the SF Opera's website and it gives us a rough rehearsal for future camera blocking.

The cast was terrific and strong.  We will capture this opera for potential  distribution.  This  Lucia has a futuristic tone and look.  We will be capturing it on Oct 11, 16 and 21.  If you are in SF come by and enjoy Lucia Di Lammermoor.  http://sfopera.com/Season-Tickets/2015-16-Season/Lucia-di-Lammermoor.aspx

to be continued...

July 3, Simulcast - How it happened

This was SF Opera's 9th at AT&T Ballpark.  It was a challenge.  Figaro had a young cast who not always hit their marks.  We had to improvise some of the time but that is part of live television.  Overall my crew did pretty well.  We had a couple of bumps in the road but  it flew by, even though we started at 7:30 and ended a little after 11 pm.  At the first intermission, the head of Team HD, Jessica Koplos ( Director of Electronic Media at SFOpera ) sent over the traditional hot dogs and garlic fries.  We felt like we were at the Ballpark.

At the second intermission, all cameras changed over to the 16x9 format for our Open Curtain demonstration.  This is were staff members from the opera explains what happens during the intermission.  The audience at the opera house and at the Ballpark got to see first hand of what the carpenters, grips, electricians, props and stage management  do to get ready for the next act.

After this 10 minute demonstration we switched back to 29 x 9.   Act 3 and 4 went into overdrive and before we knew it we were into bows.  The bows had the cast and orchestra show up in Giants hats, scarfs, foam fingers and T-shirts.  Over 30,000 showed up. It was a blast! See everyone next time!

Day 18 - Simulcast Friday - July 3

Okay, I skipped a few days in the blog. On July 1, we captured  Les Troyens for the last time.

On July 2,  I changed over 250 shots. Why?  The format of 29 x 9 is so wide that it covers lots of territory.  So instead of going to cutaways of singers, we might see all of them on a single shot.

Today - July 3 -  Jess (AD), Gary (LD) and I went to AT&T this afternoon to check on how the lighting looked in the 3 acts. We decided that the background light in Act 1 should come up.   Here are some photos from Today's visit.

Me and Gary (LD) checking out the AT&T Projection

Visiting SFO  sound engineer, Alava at the mixing board near home plate.

Gary decided that for tonight's opera he would add some background light for Act One.

I think it looked really good and made the singers pop even more.

I just realized that I have not explained where my camera positions are in the opera house:

Camera 11 - Static camera for the Maestro.

Camera 10 - overlooks the stage from above.  Almost a straight down overhead look.

Camera 9 - Grand wide shot from the first balcony rail.   This camera can also pickup the percussion group in the pit and the woodwinds.

Camera 8 - also on the rail but 20 feet left of camera 9 which gives me an off center wide look and can zoom into the chorus and give me dramatic zoom outs as well as zoom ins.  This angle can also give me two shots-head to toe and group shots when needed.  This off center look is one of my favorite angles.

Camera 7 - Located on the orchestra level (main floor)  back of house - long lens 42 x 7.  This will give me extreme closeups as well as medium wide shots.

Camera 5 and 6 are in the pit and pickup singles and group shots of the musicians in the orchestra as well as pan and zoom in to the action on stage.  Some of the most dynamic and impressive shots come front these camera positions.  The extreme close ups are stunning as well as the wide shots. These two cameras can make shorter performers look taller.

Camera 1 and 4 are in the walls of the opera house far left and far right.  This lets me great over the shoulder shots and compresses three to four performers. The lenses on these cameras are 26 x 9.

Camera 2 and 3 are located under the first balcony, above the heads of the orchestra level seating.  These two cameras get me closeups, medium closeups, medium masters, stage wide and head to toe framing.  Cameras 2,3 and 7 are constantly working.

Day 15 Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Day 15 - June 30 Captured the last Two Women performance at SF Opera.

Besides directing the capture, one of the camera operators and I go up to the Upper Balcony during an intermission  and ask the audience their opinion of Opera Vision.  We have been doing this for the last 8 years and have been  always surprised.  Here was our experience.

"Last Night after Act one of Two Women, camera operator Doug Hunt and I went up to the Upper Balcony to visit "our opera vision audience."  Out of 12 interviewees, only one did not care about the screens. By the way, he was with a friend who thought the screens greatly enhanced his opera experience.

What was really "cool" for us was that two of the people we interviewed told us that they initially hated opera vision when it first began 8 years ago, but now, they loved it and plan their season around it.  The one woman who I interviewed who thought it was a joke when opera vision first came out 8 years ago told me that she wrote a very nasty email to the opera saying how she hated it and thought it was some sports nuts idea!  She was happy to tell me that now she believes in it and really enjoys the closeups and hopes that by telling me how much she enjoys it that it will absolve her from the negative email 8 years ago. 

The capture had a couple hitches.  Camera 3, our wide master went down during the show, so we had to use a wider master from the upper Balcony.  This was a little too wide.  I went to  a quick sequence where there was no one there.   I was too quick fro my own good.

If this is ever distributed or streamed it will have to be edited.   Overall it was a pretty good live cut.