Monday, June 29, 2015

Day 14, Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

June 29, 2015

Today was adding a few more shots and meetings.  Our production team met over the July 3 rundown and it was put together by Francis Crossman our ace editor at the opera.

The director's team did as much as possible to finish off Figaro.  Tonight will be our shakedown and by that I mean our backup recording  for the AT&T simulcast.  What I mean by backup is that if something goes technically wrong at the Opera House on July 3.  What we tape tonight will be shown at the Ball Park.  We haven't had to do that in all of the years I have directed but like they say, "There is always a first time." However,  I remain positive.

I joined my camera crew for a brief review of Act 3.  Glad I did as I changed some framing and descriptions on the shot sheets.  At the opera we have what we call shot driver and is pushed by Uwe, our engineer in charge who is also watching all recordings.  Here is a paper version of the shot driver:
Shot sheet

Working the Directing team until show time, gotta go!


Day 12,13, Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3


Day 12 - June 27, 2015

Spent some time adding 250 shots to Figaro and asked the Associate Stage Director, Morgan Robinson if she could have the gardener, Antonio move between Figaro and the Count during two musical systems (about 10 measures).  Right now Antonio is "buried" behind the supers and chorus so the cameras cannot see him.  We will see how it works on Monday our rehearsal day for the simulcast.


Day 13 - June 28,2015,

Sunday was our 2nd capture of Two Women and also an opera vision afternoon.  We had a good show and we will make a few changes for our final capture later this week.

Once in awhile I take BART into San Francisco.  This blog is about  my trip on my way back home and some unexpected reviews of my crews work.


Today was our second capture of Two Women  and as usual was our best capture to date.  The afternoon crowd loved the show, as all of the audiences have during our captures.  I suspect the other performances in between our captures are also popular with the audiences too.  I confirmed that as I was waiting in line at the Civc Center BART station waiting to go through the turnstiles as the Pride parade masses were jamming their way onto BART.  Next to me were two opera goers who I identified with a program in their arms.  I asked them what they thought of the opera and they gushed about it.  They said that they had been reading the critics and they thought that the critics were wrong and enjoyed every moment of the opera.  I wanted to ask them more questions but they, like me got lost in the sea of pink and rainbow people racing their way to the BART trains.  My opera adventure did not stop there.  

As I boarded my train, I encountered a young couple (early 40s) with programs and I asked them what they thought.  They both enjoyed it.  In fact, they went on to tell me that they were in the upper balcony and were so happy because they not only had great sound but they could see the close ups on the screens and said they loved all the angles and felt like the were watching a film.  They could watch the stage or go back to their screens.  Now without me giving away of who I was they kept going.  They told me that they design their 4 to 5 opera visits a year based on opera vision.  That's the way they saw Show Boat, Moby Dick (they DVR'd the PBS broadcast too) and many others.  They buy  4 tickets per opera and they also bring their 16 and 14 year old. They also mentioned the critics were negative but they couldn't understand it because "hey it's an Italian opera and it sounded like one!"   My stop was coming up and we said our goodbyes with them saying that I should tell someone at the opera how they felt.  I told them I will!

See you tomorrow,
Frank Z.

Friday, June 26, 2015

Day 9,10,11, Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Well here is Day 9, 10, 11.


Day 9 - June 23.
Here is Part 2 of my interview with Nat Koren, who works in the Sound Department at SF Opera.
I asked Nat how the sound signal gets out to AT& T.  The video and audio is sent through fiber optic to the Ball Park  and converted from an optical to electrical signal.  The video and audio is split and Nat takes the audio signal into his board at AT&T. He mixes about 400 feet from the Loudspeaker arrays in  the outfield. Light travels faster that sound and   light  in this case is video.  Sound takes  a half  second to reach the seats, so Nat has to make sure his delays are set so sound and picture are in lip sync.  Once he is set, he mixes the sound coming from the opera house.   I asked Nat what his biggest challenge is and his response was to get the sound to be as close as what is heard at the opera house as he can.

Day 10 -June 24 I went into blocking more shots for Figaro.  My AD and I locked ourselves in our viewing room and put our heads into our score.  I am not sure how many shots we have lined up but it will be well over 1500.  Comedy is tough but as you will see if you are coming to the Park on July 3 or the Opera House,  the cast is talented and very funny. We hope to capture every nuance and of course the great singing.  You will also have an opportunity to see the orchestra during the overture in Act 1.  Maestro Patrick Summers is heading up the orchestra and cast and has a good time of it.

Day 11, June 25 - This was my day to direct Opera Vision for the upper balcony and the opera was Les Troyens.  I snuck in 2 hours on Figaro and and hour on Two Women.  Again blocking shots.  Les Troyens was beautiful. Susan Graham and Anna Caterina Antonacci were incredible.  5 hours seemed to fly by!  On my way up to the control room on the 5th floor, I ran into General Director David Gockley in the hallway. We talked about Figaro and Super titles matching what I am cutting on the screen.  I assured him that we didn't need any changes at this time.  I like these brief meetings in the hallways of the opera house, you get a lot done.

Day 12, June 26 - This afternoon I will be working on Figaro.  Monday the 29th we have our rehearsal in 29 x 9.

As promised here are some photos from my first Simulcast that was broadcast to the Civic Center and one of the first simulcasts at AT&T.  Can you guess the opera's?  I will give the answers in the next post.
San Francisco Civic Center
Photo Courtesy Drew Altizer/San Francisco Opera

San Francisco Civic Center
Photo Courtesy Drew Altizer/San Francisco Opera



Photo Courtesy: Cory Weaver and San Francisco Opera

Photo Courtesy of San Francisco Opera















Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Day 8, Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Well Jess my AD and I blocked some more shots for Figaro.  Act 3 which is the longest of all the Acts - 75 minutes - has all the principles and chorus singing all together at one time or another.  I don't want to bore you with more blocking techniques so I decided to speak to the sound engineer who sets up the speaker arrays and mixes the sound at AT&T Park for the SF Opera Simulcasts.

This is the 9th simulcast at AT&T and Nat Koren has been in charge at the Ball Park 8 of the 9 times.   He also helped setup the first simulcast in 2006 at Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco.

Nat tells me that it has gotten to be a routine setup and of course it is planned well in advance.  Two months prior to the simulcast the Sound Department, headed by Doug Mitchell, who is also in charge of HD pulls out the plans with Nat and starts getting ready.  A day before the broadcast a 24 foot truck pulls up to AT&T's loading dock and it is packed with sound gear.  The tallest setup is the Meyer Sound Milo speaker  arrays.  These two main arrays stand approximately 32 feet tall and are positioned in left center field and right center facing home plate.  Nat's crew also sets up front fills for the outfield audience.  At the same time they strategically place sub woofers on the warning track in center field.  In the past we have had productions that have featured operas by Verdi, Puccini Rossini and Mozart. These had larger orchestras as compared to this Mozart opera which features a smaller Baroque Orchestra.  Nat is taking this into consideration for his final speaker/fill/subwoofer placement.

Tomorrow I will continue this discussion with Nat and include a few photos of those first simulcasts.




Monday, June 22, 2015

Day 6 & 7 Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Today is Monday and I am taking the day off but before  I do want to write a little about the capture  we did yesterday, Sunday the 21st.

Sunday was the last capture of Marriage of Figaro in 16 x 9.  Our opera vision  and the general audience were enthusiastic  Sunday afternoon.  The cast really fed on this and I find that when they get that energy they play "bigger."  Meaning they move a little faster, and they always don't hit their marks .  That's live opera.  As you know if you have been reading this blog, I block cameras shots so we can tell the story to the viewing  audience.   Comedy  is the toughest because not only is there's singing, there is physical comedy,  there are reactions to that comedy and because there is quite of few principals you want to get all of their reactions.  Timing is everything.  
I spoke to the Philippe Sly, who plays Figaro.  I asked him when he interacts with another singer(s) would he  hit the same marks each time so I can get we (the crew) can get our timing down.  He was happy to do it.  When he is singing an aria or he is by himself he can go and do what he wants. 

 I want to see the interaction as close as I can so I can see the singers emotions, their connections to each other.  Obviously if their doing something physical I want to see them from Head to toe. 

Tomorrow is a blocking day in 29 x 9.






Saturday, June 20, 2015

Day 5 Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

I am suppose to be talking about our process on how we prepare for the simulcast, but I had to take a right turn and prepare for another opera yesterday.  I was blocking camera coverage for SF Opera's, Two Women"  and then shooting and capturing it last night (Friday). The primary audience was directing it for the projection screens in the upper balcony and screens around the opera house for operas vision. I thought  the crew and I did a pretty good job.  Opera Vision lets the in house audience see the close ups and details of each performance.  We use all 11 cameras and put as much time in our coverage and preparation as we do for simulcasts, DVD's and other productions that go live.

Below is a photo of what the it looks like from the balcony.  If you want to see an opera for the first time, sitting in the upper balcony is a good introductory ticket.  The sound/acoustics are spectacular up there and having the screens let's you see the closeups.  The screens also have the supertitles too.



Tomorrow is our last opera vision and capture of Figaro in 16x9.  Then we will have  to see what shots stay in our shot sheets for 29 x 9 framing.

Any questions or suggestion so far.  Let me know.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Day 4 Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Today is a rehearsal day so I will show you an area the camera ops are prepping.
We shoot the simulcast a little differently.  The screen is 103 feet wide and 31 feet high and so instead of shooting 16 x9 which is the common aspect ratio for TV and computer monitors these days, we are shooting 29 x 9 so it's a little like cinemascope, almost twice as wide.



This photo is 16 x9


This photo is 29 x 9 (between the vertical lines is the area that will be framed).  You will notice less info from top to bottom.

 This means we have to create a template for the viewfinders/monitors for each of the camera operators.  This afternoon we will test the waters to see what the sets and stage looks like.

Test one: Wide shots won't be as wide.  Two shots head to toe will be good but 2 shot cowboys (from head to hip) will have to be tighter to avoid jump cuts in 29 x 9 framing.

7:14 pm, 16 minutes to show time , got to go…….




Wednesday, June 17, 2015

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

Blocking Figaro today.  I have added a couple of photos to today's blog. The first one is my score.  It's 494 pages.  Blocking involves watching our split screen 11 camera coverage from our rehearsal and then selecting the best possible angle.  The yellow post-its are the camera numbers and brief description and the pink ones are the corrections that I have made since the camera rehearsal.

Figaro has a lot of fun moments in it and the principle singers not only sing but do sight gags, physical comedy and react. I am estimating at least 2500+ shots. This process will go on up till the day before as I am also working on Two Women and Les Troyens at the SF Opera.


That's me. !
This photo shows two robotic stations that each camera person operates during a simulcast.
Tomorrow we cover Figaro for the opera vision audience in attendance.
This photo shows the VIP.  This shows 10 cameras below and the preview (upper left)
and program line cut (Upper right) I make selections and changes based on past captures/rehearsals.



Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Day 2 Sf Opera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

Today I reviewed lighting notes for Figaro with our Lighting designer, Gary Marder and Jess (AD) and Jessica our Executive Producer.  Taking a stage lighting design and transferring for video is sometimes a little tricky.  We want to keep the mood right, so we don't want to add to much light but just enough so we can tell the story and bright enough so the cameras can see what is going on.  Gary and his crew will work on these notes as we build up "our look" for July 3.

At the same time we look at wigs, costumes, props and sets.  These areas /departments are also working to make sure everything is looking good for the simulcast.

I included a couple of videos as background  for the simulcast.  The first one is a 2009 video hosted by Drew Landmesser who was the Director of Production at SF Opera.  He talks about how our HD suite works during a Simulcast. The second one are highlights of this year's Marriage of Figaro.  Enjoy.

Simulcast technical info with Drew Landmesser – 4:24:

Figaro Highights – 7:33:




Monday, June 15, 2015

Day 1 SfOpera's Marriage of Figaro Simulcast at AT&T Park in SF, July 3

This is  Day one of Marriage of Figaro Count down.  I am preparing to direct the Marriage of Figaro opera for broadcast to AT&T Ball Park in SF on July 3.  I will be directing my crew and 11 cameras from the  high atop  the 5th Floor, HD Suite at the San Francisco Opera.  I will let you in on what I go through on directing, I think it's my 10th simulcast ( I did one for Seattle Opera and another for Opera Company of Philadelphia).  I can tell you from one rehearsal the cast is fantastic.  They are entertaining and humorous.  The SF opera orchestra is led in this production by maestro Patrick Summers.  If you would like to see it at the Ballpark on July 3 for free, check out this link.  I will be back tomorrow!

Here is a past article by Geri Jeter that will give some background on the simulcast and what was in our  HD suite a few years back. We have upgraded since.

http://issuu.com/gerijeter/docs/plsn-zamacona-0810/1