Engineering and shading at San Francisco Opera

Here is photo of Elliot who is at the Engineering and Shading station.  Not only does Elliot make sure that the cameras are shaded correctly but he also handles the projection screens and projectors for the Opera Vision audience.   

 June 19 Continued.......... Camera station

After reviewing our last capture which was opening night.  I had a chance to take a few photos of a camera station.  Here is Doug Hunt who has been at San Francisco Opera since 2006.  He's checking his presets and controls. Each of the four stations have a joy stick control, focus,  selectable switcher panel. camera monitor that is switchable and preset monitor.  Doug for this opera  is responsible for cameras one, three and nine and sometimes eight which is allocated to another operator some of the time.  Because there are more cameras than operators I have to sometimes have the operators hand off their designated cameras to the other operators.  Cameras 2, 5, 8 and 10 are designated to Brian and cameras 4, 7, 6 and 11 are Neils.  Camera 12 is a static shot on the Maestro.

Partenope June 19, 2024 at the San Francisco Opera

This June 2024 I am directing for the screen, Partenope at the San Francisco Opera.   In what is called the Media suite at the San Francisco Opera are four operator stations, one shader station, a switcher and Director and AD station.  Tonight we are capturing and sending our program output or line cut to Opera Vision section of the audience which seats about 800 people.  The line cut is projected on high balcony screens that come down from the ceiling and will give this audience a view of the singers closeup.  The screens will also have the supertitles in English.  We will cover the opera with 12 cameras, one static and all others operated by three operators. Here is a shot of our media suite:

 

 

 

 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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…….

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.

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tnkc--ycGGI

Figaro Highights – 7:33:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEorTDORC5I

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