The English National Opera’s production of Blue (writer Tazewell Thompson) looks spectacular! A pleasure to work on it and always good to see one’s work projected big! Excellent video design by Ravi Deepres and brilliant rotating wheel created by set designer by Alex Lowde. Ed Freeman did a great job projection mapping everything so that our projections turned at the same time as the wheel.
Having worked with designer Ravi Deepres on the video original design ‘Jitney’ at the Leeds Playhouse it was great to get to adapt the projections for the run of shows at The Old Vic in South London. We worked with some lovely original black and white photographs from the period. Layering up the images using Photoshop and After Effects we were able to create some very effective animations. Fantastically atmospheric theatre and a great show!
https://www.oldvictheatre.com/stage/event/jitney
'It don't always turn out like you think it is. You don't always have the kind of life that you dream about. You know what I mean?'
Jim Becker and his unlicensed drivers take the people of Pittsburgh Hill District where regular taxi cabs won't – healing old wounds and tearing new ones as they pass the time in a condemned taxi rank between pick-ups.
Directed by Tinuke Craig (The Color Purple) and following an acclaimed run at Leeds Playhouse, August Wilson's (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) groundbreaking modern classic explores the fragile bond between eight men as they live, love and work in a racially segregated, post-Vietnam America.
In June 2021 I had a great opportunity to work again with Ravi Deepres. This time on the video design of And Breathe… by Yomi Ṣode. Premiered at The Almeida Theatre in London, the shoots took place largely in Cornwall and Devon over a number of days. With extra shots filmed in Malvern, Cannock Chase and the Lickey Hills. Returning to Cornwall after working in St.Ive’s some years ago was a great experience. A beautiful part of the country! The turnaround on “And Breathe…” was very short so we had to edit the footage quickly, and render the final video projections on-site (including multiple last minute changes). A great show!
In November/December 2020 I got the chance to work in Chichester with video designer Ravi Deepres. The production was Crave by the late English playwright Sarah Kane. We filmed the actors on green screen and created video sequences for front projection and also were able to integrate four PTZ cameras mounted at the end of the actor’s travelators into our projection. The production was live-streamed as well having a diminished ‘real’ audience (due to Covid 19 restrictions). The production team worked incredibly well together and we formed a sort of ‘committee’ to edit the live camera shots, animation and pre-filmed sequences that formed the live stream, into a cohesive film. This created a much better representation of the production for those watching online. It also proved a great asset when, after only a few days of the run, a new set of lockdown restrictions meant that there could no longer be a live audience. Fortunately the show carried on ‘remotely’ and tickets were sold for the live stream. https://www.cft.org.uk/archive/crave
Cast: Erin Doherty, Alfred Enoch, Wendy Kweh & Jonathan Slinger
Production: director Tinuke Craig, designer Alex Lowde, lighting designer Joshua Pharo, film designer Ravi Deepres and composer Anna Clock, with movement by Jenny Ogilvie.
I also found time to do some interesting runs around Chichester. Including one to The Trundle, an Iron Age hill fort with great views!
