We Will Rock You Musical

[Kilw13]

hello,

 

I am wondering if anyone would be able to help me, our show is doing the production of We Will Rock You this year and I am wondering if anyone doesn’t by any chance have the graphics/visuals for projection for this show? I know you can’t use the west end ones but I am wondering if anyone has done this show previously and has one which have been made? If you could pass these on to me it would be greatly appreciated, just let me know if you have them and we’ll get away if getting them. It would be greatly appreciated.

 

Many thanks.

[paulears]

Whenever this comes up, the responses are always the same - people here want to know what your production is, where it's staged, what kind of size screens you have? Do they moved, are they fixed. Only then will they be able to decide to share stuff they may well have spent time and money developing. The content usually features people or concepts that you have in the show, so part of the fun is creating the visuals. From my own experience, it's very, very rare to be able to use visual from one production in another. Before WWRY we had similar requests from people doing things like Forbidden Planet, with exactly the same reasons. They just don't travel very well.

 

We might be able to help you create your own - but that's very different from just using somebody else's?

 

If you tell us a bit about your show, and your background and experience, we can possibly help - but visuals from a four mobile screen version won't be much use if you have a 6x3 screen and a feeble projector - and that's before any kind of quality concerns are voiced.

[Kilw13]

Whenever this comes up, the responses are always the same - people here want to know what your production is, where it's staged, what kind of size screens you have? Do they moved, are they fixed. Only then will they be able to decide to share stuff they may well have spent time and money developing. The content usually features people or concepts that you have in the show, so part of the fun is creating the visuals. From my own experience, it's very, very rare to be able to use visual from one production in another. Before WWRY we had similar requests from people doing things like Forbidden Planet, with exactly the same reasons. They just don't travel very well.

 

We might be able to help you create your own - but that's very different from just using somebody else's?

 

If you tell us a bit about your show, and your background and experience, we can possibly help - but visuals from a four mobile screen version won't be much use if you have a 6x3 screen and a feeble projector - and that's before any kind of quality concerns are voiced.

 

Thanks very much for replying, its extremely helpful.

 

The show is taking place in a secondary school, with a fairly decent size stage. Myself and a friend over the last two years have taken to do with all the tech side of all the shows which this school puts on, but previously we would not be running it, but rather just operating it. Over the years we have done shows such as Greece, Hairspray and Back to the 80s. Since it is a school the budget for equipment is not that big and especially not this year as a large amount of the budget was used last year, which has made it extremely difficult this year, especially for the kind of show that it is, due to high ambitions with this show surrounding a lighting and visual point of view and lack of money, we have been unable to create the visuals, along with the fact we would not know where to start or get anything.

 

As mentioned the stage is a decent size and there will be no actual screen in a sense, the back of the stage is getting painted white and a projector is getting fitting onto the lighting rig as such, so that people cant get in the way of it. Since there is no actual screen it will not be moving. The projector that we are hiring is a 4000 lumens (this might be more).

 

Thanks very much for all your help!

[paulears]

I don't want to knock the enthusiasm, but aren't you going about it in reverse? What does the director want the video element to actually do? A fixed position means that you can use it for the bits where messages come through, or the Killer Queen talking perhaps from offstage, maybe as live video from the wings, or separate room, but without a real screen, even with a 4000 lumen projector it's not going to the mega bright - so what are you thinking of doing with it? The really important thing is what it's used for - to drive the story or just as something pretty to watch. The original of course had the screens as scenery, but a small screen compared to the stage width - (I assume you aren't expecting to cover the entire stage width?) won't be very useful. If you are intending to project on the entire wall, you'll lose so much depth on stage, and the lighting levels on stage will need to be carefully controlled - or the face lighting will wipe it out. Your lighting positions also need to light faces, but not the wall - try drawing a scale drawing so you can draw in the light travel from source to actor, then on to the rear wall. Do a plan and section and you will see how much depth they have left to act in.

 

Projection will be somewhat restrictive, without lights in the right place. If the staff are sold on using video to do certain things, it could be well worth trying it out for a day early on to see if it works.

[Kilw13]

I don't want to knock the enthusiasm, but aren't you going about it in reverse? What does the director want the video element to actually do? A fixed position means that you can use it for the bits where messages come through, or the Killer Queen talking perhaps from offstage, maybe as live video from the wings, or separate room, but without a real screen, even with a 4000 lumen projector it's not going to the mega bright - so what are you thinking of doing with it? The really important thing is what it's used for - to drive the story or just as something pretty to watch. The original of course had the screens as scenery, but a small screen compared to the stage width - (I assume you aren't expecting to cover the entire stage width?) won't be very useful. If you are intending to project on the entire wall, you'll lose so much depth on stage, and the lighting levels on stage will need to be carefully controlled - or the face lighting will wipe it out. Your lighting positions also need to light faces, but not the wall - try drawing a scale drawing so you can draw in the light travel from source to actor, then on to the rear wall. Do a plan and section and you will see how much depth they have left to act in.

 

Projection will be somewhat restrictive, without lights in the right place. If the staff are sold on using video to do certain things, it could be well worth trying it out for a day early on to see if it works.

 

Hi thanks very much,

 

The screens are to help with a scenery aspect to reduce money in the long run. We have a guy who we deal with with equipment and he says everything should be fine, it will be him who is setting the projector and lighting up etc. so he will be able to fix everything so that it all works together and nothing clashes in a sense.

 

The staff are fixed on getting the visual graphics for the show, so I am just trying to get my hands on them for them.

 

 

Many thanks,

[paulears]

Ask the staff what "the visual graphics are" - clearly they've not explained what they want, and if you are tasked with getting the source material, and that is that - the only thing you need to do is work to a design brief. The script isn't much help, so ask the teachers. If you don't know the intention, you n' get it right. The person who will be setting this all up needs your material to be in a format that he can use - what does he think the content will be?

 

I just have a nagging fear you will spend ages on this and create something wonderful, but maybe too dark, or too detailed and it won't work. If all your job is, is to borrow somebody else's content - why bother? If you want to be involved then create it yourself. I assume you have photoshop, premiere (or similar) available, plus cameras and the other kit?

 

 

Probably best to ask for clear and obvious steers from the staff, then we can help you create it. I doubt if anyone can simply give you stuff that will work - we have no idea what your director is doing, and I don't think you know either?

Paul

[nuttytechy]

Hey buddy.

 

I second what Paul says.

 

I suggest that you have a production meeting with the staff - Director, Set designer, LD ( lighting designer ) etc, so that everyone knows what is what. This is vitally important because there maybe some scenes where it might be bright and vibrant on stage and there is no point of having a dark image projected and visa versa. Once you have all came up with how each scene is going to look then look for the images. Its just a case of the left hand talking to the right hand.

 

Iain.

[Stuart91]

The projector that we are hiring is a 4000 lumens (this might be more).

 

It's definitely worth finding out what the aspect ratio of your projector is. It'll be either 4:3 or 16:9 (widescreen). You definitely do not want to produce a whole pile of content, only to have to hastily resize it.

[dosxuk]

Surely the aspect ratio of the projection surface is more important? It doesn't matter if you fill the whole of the projectors 4:3 output if you've actually got a 2:1 screen across the back wall and you're throwing your content into the roof and floor.

[Ynot]

We have a guy who we deal with with equipment and he says everything should be fine, it will be him who is setting the projector and lighting up etc. so he will be able to fix everything so that it all works together and nothing clashes in a sense.

I'd also advise caution here - UNLESS the 'guy' is an experienced theatre kit supplier with actual experience of throwing images onto a stage sized screen (as opposed to an IT tech just used to providing kit for classrooms with little or no other light spill to wash out the images) then you need to be careful.

 

And 4000 lumens is NOT all that bright, especially if looking at a large image/throw.

On our stage we have a 25 foot wide cyc that gets used as a back screen for the likes of dance schools with careful LX placement. Our 7000 lumens Christie is great in a blackout but even then it will suffer from loss of image when even a half-decent full stage state is on.

 

 

 

 

[Jivemaster]

There are three parts to the design, Budget, Equipment, graphics design, these usually pull in opposite directions. What you have to do is meet with the designer of the show, discuss what they want then try to fit the graphics between the budget and equipment available, then return to the designer and show what you can achieve within the budget and equipment.

 

Content of the visuals is show specific obviously but also location sensitive. You can insert local ideas or words carefully to customise the graphics to your show.

[paulears]

Nothing looks worse than iffy projection with the wrong equipment.

[boatman]

Have a look at Youtube. There a lots of schools' productions, just search for WWRY.