Back to the future the Musical - Adelphi Theatre

[JonoSmallridge]

Hi all... so first post... So I'm surprised that theres no post already mentioning Back to the future the musical...

First thing...As a musical...its not amazing, but the technical parts of the show are simply outstanding.. Of course its going to be difficult to create the illusion of a car speeding to 88mph on a smallish london stage, but the way the team project onto a gauze and automate movement of the car in sync with the video content is the star of the show. I was speechless watching it. Also wicked audio setup with Avid mixing and a D&B Line array all Gareth Owen designed. A wicked LED circuit board style installation on the walls and ceiling that also maps with the video content. Ah man I could go on....and I wont spoil the best bit for you. Don't get me wrong its a expensive ticket, but hell its worth it just to admire the tech. Congrats if you work/worked on the show I hope it stays for a while at the Adelphi!

 

[paulears]

A lot of us have experience with the Twins FX creations. Always interesting and innovative. 

[ImagineerTom]

Weird but true fact…. The car automation doesn’t sync to the video- it’s the other way around. Video content is being generated and rendered in real time based on positioning data received from the car (and from lighting cues) as they realised that automation wasn’t accurate and dependable enough and so it was easier to render the cgi backwards from the vehicle. 

[ImagineerTom]

1 hour ago, paulears said:

A lot of us have experience with the Twins FX creations. Always interesting and innovative. 

Twins provided a piece of technical equipment used at one point in the show, however 99% of the “magic” in the show was designed by Chris fisher & his team of associates, working closely with set designer Tim Hatley who works absolute miracles with scenic engineering.  It is very much a team effort. 

[JonoSmallridge]

2 hours ago, ImagineerTom said:

Weird but true fact…. The car automation doesn’t sync to the video- it’s the other way around. Video content is being generated and rendered in real time based on positioning data received from the car (and from lighting cues) as they realised that automation wasn’t accurate and dependable enough and so it was easier to render the cgi backwards from the vehicle. 

wow that's awesome! Thanks!

[paulears]

I think the car is probably worth more than 1% Tom?

[ImagineerTom]

I don't want this to turn into a slamdown on anyone but they provided A car that's used in the show at one point (yes a memorable point, but one of many) the car (and all the hardware that makes it do wonderful things) that you see for the entire rest of the show isn't that car/hardware from them; It's a traditional secret how many car's there are in the show but I can tell you it's more than one. There is also a huge amount of magic in the show that (deliberately) doesn't stand out as magic but instead enables the show to present as cinematic - in many scenes for example, you will see a character walk offstage left and a second later enter (from stage right) into a piece of scenery that represents a different location so that the live stage show follows the visual flow of a movie. There's several instant costume changes, some "stunts" and a whole range of practical effects and gadgets peppered through the rest of the show, not to mention that (absolutely breath-taking) time jumps at the start and end of the show. It is a huge team effort and to heap all credit on one part of that team whilst ignoring the contributions of all the others is unfair to all involved.

Edited January 10, 2022 by ImagineerTom

[ImagineerTom]

16 hours ago, JonoSmallridge said:

wow that's awesome! Thanks!

Because all the video in the show is rendered live it enables them to cope with technical issues better (if problems mean the car doesn't move on stage the video re-renders to "vamp" until the automation is ready for an important upcoming cue for example) but they also use it for the preshow / interval projection which shows the date/time, weather and (if you look carefully) news/data/images that the server is pulling from the net and rendering into the display just to show off that they can do it.