With a 12,000 lumens projector placed just 13-feet away from the surface, Truman High School was able to project a 16-foot tall image. With the short throw lens and the tall image, they were able to build the upstairs office scaffolding/platform to work with the projected elements.
Staging/blocking advice: Flexibility with blocking and choreography is a must. I was able to share sketches and had to be flexible with exact positioning of the set piece. The built platform actually rotated in time with the projection in the background. This enabled to audience to see the "whole" factory.
Advice for lighting with digital scenery: Have a lighting plot worked out prior to not have to reconfigure. Avoid onstage lighting that may alter the coloring of projections or alter the lighting effect within the projection, especially if they are transition projections
Print the user guide and let BM know what day and time zone in case there needs to be a service call.
Tracey Gatte is the director of Truman High School’s internationally recognized theatre program in Levittown, Pennsylvania. She is also a full time theatre teacher at Truman, her alma mater. Tracey is featured in the book Drama High by Michael Sokolove and was the inspiration for character “Tracey” on NBC’s RISE.
