Class Notes #22
Entertainment Systems - Show Control - Integrated Media Systems
In the words of Professor Drew Campbell, Dept of Theater Technology
The Digital Theatre: Audio, Animatronics and Automation in Live Theatre
Prof. Drew Campbell, College of Fine Arts
Abstract:
Imagine that you've got a show about a high-tech android, let's call him "The Terminator." Riding his Harley motorcycle, he bursts through a time portal, right into the theatre where the Cyberdyne
marketing presentation you are watching has just been interrupted by the appearance of John Conner, the brilliant young leader of the Human Rebellion. Right on the heels of The Terminator comes the T-1000, and evil android who looks suspiciously like LAPD. The Terminator snatches up John Conner, protecting him from the evil T-1000, and escapes into the future, the unstoppable T-1000 hot on their heels. After eluding the T-1000, John and the Terminator battle the mighty T-One Million, Cyberdyne's ultimate weapon, and finally defeat it with human ingenuity, shotgun blasts and a vat of liquid nitrogen. As the Cyberdyne headquarters disintegrates around them, John Conner returns to the present, leaving his old friend, the Terminator, behind. But don't worry, he'll be back.
He better be. The cast and crew of "Terminator 3-D" at Universal Studios Hollywood, has to do another show just like that one in four minutes. This entire drama is played out three times per hour, to 1500 audience members a crack. This is why we need show control technologies. A complicated
production like this one requires split-second timing and reliable coordination between lighting, sound, video, pyrotechnics, moving scenery and, in this case, six 70mm projectors that create a 3-D effect on three giant screens.Like all other parts of the entertainment business, the live theatre has seen an unprecedented rise in the amount and sophistication of digital technology. Every aspect of modern entertainment technology has gone into the realm of the digital computer. The Terminator show is
actually run on a series of Windows PCs.For the modern stage technician, an understanding of digital technology is critical. Drew Campbell, the former manager of Technical Creative at Universal Studios Hollywood, teaches about design and technologies used to bring this stage magic to life for over five million visitors annually.
Links:
ProAV (an unbelievably comprehensive site of information about digital theatre)
ProAV list of show control links
Richmond Sound Design (Industry leader in show control and audio technology)
Theatrecrafts.com (General information about technical theatre, including lists of links)
Zircon Designs (home website for John Huntington, industry authority on entertainment show control); Book - "Control Systems for Live Entertainment"
Universal Studios Hollywood (my former employer)more...
Math, Sound, Graphics....
| Some Interesting Sites: |
http://www.rfbarrow.btinternet.co.uk/htmasa2/Param1.htm - how lissajou figures can be made with two sin waves |
http://www.physics.emory.edu/~weeks/ideas/lissajou.html - another lissajou site with code examples |
http://www.sciences.univ-nantes.fr/physique/perso/cortial/bibliohtml/lissaj_j.html |
http://www.laserium.com/index.html - Laserium |
http://www.laserium.com/TV_movie/index.html - laserium demos |
http://www.animusic.com |
ToneColor |
Audio Visual 3D - TSTXT |
Bliss Paint |
show control companies; |
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