How would you... create photographs to be projected as stage set backgrounds...

[daveymars]

Friends,

And I call you that because 1.) I've never learned so much from so many! 2.) You all tend to be kind to each other and to me as a newbie...

The arts director at my local ultra-liberal community-serving semi-impoverished church has asked me if I would take on a photographic project for him on the "strength" of my successfully "pinch hitting" for a pro when the budget for publicity & program photography for his last project disappeared with the throes of the stock market... and on the true strength of our decade-long friendship. In truth, my work was acceptable but not (in my view) superior. Acceptable is better than nothing.

Now the budget for sets for his next production has disappeared... but being inventive he figured out that he could use projected photography for a background to the show. He knows that I'm free, and would be honored to be able to help out his cause.

(Theater in the inner-city! how can you beat it!?) When I have the name of the show (they are still negotiating the performance rights) I'll share here... (Yes, I'm in on the ground floor so to speak).

My questions to you all...

1. Has anyone ever done this type of assignment before? What was your experience?
2. Is there anything I should know about working with large projected images vs. more traditional digital photography and print. (we're talking projector like you'd do PowerPoint presentations with--not necessarily the best--but we're talking low budget here!)
3. What kind of questions would you be asking the director--understanding that he is a friend, and is aware this is a stretch for me and will work with me with patience and understanding of my situation.
4. Understanding that I have access only to PC post-processing (lightroom 2 & photoshop elements 7) but can project from either a mac or pc... is there any software that can help. I can shoot in jpg or raw or both! (I've never shot in raw before but...
5. I will have my own copy of the script so I can even do transitions and such if that's appropriate...
6. The show may go on the road and have to be portable to other church performance spaces (sanctuaries, basements etc.).
7. Obviously, I'm new so any ideas will be of help...

My photographic equipment: Standard tripod, multiple 8gb sd cards and a panasonic fz18 superzoom (28mm-504mm) actual conversion that shoots well outdoors but has noise challenges indoors... The camera takes odd 46 mm filters if that's relevant for anyone. It has no hot shoe and the flash is uh... kind of underwhelming.

(I know, I know DSLR fans, I'm woefully under-equipped... but financially, I need to make the camera work.) I have a small personal budget that I could get some necessities with especially if whatever it is will help me to do other projects. The maximum resolution on the camera is 8.1 megapixels. I have a Norcent point n shoot with 10 mp and a relatively unimpressive lens range but it does do oddly better with some types of inside snapshots.

Having read the community posts on such sensitive topics as nude photography and photographing a funeral and being amazed by the supportive nature of the community here, I hope this is an appropriate place for this posting.. (if it's not--please feel free to remove it and either relocate it or slap my wrists appropriately) Thank you so much for your kindness.

[jdepould]

The theater department where I did my undergrad did some projection stuff with their sets. They mostly just used Power Point. Nothing too special to do on the photo side, just check everything well before-hand, because you'll need to tone the images differently based on what the projector looks like.

I'd also strongly recommend rear projection, since there will be people in front of the screen.

[daveymars]

Great point about leaving enough time to re-tone for processing... Not sure if we can do rear projection... Do you think you could rear-project using a standard projector w/powerpoint onto scrim?

just a thought...

[starrylaurie]

If you use a scrim, the light from the projector (coming from behind the scrim) would make your scrim see-through, making your backstage area disappear... but that really would only matter depending on your venue. Are you in a true theatre? Side stage? Backstage?

We used a projection in "The Glass Menagerie" when I was in college. It was a simple computer to projector set up. (Click on the link above to see pics from the production.) It was really effective and simple.

As jd pointed out, you need to check your lighting plot. I guarantee your lighting designer will have a specific look he/she wants, and your photos will look completely different with different colored gels.

I say, have fun with it and ask as many questions as you can! It sounds wonderful!!

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by daveymars

Great point about leaving enough time to re-tone for processing... Not sure if we can do rear projection... Do you think you could rear-project using a standard projector w/powerpoint onto scrim?

just a thought...

Any projector can do rear projection, it basically just flips the image on the vertical axis. You'll need a rear projection screen though.