Video designer Finn Ross projection mapped the stage for this Broadway
play, using millions of Trapcode Particular’s particles to transform the
character’s imagination into graphical effects.
‘Curious Incident’ Lights Up Broadway with Red Giant Trapcode Particular |
Unlike most plays,‘Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’, an award-winning Broadway production, has no physical set. Instead, the almost empty stage explodes with numbers and sparkling galaxies, all synchronised with the main character’s thoughts, due to the work ofvideo designerFinn Ross. The stage is proportioned like a cube, described by a floor and three walls marked out like giant pieces of graph paper from a maths workbook. |
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Controlled Particle EffectsFinn said, “The floor and three walls define Chistopher’s playground, as the story takes place from his perspective – a great deal of which revolves around mathematics.” His set design took advantage of the elegant, idiosyncratic way prime numbers work, and turned their unpredictable nature into an orchestrated sequence of graphical effects. Finn broke Christopher’s world down into projected 3D particles that draw the audience into his thoughts. He created and controlled the individual particle effects, which appear as motion displays of light, withRed Giant Trapcode Particular. “With theatre and live performances, we’re always trying to make it seem as though the flat surfaces have depth to them,” said Finn. “We try to simulate how light would pass through the density of the particles, and for ‘Curious Incident’ this was especially useful because it really feels like you’re pushing down into the stage, until the floor is no longer a floor anymore.” |
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Video MappingIn order to match the video projections to the story, Finn spent a long time creating random experiments in Particular to work out particle sequences that would evoke a number explosion or brain meltdown. He also had to incorporate the actors’ movements into the designs. The best way to achieve this was to video map the stage as a large grid, a visual element that was incorporated into the final production. Video mapping, orprojection mapping, accurately aligns projected images with surfaces by recording a map of the proposed projection surface, and projecting content to conform to and align to the projection surface according to that map. Consequently, he knew exactly where the pixels would land so he could create realistic effects linked to an action, such as an actor falling to the ground. |
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“The complete set exists as an expanded map in After Effects, where the stage becomes an unfolded box,” Finn said. “I’d realize certain particles wouldn’t reach the back wall fast enough, because they needed to travel further and therefore faster in order to hit the wall at the same time as the side walls. But because you have the controller for speed and velocity within Particular, you can push up the pixel count slightly while overall, the design keeps looking the same.” 4K CanvasFinn’s canvas on ‘Curious Incident’ was slightly over 4K, a bit larger than most computers can comfortably work with . But even when he pushed the pixel count up for a denser effect to fill the space, Trapcode Particular handled it well. “We were using an extremely high pixel count, exceeding the number of particles a single system can produce in a second, which meant that we had to render everything inblocksandlayers,” he said. “At one time, it went up to 80,000 particles a second. Trapcode had no problem with it, and gave us options to render the scene the way we wanted to, so that we could still control particles individually.” |
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Renderingwas another hurdle. Because particle systems are made up of so much data, it can take hours or even days to output a final effect. In order to keep the process moving, Finn does the majority of his particle work, such asvelocity, motionandshading, using Particular’s particles, then he switches to his own custom particles only towards the end of the process because this adds a greater lag time. This process allows him to work quickly at very high resolutions - like 4K. Nine ProjectorsIn order to project the massive amounts of particles needed to convey this and many other moments, Finn employed four different video files played out through nine projectors to control every centimetre of the stage. With the help of a programmer, Finn uploads the files into the Catalyst digital video and media server software and distributes them to the projectors, without incurring any quality loss. He is still able to set the perfect scene using only one laptop, with everything lined up and ready to go as soon as the stage manager cues the lighting desk to fire off the commands. |
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‘Curious Incident’ uses some other Red Giant plugins for additional effects, includingTrapcode Formfor further particle control, giving independent movement to very small background particles. Often, Finn adds a random flicker of light with Form within the larger effect to make a scene look more realistic, such as the train tracks or a train window flying past. He also usesMagic Bullet LUT Buddyfor creating look up tables andMagic Bullet Looksfor colour grading. ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ has won sevenOlivier Awards, including Best New Play, and fiveTony Awards, including Best Play, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design. With the help of Red Giant Trapcode Suite, the focus can shift from the mechanics of the set to the show itself. At the time of this post,‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’is running at the Gielgud Theatre in London’s West End and is on a tour of the UK and Ireland. |