How iPhones could democratise digital theatre…
I have recently had the pleasure of working with an incredibly talented team to bring my play ‘Hidden’ to a new audience by developing it into a piece of digital theatre.
As theatre-makers, we all know the devastating impact the pandemic has had on live performance. We also witnessed the frantic scramble to get live theatre recordings online and we saw the varied levels production quality and success in making live work speak via a screen. Some extremely brilliant pieces of live theatre lost their mojo when viewed on a screen. Without the atmosphere of an audience and that shared experience the practice just didn’t translate.
It was with more than a little trepidation, therefore, that we at Peer, approached the filming of our successful touring production - ‘Hidden - a play about self worth, mental health and self harm.’ The stakes here felt particularly high. As this work is designed to open up much needed discussions with young people about the often taboo subject of self-harm, in a safe and non sensationalised way, it was imperative that our digital offer was handled with as much care as with which I conceived the original script.
It was clear we needed expert help. We were lucky enough to be put into contact with Emmy award winning producer Dione Orrom whose expertise, together with that of her team at Serpent Films, proved to be invaluable. We are very grateful that they took the time to advise a charity like us as we took our first tentative steps. Even with their knowledge and the collective goodwill from many professionals, it was pretty obvious that we did not have access to the kind of budget needed to effectively capture ‘Hidden,’ and it was. then that Dione suggested a radical idea.
Instead of using traditional broadcast cameras could we use iPhones to record the production? I have to admit I was sceptical at first. Serpent Films introduced us to Martin Brown and his company Inside Broadcast who has been pioneering the use of Ios technology to capture live performance. He explained that by utilising i-phones and his i-OB methodology we would be able to record the production with the integrity of high production values but at a fraction of the expense, providing a new way to achieve multi-camera shooting. By using iPhones, which are of course very small compared to traditional broadcast cameras, the system opens up an array of possibilities for mounting cameras in normally inaccessible places. Using the latest 11Pro iPhones, the image quality is superb and with the addition of external “Moment” wide and x2 lenses the variety of shots is further increased.
Our production ‘Hidden’ was recorded during the second corona-virus lockdown. The cast and director were tested and lived together as a bubble and the project was filmed with strict Covid safety procedures in place at The Camberley Theatre. We used seven i-phones for our shoot with four camera operators overseen by Martin himself. Sound was recorded separately with cast wearing radio mics. Perhaps even more remarkably Director Nick Morris was not able to be on site so directed the shoot from home watching a live feed from each camera via a zoom call which the rest of the team could also dial into.
The project has really opened my eyes to the potential of utilising this technology to take theatre to a far wider audience.
Hidden 2020 will be available to stream in the new year. Watch this space!
