Theatre in 3D at a cinema near you

In an effort to kick start this rather neglected blog, here’s an article I recently wrote for Arts Professional magazine in my capacity as Creative Producer for Stellar Quines theatre company. Normal Deco to Digital service will soon be resumed.
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It’s fair to say that a couple of years ago Stellar Quines was in the digital Dark Ages. Like many arts organisations we stumbled into our first AmbITion workshop wondering what all the digital fuss was about and what it had to do with live theatre. The workshop turned out to be a eureka moment in the company’s history as we emerged with our heads spinning with a new found realisation of the potentials of a brave new digital world.

As a result Stellar Quines’ mindset switched from analogue to digital. New possibilities and urgencies inherent within our core values opened up and the company caught the innovation bug. In tandem with our mission to be bold, relevant and brave, Stellar Quines now considers live theatre just one element of a wider theatrical process and we are committed to exploring, both artistically and entrepreneurially, the potentials of innovation within the equalities realm.

That said, it’s been a long journey: a journey characterised by learning curves, trial and error, experimentation, a lot of discussion and a commitment to venturing outside of comfort zones both in terms of who we work with and what we ask of those who work with us.

In practical terms, the AmbITion business case Stellar Quines created has three main strands: to become a virtual hub for all those interested in women and theatre; to deliver a series of creative digital labs where the interface between live theatre and the possibilities emerging through the virtual and digital worlds can be tested; and to train ourselves and those who work with us in new skills, new outlooks and new understandings – thus ensuring the journey continues.

At the planning stage, we considered the virtual hub as the natural first strand to develop. However, working reality has proved that experimentation through the creative digital labs had to come first. To date this work has been at the forefront of implementing our AmbITion plans, the belief being that trying out new ideas would inform the development of the company’s online and virtual presence.

The major digital lab Stellar Quines has undertaken so far is the development of an experimental prototype – a 3D digitised version of our last production, ANA – a first for Scottish theatre. The aim of this lab was to research whether 3D film can offer an artistic and commercially viable experience of live theatre.

Thanks to collaborations with Glasgow’s Digital Design Studio, Edinburgh Napier University’s Institute for Creative Industries and Freakworks film production company, we have succeeded in creating a prototype. Following an initial test screening of extracts to an invited audience, Dundee Contemporary Arts are now working with us to create a Digital Cinema Package out of this prototype which will be screened at this venue and in Scotland’s mobile cinema (the Screen Machine). At these screenings we will test the viability of the product and most importantly get to hear what audiences think of it.

This lab has been tremendously important in opening up the potential of new platforms to deliver work, experimenting with the company’s artistic remit and enabling partners such as the Screen Machine to broaden the programme of content they can deliver to isolated audiences.

The second digital lab Stellar Quines has undertaken so far involved the live streaming of one of our Rehearsal Rooms – a long-standing strand of our activity aimed at developing new scripts and emerging writers. Through a Rehearsal Room a new piece of work is rehearsed during the day and performed script-in-hand in front of a live audience in the evening. The live audience have their say and their input informs the development of the work. Via this digital lab we live streamed both part of the day-time rehearsal and all of the evening performance thus enabling anyone anywhere to access and participate, not least of which was the writer herself who is based in Québec.

Moving forward, this lab is now informing the creation of Stellar Quines’ virtual hub, and a third digital lab aimed at developing further the possibilities of digitising content and working with film companies is in the pipeline.

Moving forward again, innovation now underpins everything Stellar Quines does, not least of which is our on-going interrogation of the company’s core remit and public value. It’s easy to dismiss a women’s theatre that’s 18-years old as being old fashioned, old school and part of the Dark Ages. It’s so not easy when that company is pioneering new prototypes, experimenting with the emerging possibilities of film and theatre working together and reaching out to women across the globe.

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Read the original article in Arts Professional.

Film Power or the Power of Film?

Film, cinema and the moving image are entering a new phase in Scotland with the creation of the Centre for the Moving Image which will incorporate the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the city’s Filmhouse cinema. Mark Cousins and Tilda Swinton have come on board as creative advisors in what feels like another major shift for the landscape of the arts in Scotland.

Meanwhile the hopes of Edinburgh’s grand old lady of cinemas – the Odeon on Clerk Street – have been raised as a group of recent graduates aspire to breath new life into its boarded up auditorium. This feels like a coming of age for Film Studies – a subject I was once told wasn’t a ‘proper’ one. I love that graduates are emerging with energy, passion and the confidence to take a piece of cinema history into their own hands and give it a workable future.

All of this is refreshing news at a time when Hollywood is accused of being too scared to take risks and 3D is already being touted as yesterday’s news. In the week that Warner Bros cancelled the release of the next Harry Potter film in 3D, you have to question whether plans to convert the Star Wars films into 3D are going to rake in the anticipated profits from a cynical audience who are counting the pennies and seen it all before (both 3D and Star Wars).

Other head thumpingly dull news is that James Cameron has toped the Guardian’s Film Power 100 list. Please, please can we have a list of people who are ‘feeling the force’ of film, circumnavigating the industry’s traditional ‘gatekeepers’ and taking its future into their own hands. Let’s have a list that celebrates the likes of the graduates planning a coup of Edinburgh’s old Odeon, the filmmakers who are crowd sourcing footage and finance, the artists who are breathing new life into archive film, mob cinema and the 8 1/2 Foundation.

Film has come of age and its maturity has nothing to do with an expensive in-your-face format, powerful men, or industry veterans squeezing every last penny of profit out of a thirty year old franchise. It has everything to do with people who are passionate about cinema and filmmakers sticking two fingers up at the likes of lists celebrating those who have ‘Film Power’. Because such is the power of film!

Go Kathryn and the Regent in Leven

Fantastic news on International Women’s Day, finally a woman wins the Oscar for best director. Well done Kathryn and about time too. Also a victory of 2D over 3D as Avatar fails to be awarded best film. Although many are now saying that 3D is spreading fast and the days of 3D drama are on the way.

Good news also for the old Regent cinema in Leven in Fife, West Scotland. Opened in 1922, the like many old cinemas, the Regent had been running as a bingo hall, but after being leased to the Leven Community Cinema Group this old Art Deco gem has been given a new lease of life and plans to open in a few days. Go Leven, the Regent and all who dream in her.

Oscars and cinemas in need

As the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards are announced it’s no surprise that Avatar has made its presence known. Does its success at both box office and award nominations prove that 3D is here to stay? Or merely that Mr Cameron knows a thing or two about creating best selling features?

In terms of 3D, its presence is starting to be felt outside of the multiplex experience as Sky announces it will launch this format in pubs soon. More here. And if you have ever wondered how regular films are converted into 3D, here’s all you to know.

The story that caught my eye this week is that UK supermarket giant Tescos are venturing into the world of film production - how things are changing in production as well as distribution and exhibition. It’s a move that I find both inspirational and appalling in the same breath.

On a much sadder note, comes the news that many beautiful old cinemas are under threat. These grand old ladies of Art Deco are incredible, historically important buildings that need long sighted planning and care, not short sighted demolition. It was a fight to keep Miami’s incredible Art Deco and where would South Beach be without it? Councils are merely thinking quick profits and easy solutions and in the process quietly, but definitely, destroying an important part of our social heritage. If they were castles where kings had slept, those that rule might think differently. But these are the palaces of the people where dreams are born, romances blossom and personal histories forged. Shame on those who let this be reduced to rubble.

Muppets and Avatars

Yes it’s finally coming soon to a cinema near you. The much hyped, much anticipated, much banged on about 3D sensation Avatar. Read the first reviews here. Love or hate 3D, you have to go and see it. Will it be a triumph of spectacle over narrative and CGI over character development? Or simply a darn good film. Either way its anticipated box office revenue will ensure a profitable end to a very profitable year at the UK box office.

This year has also proved that smaller independent cinemas can no longer delay converting to digital. With a slate of 3D titles lined up for 2010, and, at least in the short term, serious profits to be made with this format, no venue can afford to ignore the winds of change any longer. And at the other end of the artistic spectrum, with only one 35mm print of The White Ribbon in the UK, even those cinemas who balance their books on specialised titles, can’t afford not to convert.

So what deals are on the table for the cash strapped UK indy? Well the UK Digital Funding Group has gathered pace and screens are joining together to barter for a favourable Virtual Print Fee deal for all. And the light of public funding is shining from Europe for all those cinemas who screen European titles, as the European Commission prepares a funding stream that aims to help cinemas acquire digital projection. Read the full story here.

On a wider note, I’ve just hot footed it back from the Future Projections conference in London which explored new ways of presenting the moving image. As pubs and restaurants start to use film as a bait to bring in more custom and the traditional separation of leisure activities crumble away, new business models and new ways of presenting film are beginning to emerge. And as student numbers decline in the UK, bums on cinema seats are set to also decline on week day nights unless venues start thinking creatively about how to fill them.

But you know, as excited as I am about the change in the air and the brave new future of the moving image, right now I’m more excited about heading off to my nearest and dearest old art deco cinema and sinking into that old red velvet seat to watch, what I’ve no doubt will be a sold out screening of The Muppet Christmas Carol in glorious 2D.

4D, facelifts and the best Sci-Fi ever

It'll come as a surprise to no one that when the trailer for Avatar went online on Apple's site it broke the download record with over 4 million streams. Cinema audiences will finally be able to view this much hyped epic, first conceived by James Cameron over 14 years ago, in full 3D glory when it hits the big screens on 18 December. You can catch Cameron sharing his views on 3D here. And fans of 3D will be thrilled with the news that 3D adverts are on the way.

However, as the engaging, intelligent, beautifully shot, thoroughly thought proving and deliberately low tech Moon proves, it takes more than good CGI to make a good sci-fi movie.

My favourite film related story of the week is the announcement of a new "digi-novel" - a combination of book, movie and website and a taste of things to come as traditionally separate mediums of entertainment start to have fun together. Check out the full story here. While although not cinema related, the slightly unnerving prospect of a digital advertising system that watches you also caught my eye.

Back to cinema and there's plenty of news pouring out of the UK. 4D cinema hits the headlines as the London Eye opens a new 4D cinema attraction, which they've billed as the greatest cinema attraction in the world. And plans are afoot to merge the UK's two flagship film bodies - the UK Film Council and the British Film Institute. Full story here.

UK independents worried about the cost of digital and the very real prospect of going out of business if they don't find the cash to convert, have been thrown a possible lifeline by the Cinema Exhibitors' Association. The Association has confirmed its plans to establish a funding group that will seek the finance to aid the UK's smaller cinema operators to survive the big switch over. Closer to home my much loved local - the Cameo - is asking its cinema goers to help them raise the cash to fund a facelift for this historic old gem.

And to end where I started, in the realm of good sci-fi, Blade Runner has recently been voted the greatest sci-fi film of all time.

3D – third time lucky

The first half of 2009 has seen bumper takings at the UK box office – is it the bad weather, good content or 3D? Every major studio now has a 3D release out there and according to the BBC it’s third time lucky for this twice failed wonder format. This week the BBC have also rather helpfully explained just how 3D works. While elsewhere plans are afoot to create Europe’s first 3D TV channel.

What the long term future of 3D actually is, no one knows and it’s almost an aside as it’s the power of 3D to drive forward the digital conversion that everyone is really interested in. Latest estimates claim that 20% of the world’s cinema screens will be digital by 2012. While the recently published UK Film Council’s Statistical Yearbook details that the UK currently has the most digital screens in the Europe – thanks largely to its Digital Screen Network.

What’s really caught my eye this week though is A Pilgrimage. Mark Cousins, Tilda Swinton and a band of 40 fellow adventurous cinema lovers are travelling with a mobile cinema across Scotland and taking in some fabulous scenery and rather splendid films along the way. Follow their progress here.

And finally, the top cinema story of the week is that the ghost of Norwich’s Cinema City has finally been caught on film.

I'm re-thinking

.. the whole definition of cinema.

Digital projectors allow a whole range of alternative content such as live shows, sporting events and gaming to be shown on the big screens traditionally reserved for the feature films. So where does the definition of being a cinema begin and end in a venue whose big screen experience could be anything from Gone With the Wind to live ballet to mass gaming? And why should venues be tied into block booking anymore, or long programming periods when there are no physical prints to book or cart around the country? Are distributors still relevant in a system when expensive 35mm no longer have to be struck and directors/producers could go straight to bookers and venues with their films?

3D anyone? Well, for me the whole notion conjured up thoughts of bad 50s cheesey films or family friendly shows at Universal Studios. I was firmly entrenched in the frame of mind that the whole thing is a cheap gimmick with limited shelf life. All singing all dancing 3D titles maybe rolling out of the major studios, whether there’s the screens for them or not, but is it really the future of cinema? (If you want to find out more check out this story from the New York Times). Well some are saying big budget movies are the tip of 3D iceberg and that one day all films and all TV will be 3D. Meaning that this in your face format is the future and good old 2D will, like dear old black and white, be banished to the realms of nostalgia.

One last thought to add to this blog entry. If/when Britain opens up and invests in digital and the day arrives when films can be downloaded into venues in the blink of an eye – what will this mean to the way we all, as exhibitors and programmers, work. Death of the programmer? Festivals curated through facebook polling? And if a venue can upload just as much content as it downloads, can it also embrace the roles of producer and distributor. And if we do, what happens to the industry when these three separate roles, which define the way we do business, start to disintegrate?

More importantly, how do I draw this down into a three year business plan?

Digital Futures

I’ve just come back from a digital cinema Training Day run by the Independent Cinema Office and my head is swimming. I’ve worked at a venue that’s part of the UK Film Council’s Digital Screen Network so I thought I knew a thing or two about dear old digital. However, what’s put me in a spin is not the practicalities and costs of this wonderful new format – it’s the possible potentials it holds. The flexibility of digital means that all the old systems we’ve been working with for decades could start breaking down.

For example, the definition of a cinema. Digital allows a range of alternative content such as live shows and sporting events, gaming on screen. So where does being a cinema begin and end in a venue whose big screen experience could be anything from Gone With the Wind to live ballet to mass gaming? And why should venues be tied into block booking anymore, or long programmes when there are no physical prints to book or cart around the country? Are distributors still relevant in a system where expensive 35mm no longer have to be struck and directors/producers could go straight to bookers and venues with their films?

3D anyone? Well, for me the whole notion conjured up thoughts of bad 50s cheesy films or family friendly shows at Universal Studios. I was firmly entrenched in the frame of mind that the whole thing is a cheap gimmick with limited potential. All singing all dancing 3D titles maybe rolling out of the major studios, whether there’s the screens for them or not, but is it really the future of cinema? (If you want to find out more, check out this story in the New York Times a few days ago). Well some are saying big budget movies are the tip of the 3D iceberg (no bad James Cameron puns will be made at this point!) and that one day all films and all TV will be 3D. Meaning that this in your face format is the future and good old 2D will, like dear old black and white, be banished to the realms of nostalgia. Maybe - maybe not. 

One last thought to add to this blog entry. If/when Britain opens up and invests in digital and the day arrives when films can be downloaded into venues in the blink of an eye – what will this mean to the way we all, as exhibitors and programmers, work. Death of the programmer? Festivals curated through Facebook polling? And if a venue can upload as much content as it downloads, can it also embrace the roles of producer and distributor? And if we do, what happens to the industry when these three separate roles, which define the way we do business, start to disintegrate?