![Actors view of Zoom]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1604332662/latinchicago/td30g9de5co2pwyeqrkv/actorsviewofzoom.jpg","width":2200}])
Upper school students transformed the fall play into a virtual, interactive experience, complete with an engaging website and a cutting-edge Zoom performance. Twenty-one students presented "Lucy Westenra is Not (and Will Never Be) a Vampire" from 20 different locations on October 28-30, 2020. The play, written by Latin alum and current lower school assistant teacher, Marjorie Muller '13," is based on Bram Stoker's classic novel "Dracula."
The production of presenting the virtual performance took careful planning and technological skill. Each student used a green screen (coupled with a chroma-key green virtual background) on Zoom. Back at Latin, a "mission control" center utilized brand new technology that was developed during the pandemic to route the live feeds of the actors on Zoom and make them appear in the custom configurations on screen. First, ZoomOSC software allowed "mission control" to see the location of each actor on the Zoom feed (top left, center right, bottom middle, etc.). Then software from Troikatronix called Isadora merged the performers onto shared backgrounds to make them appear like they were in the same location, plus it layered in video and audio effects.
This is an example of the actors' view of Zoom. One of the Zoom "participants" is a view of the finished live feed of the show, so the actors can see where they appear on the screen to make sure they are facing the right way if they are interacting with another actor. The actors can't watch the Twitch live stream because it is several seconds behind the real-time Zoom.
Students developed problem-solving, creative-thinking and technology-building skills, which they will use to revamp theatrical performance experiences for years to come.
Working alongside upper school technical theater teacher Thad Hallstein, the show's student stage manager, Natalie R. '22, called out all of the screen configuration changes and audio and effects cues. This included giving the actors their cues in the Zoom chat as well as communicating with the actors in a separate group text chat for other directions. The student computer control operator, Elliot K. '22, then executed the cues in the performance software. He also served as an emergency understudy to step in front of a green screen set up at Latin should an actor's WIFI drop out or they lose connection with them on Zoom. Shane Enderle, a member of Latin's IT team, monitored the feed from the performance software to ensure the video and audio functioned properly in the live stream.
This is a view of the complex configuration using Isadora that routed the actors' individual video feeds into the performance software and controlled how the actors appeared on screen.
Directed by upper school drama and technical theater teacher Frank Schneider, the show was viewable on Twitch, a live stream tool that was embedded on the website quincymorrison.net, which the students created specifically for the play.
This is a view of one finished scene that streamed to Twitch, the live-streaming tool that the audience uses to view the performance.
Students developed problem-solving, creative-thinking and technology-building skills, which they will use to revamp theatrical performance experiences for years to come.
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![photo of Brandel Tanis]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1653422963/latinchicago/wzayr67y2stuih4d3fjs/tanis.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1653422963/latinchicago/wzayr67y2stuih4d3fjs/tanis.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1653422963/latinchicago/wzayr67y2stuih4d3fjs/tanis.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1653422963/latinchicago/wzayr67y2stuih4d3fjs/tanis.jpg","width":1103}])
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![Wooden Roman head]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1650916345/latinchicago/x0u13lohhlmjggux4def/woodcarving.jpg","width":2016}])
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