A motion capture version of The Grinning Man
In 2018 I worked on a VR version of The Grinning Man musical with Andy Serkis's company Imaginarium. I had an amazing time collaborating with the most talented group of actors and creatives as we ‘filmed’ a musical in just a week.
“It was quite a challenge to synchronise all the elements”
The whole performance was captured with a system called MoCap. The music was performed live and broadcast via the actors‘ earpieces. Their vocals were recorded by mics, whilst their movements were captured by the MoCap system. This was achieved using the strange blue and yellow markers on the actors outfits, representing parts of their body and even their facial expressions. This information is filmed and captured and then turned into a virtual skeleton. This is the backbone which is quite literally fleshed out and rendered into a final product.
What next?
Development is a closely guarded secret, but recently a proof of principle was created and recently exhibited at the V&A. When wearing a special VR headset the audience member is able view the scene in 3D and also able to walk around the performance and view the action from a different viewpoint. If offers a tantalising glimpse into a possible future for entertainment.
It sounds amazing, but then is live theatre doomed?
Don’t worry! I don’t think so. Whilst the technology is undeniably impressive and capable of things impossible in a live environment, there is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing actual human beings perform on stage. When you see someone play an instrument live, or create an atmosphere from nothing when acting is (at the moment anyway!) impossible for technology to replicate. Also I believe we are inherently social creatures and that the collective group experience is a major part of the theatrical experience. Being in the same room as lots of other people experiencing the same emotion is exhilarating - as long as no one is noisily eating sweets, but that’s another blog...
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