ARENA | management | marketing | production

Production issues

Arena Theatre Company employs a team of highly skilled artists trained in the production of theatre, film, set construction, sound design, audio recordings, script, costume, marketing and animation. The company created a program of digital products concurrent with the development and production of the live performance of PANACEA. The structures of the documentary and CD ROM therefore could not be finalised until post-production when all source material was reviewed. Digital recordings of rehearsals and specific shows along with accompanying interviews are used in the CD ROM and documentary. Since static shots only were taken of the live performance, movement shots using dollies and cranes are lifted from interviews, rehearsal and dress rehearsals. Fast editing is used to translate the pace and dynamics of the live performance to screen. Animation from the live performance is transferred to film for the cinema advertisement; and the cinema advertisement, documentary and CD ROM all make use of the electronic score from the live performance.

Artistic brief

There are five components to the Arena Theatre multimedia project: The audio CD (PANACEA) the CD ROM (The Collaborator) a 52 minute documentary (PANACEA the Documentary) a cinema advertisement for the show and the Arena Website.

It was vital for Arena that all of the products created as part of the PAML Pilot Project were energised, engaging and appealing to Arena's young adult audience. Arena's style of presentation is quite characteristic, using fast editing in script and short scenes. Soundscapes and funky music are also an important component. The company often fuses new technologies, incorporating film and animation into the live production. To capture this style for other mediums required a similar sensibility.

PANACEA explored the story of a young East German swimmer who was fed steroids under the East German swimming program. As a result his heart swelled and exploded during training. Key images from the show were: water, an enlarged heart, a small boy, and measuring. Animation and composition were used to explore the robotic or mechanical training of athletes. An industrial sound, frequent use of rulers, machinery, and counters in the animation acted as metaphors for the persistent measurement of athletes performances. This was juxtaposed with the tension of a young boy's fragile life within the play. The images moved from the soothing, womb-like sounds and images of water, to dogmatic images of mechanical measuring devices.

Fast editing was needed to create the pace and dynamic to translate from live performance to screen. At times the animation from the live performance would take full screen in the documentary to demonstrate its weight in the storytelling and theme of the play. Many shots were constructed to ensure that the vast lighting rig and computer filled bio box could be viewed in the same shot as the on-stage performance itself. This choice was designed to demonstrate the collaborative nature of Arena's work and to highlight the contributions made by numerous technicians behind the scenes. Static shots only could be taken of the live performance so as not to disturb the performance, consequently the movement shots with dollies and cranes were used extensively in the interviews, rehearsal and dress rehearsals.

The audio CD required a combination of the script and funky sound track. Arena saw the CD ROM as an opportunity for students and teachers to explore the making of a contemporary work by young people. One of the animation templates in the live performance was used to form the design structure of the CD ROM. The navigational style of the CD ROM was fluid, allowing the viewer to skip from designer, to writer, to play, without prescriptive sections or navigational charts.

Production model

Selecting the creative team for PAML Pilot Project was critical. Most personnel on PANACEA had worked with the company on previous occasions and had built a working relationship. In the collaborative environment of multidisciplined theatre the company was reluctant to employ an independent production house that might not fit into the company working style. The company recognised the pool of skill available within its own production and wanted to offer its artists the opportunity to extend themselves.

The only area of expertise the company lacked was in the area of film recording and editing. Arena required an independent filmmaker with Director of Photography (DOP) experience of digital cameras. Director Ioannis Ioannou was employed for his multiple skills in shooting, directing and editing, and for his experience with digital cameras. Ioannis was enthusiastic about the development of the live performance and impressed the company with his use of fast editing and his ability to convey energy with a static shot.

This chart describes the production model of the Arena PAML Pilot Project. All production personnel were responsible to the Executive, the General Manager, and Artistic Director who were Co-Producers and shared the Executive Production with Cinemedia's Executive Producer.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Film Director	Composer	Animators	Graphic Designers	Photographers
documentary	audio CD	CD ROM	Text, layout	production photos
promotional video	cinema advert	cinema advert	icon	media visuals

Product components

The production itself created a wealth of source material for "offspring products". Arena aimed to capitalise on the investment in PANACEA to create a range of useful products. Significant portions of digital animation in the live production enabled many of the screen elements to fuse with ease. The following chart outlines production components and the depth of source material generated from the project and its application.

Source material

ANIMATION	Animation PANACEA
MEETINGS	Production meetings shot on mini DV
PANACEA	Digital recording rehearsals and performance.
INTERVIEWS	Digital recordings interviews with key creatives. Minidisk interviews with creatives.
SOUND	Composition and sound recording for PANACEA, lyrics/script.
EXISTING MATERIAL	Existing footage of Arena's past shows MASS and AUTOPSY
PROMO MATERIAL	PANACEA photographs, logo design, digital image and graphic design
TEACHERS NOTES	Educational teachers' notes to accompany PANACEA

Products generated from the source material

Documentary and Promo	PANACEA recording interviews, sound promotional material, animation
CD ROM	PANACEA recording interviews, animation promotional material sound, teachers' notes meetings, existing material
Website	Promotional material, teachers' notes, animation
Audio CD	Sound, graphic design
Cinema Advertisement	Sound, graphic, design, animation

Concept to product - summary of findings

Arena Theatre Company had six components to the PAML Pilot Project: a 52-minute documentary, a 15 minute promotional video a CD ROM, an audio CD and Website. The company contracted a multiskilled independent filmmaker to construct the documentary and promotional video in consultation with the company. The animation created for the live production was used extensively in all the audio-visual products. The following section provides a summary of how the company managed to leverage both source materials, company resources and skills of the artists to create a range of "offspring" products.

Documentary and promotional video

Pre-production

The Director conducted preliminary interviews on a VHS video recorder with the primary creatives to determine who presented well on camera and to use this material as a scripting tool. This reduced the recording time on the digital camera and consequently reduced the expense of hiring the camera.
The shoot was difficult to schedule in accordance with the demands of the live performance with no spare days to shoot specifically for camera.
Several locations were recorded as a test shoot, which allowed for camera positions and lighting shots to be prepared.
In the beginning Arena hoped to use a digital Betacam for the shoot, however the cost was prohibitive and the Director recommended Sony DXC-30, based on his previous experience and its ability to shoot in dark conditions.

Production

Key creatives were interviewed prior to the theatrical opening.
Rehearsals were shot in two spaces, giving an illusion that the shoot covered a longer period than was actually taken for filming.
Dolly shots were used in dress runs of the rehearsal period providing a successful way of conveying the movement and scale of the performance and avoiding static representation of the material.
Footage shot outside the schedule provided some of the best drama in the documentary.
A single camera was used to film different angles of the live work over five performances to create a range of performances from the actors.
All channels on the sound desk were taken. Sound was therefore recorded through the boom microphone, which at times this did not provide the sound quality required.
The film director had a period of only six hours over two days to shoot scenes specifically for camera. The specified scenes were redirected for camera with directional microphone used to capture better sound quality.

Post-production

The documentary structure and shot selection was determined in post-production. Segments of "ideas" were edited together for review and to assist decisions about how the documentary should be constructed.
To reduce the "talking heads" feel a creative would introduce subject matter and their voice would then be used over relevant segments from the performance footage.
A draft 24-minute documentary was realised but was deemed to look more like a promotional video. The executives consulted both the ABC and SBS who agreed that the 52-minute format would stand a better chance of being aired on free-to-air.
The audio CD provided the soundtrack for the documentary. More audio tracks were required to sustain the 52-minute version which also required remixing. The sound rough-cut was time coded to the edit to reduce studio time. The sound mix was a simple procedure given that the mix was already in place for the creation of the CD.
The documentary employed fast editing in order to create a movement and dynamic that represents a live theatre performance recorded on video.
The director created a corporate video and the documentary from the same source material.

CD ROM

Content direction was determined from market research with teachers and students.
Footage from earlier productions was incorporated to give the production context.
The teachers' notes were written for their relevance to curriculum standards for a range of subjects, which broadened marketability.
A different aesthetic from the documentary was chosen for the CD ROM, one that related closely to the style of animation.
The animators used the audio CD and remixed the stereo recording of the show for use in the CD ROM. Again splashes of water and heavy industrial sounds dominated the audio.
A Macintosh platform was chosen since this was more cost effective with existing equipment, and research indicated that a greater number of schools have Macintosh terminals.
A period of four weeks was scheduled for testing. Several glitches were revealed in the testing stage and were rectified by the animators.
2000 CD ROMs were pressed for the education sector.

Cinema advertisement

Animation from the live performance was used to create the advertisement and released prior to the live season.
The musical composer took the composition and sound effects from PANACEA and directly downloaded them into the system at the sound studio. A rough audio draft was mixed on the time-coded VHS recording of the advertisement.
The DAT recording of the audio was then introduced and synchronised with the footage. The master was kined to 35-millimeter film.

Audio CD

As a cost-cutting strategy some of the vocal recordings were recorded in the Arena rehearsal room, however these lacked the quality required.
After the successful composition of a monologue with techno backing, it was decided that all the tracks should be based on a character in the play.
The audio CD used the promotional still.
500 CDs were pressed

Website

Attention to the Website suffered due to lack of human resources and a protracted contracting period. This prevented Arena executives from developing a successful Website during the season.
Arena employed two graduates to simply transfer the teachers' notes to the current Arena Website.

Production stages

Given the timeline of the project all products were developed simultaneously with the live theatrical performance. Each stage in the live production was matched with a stage of development in the program of products.

Description of the production stages		Timeline (months)
Documentary & Promotional video
Test Interviews	VHS recorded preliminary interviews with key creatives	July
Scheduling	Scheduling of all shoots in accordance with PANACEA theatrical timeline	July - August
Test Shoot	Sony DXC30 test shoot of locations at Arena and Police Garage	August
Interviews	Sony DXC30 recorded interviews with key creatives at five locations	September - October
Rehearsal Shoot	Sony DXC30 recorded rehearsal period at Police Garage and Arena	September - October
Show Shoot	Sony DXC30 recorded performances 5 performances shot (wide angle)	October
Scene Shoot	Sony DXC30 recorded scene shoot (close up) of four key scenes	October
Content Review	Review of all source material recorded across all shoots	November
Offline Edit	Offline edit on avid system to draft 24-min doco/ 12 min	November - December
Draft 24-min Doco	Presentation of draft 24-min/12-min promo to executives	December
Sound Remix	Remix of show audio to stereo	December
Product Review	Rebudget to extend 24-min doco to 52-min/ seek advice from ABC and SBS	December
Online Edit	Online edit of 12-min promo. 55-min doco reduced to 52-min in final edit	January
Sound Mix	Sound time coded to offline draft and transferred to online in studio	January
Master Recording	Master recording of audio and visuals	January
Reproductions	Reproductions for participants and distribution	February
CD ROM
Mini disk interviews	Mini disk interviews with key creatives	July - August
Content development	Review of source materials and their application to CD ROM	July - August / November - Decemeber
Market research	Research into education sector for content and platform delivery	March - April
Archival research	Research into Arena archives for photographs of performances from 1970	December
Mini DV Shoot	Mini DV shoot of production and design meetings during pre-production	July - October
Script Development	Devising CD ROM script from teachers' notes and source material	July - August
Teachers Notes	Accompanying teachers notes to PANACEA based on application to drama, physical education, music, visual arts, and English disciplines	September
Program Design	Program design for segmentation of material	November - December
Animation Template	Template designed for visuals and text introduced onto screen	December
Media Compilation	Source material fed into program	October - December
Sound Mix	Audio derived from CD & stereo recording for documentary. Mixed directly into program	January
CD Burn	Draft CD ROM burnt for testing	January
Testing	Testing for program, spelling errors, etc	January - February
Graphic Design	Cover design extrapolated from CD ROM animation template	January - February
Alterations	Final alterations to fix up errors	February - March
Pressing	2000 CD ROMS pressed for distribution	March
CINEMA ADVERTISMENT
Artistic Brief	Extrapolation from theatrical animation	July
Animation Design	24-sec cut from original animation	July - August
Text Design	PANACEA text redesigned to have water flowing in font	August
Sound Mix	Sound downloaded in studio onto animation directly from Ensonic. Sound transferred to DAT	August
Time Coding	VHS copy of digital file time coded for use in sound studio	September
Kine	Digital file transferred to kine	September
Reproductions	Reproductions for George and Nova Cinemas	September
AUDIO CD
Composition	Composition for audio CD derived from theatrical score & tracks remixed with vocals for radio	April - May
Vocal Recordings	Vocals recorded through Ensonic and in studio	July - August
Studio Mix	Vocals and composition remixed in studio	August
Master Recording	Master recording on DAT completed in studio	August
Graphic Design	Redesign of PANACEA image featuring "swimming boy"	July - August
Pressing	500 pressed for media distribution	August - September
Website
Content Development	Derived from teachers' notes	June - July
HTML layout	HTML layout by student Web designers	August - October
Media Compilation	Source material (with clearances) placed on Website	July - October
PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL
Artist Brief	See attached	March
Digital Icon	Design Design and delivery of "steroid man" in digital file. Icon only, background designed by Actual Size	April
Market Testing	Once script was finalised market testing of "steroid man" with students, GP, publicists, marketing experts, Arena to determine whether steroid man was still applicable	July
Photographs (1)	Photo shoot of swimming boys - photos rejected and photographer paid out	July
Photographs (2)	"Swimming boy" photo shoot - Ross Bird	August
Photographs (3)	PANACEA production photos - Lyn Pool	September - October
Text Design	PANACEA font designed for audio CD, posters, flyers, brochures etc	April

Budget

Arena Theatre Company was awarded $149,500 from the PAML Pilot Project to create the program of proposed products.

INCOME	Budget	Actual	Projected
Cinemedia	149500	149500	149500
Arena	0	8000	8500
TOTAL	149500	157500	158000

EXPENSES	Budget	Actual	Projected	Notes
Documentary and Promotional Video	40988	44345	48345	loadings and MPEG unexpended
Cinema Advertisement	8800	8278	8278
CD ROM and Promotionals	68500	72155	72155	additional Arena contribution to printing
Audio CD	21000	20801	20801
Administration	10212	8465	8465	contingency shifted to loadings
TOTALS	149500	154044	158044

FINAL RESULT	Budget	Actual	Projected	Notes
Total Income	149500	157500	158000
Total Expenditure	1490500	154044	158044	loadings and MPEG still to be expended
Surplus/(Deficit)	0	3456	(44)

Production credits

Devised by	Rosemary Myers and Bruce Gladwin
Director	Rosemary Myers
Filmmaker	Ioannis Ioannou
Writer/Dramaturg	Julianne O'Brien
Writer	David Carlin
Composer	Hugh Covill with David Watts
Kinetic Image Makers	Pete Circuitt and Daniel Crooks
Choreography	Philip Adams
Lighting Design	Ben Cobham
Costume Design	Anna Tregloan
Production Manager	Andrew Livingston
Cast	Genevieve Morris, Melanie Baulch, Maria Theodorakis, Nadja Kostich, Fiona Todd, Brandon Burns, Michael Rankin, Richard Bligh, Jim Russell, Bruce Gladwin
Illustrator	Ian Haig
Teachers Notes	Peter Robert