[PAML] Case study: Chunky Move

Chunky Move worked with the multimedia company DROME to create a CD ROM/Web Hybrid. Sections of choreography were specifically filmed for the process of dissecting the work. The Making Chunky Move project explores a theme of d econstruction using point-of-view cameras mounted on the dancers' heads, and the skeletal form to illustrate movement. The project follows the germ of an idea onto the stage and behind the scenes with performance, text and interviews. The Website employs animation that links to the CD ROM and allows end-users to become the "virtual choreographers". A 24 - minute video was also created and includes a full-length live version of C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D. 2 and interviews with artistic director and choreographer Gideon Oberzanek.

Artistic Brief

Conceptually the MAKING CHUNKY MOVE project takes the form of a dissection or biopsy - a series of slices cut into the body of the performance which open up an increasingly complex and detailed examination of the work from a va riety of points of view. Rather than attempting to present the entire work, the project identifies a series of pivotal moments in C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D. 2, which are investigated in detail. These moments are chosen to reveal the b ackground and significance of the work as a whole and to examine and present dance in a way only possible via interactive media. Fragments of the performance itself are focussed, dissected and explored in detail, like a series of layers of skin and bone, which are stripped, overlaid, frozen or replayed. The material can be explored interactively via 2D or 3D media as a motion-capture sequence. The animation was created with assistance from software development company BEAM. A sequence from the work was ca ptured and a skeletal model created for the CD ROM. This can be viewed in three dimensions. Endoscopic footage of the internal body was created as part of the dissection theme and a software program enables the user to choreograph digital bodies on the We bsite.

Much of the material for the CDROM/Web hybrid takes the form of video footage of the existing performance and rehearsal of C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D. 2. The project was conceived, developed and scripted by Angharad Wynne-Jones and Peter Hennessey from multimedia designers, DROME, based on the work of Gideon Obarzanek and Erin Brannigan, an educational consultant who prepared the text and teachers notes.

The documentary is based on a three-camera shoot of the work, filmed in the theatre at CUB Malthouse. The documentary provides a rare opportunity for an audience to experience a full-unedited work on film. Stephen Fenely, a researcher a nd presenter on the ABCTV "Express" program, introduces the work and interviews Gideon on some of the issues and themes in the work.

Production Model

Chunky Move had worked with DROME's Peter Hennessey in an earlier project and was impressed by his creative and flexible approach to developing new media products. Having DROME on board at proposal stage allowed the companies to work to gether to develop a sophisticated concept which used new technologies in an interesting way.

DROME recorded all but the dance performances, for which Philippe Charluet, an expert in shooting and directing dance for the camera, was engaged.

Chunky Move engaged Maria Bagello to work with Gideon Obarzanek on the editing of the recording. Maria had worked with the company previously and was conversant with the Chunky Move style. In her earlier work the company had been impres sed with her ability to edit dance with dynamic.

BEAM Software is one of very few companies to work with motion-capture technology. BEAM agreed to sponsor the Chunky Move project since the motion-capture component would have exceeded the budget.

Mitchell Shaw, an industrial/graphics/new media designer specialising in VRML, was already working on development of the Chunky Move Website design outside the PAML Pilot Project. The Web designer shared data and information with DROME for the development of the motion-capture animation for the CD ROM.

Production Components

As the conceptual idea behind The Making Chunky Move was about the dissection of a performance, a range of source footage was incorporated within this theme, including footage of the C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D.2 set, bump in and images of the dancers' injuries.

Concept to Product - Production Tips

There are three components to The Making of Chunky Move: the CD ROM. It provides information in an interactive form about the processes and works of the contemporary dance-company Chunky Move and C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D. 2, choreographed by Artistic Director Gideon Oberzanek. The Chunky Move Website consists of a number of components including a VRML motion-capture animation which allows the end-user to re-choreograph sections of the work. A full-length video doc umentation of the work C.O.R.R.U.P.T.E.D. 2 was shot by cinematographer Philippe Charluet. The recording along and an interview with Gideon makes up the documentary. Chunky Move worked with the multimedia company DROME to crea te a CD ROM/Web Hybrid. Sections of choreography were specifically filmed for the process of dissecting the work, point-of-view cameras mounted on the dancers' heads, and the skeletal form of the dancers were used to illustrate movement. The following sec tion provides a summary of the production process.

Production Issues

Artistic Brief

Production Model

Production Components

Concept to Product - Production Tips

The CD ROM

The Documentary

Website /CD ROM Interface

Production stages - summary

Budget - Summary

Production Credits