Vision Design

A vision designer develops the use of projectors, screens and other image sources in a live work; above and beyond simple image magnification (IMAG) and slideshow applications.

Surface and Screen

One of the most important elements to consider is the positioning of the screen (or screens) on the stage, in both a physical and political context. Audiences will tend to read rectangular screens as big televisions - obvious portals into another world, perhaps another additional world on top of the one where the fictional action of the stage occurs. A screen will also create an expectation that there will always be something on it and so a screen with no content can drain energy from the space.

There are many ways to avoid the clichéd 'lecturn and screen' setup. With some preparation and clever mathematics virtually anything can become a projection surface, including curves, arcs and spheres. LED technology is blurring the lines between lighting and vision, allowing rock and roll looks to seamlessly become images and vice versa. Actual televisions (both flat-screen and CRT) can also play a role, and in these cases the vision designer must develop a reliable multi-screen playback system.

Content

The other concern of the vision designer is the content that is actually displayed. How will it blend with all the other information and effect that is being presented? What is the audience expected to actually get out of it? Will it be a setting/location, a plot point, an emotion? Will it read at the distances involved?

Audiences familiarity with both TV and computers mean that they have an extremely critical eye when it comes to both cinematic and informative content. They can smell a powerpoint presentation from a mile away, and equally anything less than broadcast quality video can be a turn-off.

A vision designer oversees content production to ensure that a seamless, tested product is supplied for the time-poor production week. Video content in particular must be correct, it may be possible to change some text but utterly impossible to reshoot in the hours before the show starts.

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For interactive displays and procedurally generated content check out my digital things.