Flying Characters

We're putting on Peter Pan and for the flying scenes, we're thinking about projecting the characters' images onto the wall. Any recommendations?

It looks like no one has jumped in here yet for you and I'm guessing this is why.... Projections have become a large role in production design. So when you ask for recommendations I could recommend the arsenal that was used on Curious Incident, or a standard home projector available at your local electronics store. What is the desired look? (animation, video, green screen?) What is the surface of your set? do you have a surface friendly to projections and is the payoff enough to justify building the set around it? Is there a reason you're not flying the performers? Space restrictions, budget? Surprisingly a "good" projection system can have one of the largest budget lines and could even approach the cost of flying your actors when it's all said and done. Feel free to share more info and I bet you'll see some more responses.

Have you ever seen a production of Shen Yun? It is a Chinese arts production (based out of New York) where they project their backdrops. In cases where they have characters fly (likein the martial arts movies), the performers jump behind the US scenery and then the animated characters fly. Challenge for you in this case would be in Tim pent creating the animation.

One thing to consider now is how you will deal with blackouts. Most projectors will still display a black square of light even when projecting a "black" screen. This will be visible during blackouts. Some higher-end models have internal dowsers, but you may have to consider fashioning your own or having a tech drop a piece of hardboard in front of the lens at the opportune moment.

Another thing coming to mind is the throw distance from where your projector(s) will live and what you will be projecting upon. Depending on the lens in your projector, this may or may not work in your favor. If you go the multiple projector route (or even if you have a single one) you're going to want to look into some type of media control solution. We've used Qlab successfully here, but there are other options.

I created this tornado for wizard of oz which we projected onto a scrim and included characters trapped inside. May give you some ideas.

I imagine the trickiest part of your problem, besides building the video and set up is imaging a smooth transition from live to projected.

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