Putting a Face on Theatre
I work at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, and we are interested in doing open captioning for our winter mainstage season this year.
(open captioning is like "subtitles" for a show).
I know that the company C2 is a main provider of this. I'm wondering if there are other companies out there that also do this sort of thing, or alternately, if there is equipment out there that will let us do the open captioning in house.
Any suggestions from anyone out there? thanks.
(open captioning is like "subtitles" for a show).
I know that the company C2 is a main provider of this. I'm wondering if there are other companies out there that also do this sort of thing, or alternately, if there is equipment out there that will let us do the open captioning in house.
Any suggestions from anyone out there? thanks.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Christien Fontaine on -
What you are refering to is called "supratitles". It is used mostly for Opera. The way you do it is to construct say a 2-3' high by 20' long flat with muslin, then paint the whole thing white an mount it to the top of te prosc. Next you need a projector, and powerpoint. In powerpoint you build your slides for your show and have a tech operate a laptop with the slides and call the powerpoint like you would light cues. The only real problems you will run into is blocking out unwanted light from the projector. this can be easily fixed by cutting a small slit in some tin foil and then applying that to the projector lens front. Dont' use paper or tape, as the heat generated by the lamp and lens is a fire hazard. Look at my photos for Orfeo, Savitri, and Carmen for an idea of what the projection looks like. we have been using this method for years and our only hick-ups have been the Lumen output of the projector, you will want something in the 3000+ range. A white letter type seems to work the best, with a black background. Let me know if this helps!
Christien
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Long on -
Since the request is from Sarasota, FL I'm betting it is an access question, not a translation one. :-)
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you would be utterly correct. ;)
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Thanks Christien for the information.
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Long on
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I checked with our patron access services manager. We use C2 as well. It was more economical to purchase the sign that we use since we do at least one open caption performance per show. We went with the sign that is about 4’ wide, 10” tall and 4” deep.
We use it in our proscenium, thrust and studio spaces. It can be on the floor with a pedestal or hung if you need that. It is also possible to get a sign of similar dimension like is used for convenience stores and lotto etc for cheap. The big problem is that I don't know that the software would allow multiple lines to be fed to it quickly enough.
Third option. Invest in a largish LCD monitor (or rent a monster from Rent-A-Center) to hook to a laptop and run the script with PowerPoint from a laptop for your hearing impaired patrons.
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Great information, Trevor. Thank you so much.
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Long on
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Julie, Bruce Price is your production manager, yes? Not that is necessary for the conversation, just making sure I have the right theater.
Do you do any audio description? I have heard that some theaters do something like AD but with the actual text of the show if they only have one or two patrons that want the service. Seems really intrusive to the experience but I guess if you can't hear it is a viable option.
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Yes! Bruce is our PM. What theatre are you with?
I've never heard of audio description. what is it?
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Long on
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Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.
Audio Description is an access service usually for the blind or visually impaired where a person sits in a remote location (like a booth) and describes the action of the play into an earpiece that the patron wears. The other patrons don't know it is happening. So, they hear the actors but also get things like 'she picked up the prized photo and is threatening to put it in the fire' so they can put the text in context.
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I did research hand-held devices that display the text, through a company called Figaro Systems. They use IPod Touch units for that. But it's nutty expensive (total of $25K for 10 devices - software plus units plus tech support). Also, when I was at a recent meeting for a hearing-impaired community group, they all stated that they hate those units because, as you suggested, it really intrudes on the experience for them. They FAR prefer the open captioning.
That said, C2 ain't cheap either. We applied for the TDF partnership (TDF pays for C2 for a year) but weren't awarded it for this season. I'll try again next year. In the meantime, my AD wants to figure out something we can do in-house.
He recently saw WAR HORSE in London, and said they had a large screen on either side of the stage, which displayed 4-6 lines of the text at a time in script fashion, probably similar to what you mentioned with the screen and the PowerPoint presentation. While he's not hearing-impaired, he said it not only helped him understand the actors with particularly thick accents, but enhanced his literary appreciation of the play (which, by the way, he said was magnificent and one of the best pieces he's ever seen.)
So I have a feeling that's what we're going to pursue next.
How great that you are at the Guthrie. Wonderful, wonderful theatre. I'm actually moving to Minneapolis next spring. Looking forward to being in the city...if not so much the winter weather. :)
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Permalink Reply by Trevor Long on
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I moved here from Las Vegas. Yep, the weather thing took a little getting used to, but to have seasons again is well worth it in my opinion. Good luck. ((War Horse does kick butt))
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Permalink Reply by Laurie Dionne Babcock on -
Hi Julie,
Here's a short list that might help with your research:
Personal Captioning Systems Live Theater Captioning Systems
I-Caption (http://www.soundassociates.com/products/icaption/)
Also, you might contact Rochester (http://www.rbtl.org/) - I read that they ran "Mamma Mia" in Dec 2008 and had an LED panel to the left of the stage which could be seen by about 20 rows of patrons. Unless the touring company brought it in, their TD might have plans on how they constructed it, which could save you time on building one from scratch.
If cost is prohibitive, you could consider applying for a grant to fund it.
Yours, Laurie Babcock
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