Creating work in telepresence requires preparation and adaptation time for the entire team. It often demands more research, reflection, preparation, communication, adaptation, and rehearsal time than an event in a single venue. A preparatory residency and equipment trials allow all creators around the work to grasp its stakes and better understand this artistic language.
¶ Direction artistique
¶ Multiple Addresses
For the performer, working in telepresence is a challenge of adjustment. They must divide their attention between their partners and the various audiences, both local and remote. Not only must they perform and maintain contact with the audience in the room—despite the distraction of technological equipment—but they must also continually pay attention to the audience in other venues.
The difficulty increases when the space surrounds them. For example, when facing an audience and the projection of another audience is at the back of the stage, they must share their attention between two sides.
« Qui bougera 2.0 » is a remote dance improvisation show in development. When the audience is present, performers will need to work with their partner on one side and the audience on the other.
.jpg)
Some performers lose their bearings regarding address conventions and may feel overwhelmed by the plurality of elements to consider in the communication scheme. This can cause a dizzying sensation in terms of concentration.
The recommended solution, so that the performer’s presence is unified in all venues, is to maintain a constant balance between audience contact and camera contact (other venue).
Here are some example solutions:
-
Constantly divide attention between the camera and the audience, playing with different levels of gaze: addressing the audience, colleagues, oneself, the camera, and the video projection.
-
Do not prioritize one address over another; seek to be in complicity with all levels.
-
Use the evocative power of the gaze and play with the intimacy that can be created with the camera. The performer has several possibilities to create a unique and empathetic relationship with audiences in other venues.
-
Adapt performance sequences to these scattered conditions.
-
Organize the performance and mark positions in the space.
-
Visualize the experiences that other venues provide to their audiences and accept a loss of control over certain communication parameters with them.
Varying addresses to different media can allow the performer to break out of their usual play, and rehearsals are invaluable for exploring the limits of play spaces.
¶ Liberté de mouvement et projections
¶ Freedom of Movement and Projections
The performer must also adapt their style of acting. Some scenes will require a more theatrical approach, while others will be more cinematic. Alternating between different levels of projection of the body and voice is a notable challenge for telepresence performers, as with any show using video on stage. In close-up contexts, for example, they must respect a particular framing, act more realistically, and avoid overly abrupt movements. However, even if the camera captures them in close-up, the rest of their body must remain active and lively for the audience watching in the room.
The project CorresponDanse de guerre* navigates between acting for the camera and theatrical performance.
The performer must find their freedom of play within technical parameters, which requires a period of adaptation.
¶ Integration of Telepresence Language
Mastering the codes of telepresence language requires work and concentration. It is highly recommended to start this process with a phase of automation, to become comfortable with the technology, and to practice throughout the learning of new constraints. It is also important to recognize that the technical setup is often intrusive, which means the team must accept that initial attempts may not be very successful (technical problems, loss of focus, etc.).
It is important that performers who will « put themselves at risk » on stage have the necessary time to get used to the play environment: to understand it, find their bearings, visualize remote projections, and other play considerations.
Example exercises:
-
To gradually integrate technological equipment, allow performers to take liberties with levels of play, propose interactions they feel comfortable with, and assimilate elements gradually (microphone, camera, projection, etc.). When they seem in control, you can:
- Teach the limits of framing and let them get used to it;
- Try out microphones to explore vocal possibilities;
- Once the capture equipment is in place and the technical team is available for remote interactions, give them time to dialogue and improvise with the projection of the remote location.
-
Have them rehearse an excerpt from their score (text, choreography, musical piece, etc.) while simultaneously giving technical instructions, such as where to direct their gaze and to whom to address (camera, room, partner, etc.), then help find the appropriate tone, rhythm, body energy, and gaze for each type of address.
-
Take time to master and understand the limits of the different technical components of the setup. By improvising with the help of video managers, playing with perspectives, framing, and camera angles, or creating new images and interactions, artists appropriate the vocabulary of telepresence and understand its artistic possibilities.
¶ Communication Between Team Leaders
Creating in telepresence is a real communication challenge between creative teams in different locations. Since the communication channel involves technological intermediaries, communication is not as direct as a closed-door meeting; there are more interferences and responses arrive with greater delay.
These situations can irritate, cause impatience, and increase the stress of key leaders (directing, choreography, writing, composition, technical, etc.), who must accept lowering their expectations in terms of communication. It becomes useful to diversify forms of exchange (text, audio, and visual) and to be as clear as possible to avoid misinterpretation.
- Visual elements in telepresence are best suited to create an emotional connection, as they best reproduce the body and the physical. This form is preferred for directing (showing a movement physically rather than trying to describe it) and everything in the sphere of affect.
- General notes are often communicated by audio and visually to the whole team.
- More personal notes can be transmitted in writing or by videoconference to a small group.
- In telepresence, it is often the voice that best brings artists together in their work. This easy and stable mode of communication allows quick reactions without interrupting activities during rehearsals. By keeping microphones and speakers always connected, performers communicate more clearly and easily.
- For technical instructions (microphone position, text changes, cuts, stage position, entrance/exit, etc.), it is good to vary the means of communication: text message, email, voice notes, specific or general audio instructions—the method depends on the situation and the importance of keeping written records.
- Each team/profession should have a way to communicate remotely. It is good to determine the methodology in preparatory meetings.
The person responsible for directing must also learn to direct remotely and trust their collaborators in the other venue. Even if the technology in place is effective, it does not replace eyes and ears. We recommend installing a monitor with a wide-angle camera to see live at all times in the other venue. Despite this, some elements will escape us, and we will not be able to control all points of view in each venue.
For the show Bluff, director Mireille Camier works with monitors that allow her to see what is happening on all three stages simultaneously.
To create better team cohesion, we suggest taking a moment at the end of each rehearsal for a roundtable with the separated groups to discuss the day. Working in telepresence can create a feeling of emptiness and loneliness when sessions end. Indeed, once communication is over, both teams find themselves alone on their respective sides, and team spirit can be affected. Work sessions feel abrupt if transitional periods toward departure are not taken.