{"id":105614,"date":"2023-05-03T17:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T22:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&p=105614"},"modified":"2023-11-09T13:44:50","modified_gmt":"2023-11-09T18:44:50","slug":"exit-the-king-and-enter-random-actor","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/news\/articles\/2023\/exit-the-king-and-enter-random-actor\/","title":{"rendered":"Exit the King, and Enter Random Actor"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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School of Theatre productionunveils software created at BU for stage projections<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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May 3, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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This story was originally published in BU Today<\/a><\/em>, by Joel Brown, on May 3, 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be two premieres at the College of Fine Arts on Wednesday night. The School of Theatre production of\u00a0Exit the King<\/em><\/a>\u00a0opens for a five-show run in Studio ONE. And the performance will mark the debut of Random Actor, a software tool for creating live, interactive stage projections that\u2019s been in the making at BU for four years.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost magical. It\u2019s really wild,\u201d says Declan Schliesmann (CFA\u201922), who stars as the King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Eug\u00e8ne Ionesco and translated by Donald Watson, Exit the King<\/em> is the absurdist tale of King Berenger the First, whose empire has crumbled and whose life is coming to an end. As directed by Clay Hopper<\/a> (CFA\u201905), a CFA senior lecturer in directing, this production will look different from anything you\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three motion detectors will capture data on Schliesmann\u2019s movements on stage and feed that information to the Random Actor software, which in turn will give directions to another set of equipment that produces the projections. Random Actor will also use input from stage mics that capture the King\u2019s voice. And the software will be operated by a graphic designer who can tweak the projections in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s easy to understand when you see it, much harder to explain. Basically the King will be accompanied around the stage by a retinue of tiny graphic objects projected on backdrop, floor, and the actor himself, a \u201cparticle system\u201d that moves when he moves and seems to change in accord with his very state of being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe test is, does it reveal more about the play, or does it simply look like gift wrapping,\u201d Hopper says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I first heard about it, I couldn\u2019t wrap my mind around what it was,\u201d Schliesmann says. \u201cParticle system? I don\u2019t even know what that is, but I\u2019m excited to find out,\u201d he says he thought. \u201cI was certain it was going to be a process unlike anything I\u2019d done before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In technical rehearsals, the actor had to focus on the story in the traditional way, embodying the king\u2019s mortal journey, while also remaining aware that Random Actor was using his movements to shape the projections around him. Just as an actor\u2019s performance is slightly different every time, so are the projections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been very challenging, but also incredibly rewarding,\u201d Schliesmann says. \u201cThere are moments in the play where the particles go up my body and I can see them responding to my movements. I don\u2019t need to imagine what\u2019s happening to me because it\u2019s all right there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt helps illustrate the whole story we\u2019re trying to tell. And it becomes very beautiful toward the end, when the system doesn\u2019t respond to me anymore,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Help from the Shipley Center and a visiting artist<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Behind the theatrical project is a technical one, supported by the Shipley Center for Digital Learning & Innovation<\/a> and driven by visiting artist Paolo Scoppola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Random Actor project is our first collaboration with CFA, and a showpiece of the Shipley Center\u2019s mission of enhancing the undergraduate experience at BU through the creative use of technology,\u201d says Chris Dellarocas<\/a>, associate provost for digital learning and innovation and Shipley Professor of Management at Questrom School of Business. \u201cThe project strengthens CFA\u2019s ability to educate creative artists for a digital future.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Random Actor began at a CFA meetingfour years ago, where Hopper started talking about projections in theater with James Grady<\/a>, BU Spark! creative director and a CFA assistant professor of art, graphic design. They agreed most projections were lacking, not integral to the production, \u201ca TV with a play happening in front of it,\u201d as Hopper says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, they wanted to create projections that were more about what was happening among the actors on stage, \u201cso the environment could change to reflect the interior life of the characters,\u201d Hopper says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was talking about some of my research when I was at Rhode Island School of Design, where I was doing a lot of interactive, immersive, 4-D design,\u201d Grady says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grady and Hopper worked on the idea together for a 2018 Hopper-directed production of\u00a01984<\/em>\u00a0at the School of Theatre, using an Xbox Kinect for motion capture. But making even the slightest change meant days of reprogramming.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe goal has always been, how do we build a tool that doesn\u2019t need people to recode it\u2014that we can support so theater students can use it, designers can use it, and developers can build on top of it,\u201d Grady says. \u201cClay and I have always been working with the passion of developing this so it can be used in the theater and only enhances the experience and doesn\u2019t become some sort of mask over the performance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grady took the idea to BU Spark! where students worked on it for several semesters, but eventually the project needed a veteran with both the software and the art chops to get it over the finish line. Hopper and Grady found Scoppola, who arrived for a four-month residency this semester, supported by a $55,000 grant from the Shipley Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an interactive and visual and artistic component to this project, which is a first for us, and we are thrilled to support that,\u201d says Romy Ruukel<\/a>, director of the Shipley Center. \u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic collaboration between art and technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scoppola, from Italy, has a long track record of interdisciplinary art projects combining digital technology and interactivity.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the full article in BU Today<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published in BU Today, by Joel Brown, on May 3, 2023. \u201cIt\u2019s almost magical. It\u2019s really wild,\u201d says Declan Schliesmann (CFA\u201922), who stars as the King. Written by Eug\u00e8ne Ionesco and translated by Donald Watson, Exit the King is the absurdist tale of King Berenger the First, whose empire has crumbled and whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6310,"featured_media":86156,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[192],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[218,214,329,216],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105614"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6310"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105615,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/105614\/revisions\/105615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=105614"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=105614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}