Driscoll was originally approached to design backdrops for the project - directed by Laurence Boswell, designed by Jeremy Herbert - by John Owens, a director of Aura Sound, the production’s sound consultants. Driscoll had previously worked with Up For Grabs’ sound designer Fergus O’Hare (who’s also a director of Aura Sound) at the National Theatre. Driscoll worked on the projection design and production with his colleague Richard Overall, who edited and post-produced the original material shot by Driscoll during an intense five-day shoot in New York.
Up For Grabs’ minimalist set consisted of a huge upstage screen backdrop, divided into six cubes (two high, three wide), each cube divided by moving sections of sheet glass mirror. From all audience angles, the video was reflected off the mirrors in addition to being visible on the flat 180° screens. At certain points, the video was masked so it only appeared in two or three of the cubes simultaneously. Other times, it stretched across the entire backdrop in dramatic fashion - sometimes split six ways, sometimes one integrated image.
The play, a comedy by David Williamson, is about art dealing in New York, and the set featured a neo-Cubist appearance and ambience. Video ran through the entire performance, changing the locations, setting atmospheres and playing a crucial role in the show’s dramatic impact. Driscoll approached XL Video having heard a lot about their work, both in the press and from other people. Driscoll was also impressed that all XL Video’s equipment is SDI equipped, as he wanted only the highest quality. "XL came up with brilliant solutions to all the challenges we had," he says.
His account was handled by XL’s Des Fallon, who jumped at the chance of becoming involved in such an interesting and leftfield project. Des introduced Driscoll and Overall to the right people - including freelance video engineer Richard Turner, a regular XL team member - who came up with many ideas and technical solutions, and worked tirelessly alongside them on the project. Clarke Anderson, another XL regular, worked as projectionist and took care of line up and the crucial issue of colour balance. "At the end of the day, I was fully confident that it would all happen exactly as I wanted," says Driscoll.
The hardware was six Barco 6400 Reality projectors, two Doremi hard drives, a digital video mixer and a Dataton control system. The projectors were all located upstage, back projecting with very wide-angle lenses in the tiny theatre space. They also utilized three live IR cameras for the show. A seventh additional projector, a Pani supplied by White Light, was used as a pseudo video projector. White Light who also supplied lighting equipment for Up For Grabs for Mark Henderson’s subtle design.
(Lee Baldock)
