TECHNES Encyclopedia Database

To prepare for the capturing, the production crew places the cameras and microphones in the hall. Their position varies according to the venue in which the filming is carried out and is adapted to the circumstances of the staging while ensuring that the audience’s experience of the performance in the hall is never disturbed. Most often, eight to ten cameras are used for the capturing and are placed facing the stage at various points throughout the hall: one robotic camera is placed at the front of the proscenium for fixed close-ups and, in some cases, another is placed level with the apron; two cameras on remote-controlled cranes are placed on the front sides of the stalls; other cameras are placed on tripods in the middle, at the back and on the sides of the stalls; and Steadicams are placed at the front of the hall and, in some cases, in the wings.^[1] The director, after having attended several rehearsals, talked things over with the theatre director, studied the opera libretto and score and screened a pre-recording of the opera in fixed close-up, creates a shooting script to indicate the order and scale of each shot for each camera. The director of photography sets the lighting and the cameras’ focal distance, and the sound recordist sets up the microphones, some of them suspended over the stage while others are level with the apron and in the orchestra pit. The inputs of the high-definition (HD) cameras and the high-fidelity (HF) microphones are linked and sent in real time to consoles in the control room.

The control room, located in a specialized production vehicle (the mobile unit), is divided into sections devoted to precise actions carried out simultaneously: mixing the image, mixing the sound, embedding titles and subtitles and sending the satellite feed. In some cases, a section is devoted to the production and directing of the introductory broadcast and intermission reserved for viewers in movie theatres. Screens cover an entire wall of the editing room in order to provide the directing crew with a complete view of the individual inputs of each camera; the main screen on which the live editing is carried out; and the reference screen showing the final transmitted image. At the moment of live transmission, the film director is backed up by a continuity person, who anticipates each shot using the previously determined shooting script and the musical score. The director and the assistant director execute the editing instructions on the console. Technicians handle the robotic cameras. The producer is also present. The sound unit receives and mixes the sound according to the same principle. The live, on-site assembly of the sound and image is then encoded in a digital signal which is immediately transmitted to a satellite by a dome. The satellite company involved in the production receives the signal and transfers the feed to a distributor who ensures it is received by every partner movie theatre in a given region. Each movie theatre decodes the HD image and HF sound using a special receiver and projects the image with a DLP. To cover all six continents, the signal will go back and forth between the earth and the satellite several times and, when necessary, will also go through optical fibre networks.