Augmented virtual reality (when you watch an online concert through 3D glasses, and the video begin to appear, the special effects) – childish pranks in comparison with what was up with the Moscow team of enthusiasts. They took already tested with many artists technology 360 VR (when I shot on a panoramic camera is 360 degrees, creating a sense of the living presence) and used it so that the viewer could view the event from this perspective from which he can never do this in normal life, literally, to be inside him. Or (in some projects) to see what is happening through the eyes of the protagonist. That’s the trick.
for two years, the team is working on creating virtual content, including music, theater, sports, educational, immersed in which can be as deep as possible to accommodate various events and to the emotions that offline inaccessible. How does it happen? Well, for example, in the summer of 2019 thus was removed the largest festival Park Live in Moscow, the headliners of which were Thirty Seconds to Mars, led by actor Jared Leto. The result was a video in the format 360 degrees, which depends in a special helmet, the person could teleport to the soloist’s dressing room, watch the whole concert from the roof of the festival or even to stand during the show on stage next to Jared and his musicians. Moreover, thanks to the introduction of panoramic sound, if, say, turns to the drummer, he’s better than hear the drums, to the guitar – guitar riffs and so on. The experiments were also joined by Elena Temnikova, groups, Guru Groove Foundation, “Vintage”, “Both”, Brainstorm, Bi-2, Face, “Chaif”, Vyacheslav Butusov, which has already managed to work with the innovators. Born an unprecedented format that allows you not only to remove the “fourth wall” between actor and spectator, and the maximum to bring them closer, so they were in the same field. So, when the inventors worked with the brothers Zapashnye, they gave viewers the opportunity to be inside the cage to the tigers went around them. Just coming into the circus experience will fail (without consequences for sure). In fact, the person is given the opportunity to visit an alternate reality and living another life, but somewhere and feel like a demiurge: some projects are introduced interactive elements, allowing to control the action, choose which way to go, what storyline will develop.
This is the rare case when quarantine and the whole situation turned out to help. If, before the pandemic, it was about creating online versions of the live events, in the period of self-isolation already God ordered to come up with a virtual history from scratch. This was a project created by the theatre “Practice”, – “The three sisters. The final.” It is a virtual staging of the final part of the play by Anton Chekhov. Initially, the audience was asked to choose from a list of plays that they would like to see in the unusual format of online play, and a list of Directors and actors. In the end, the audience choice fell on Chekhov and directed by Michael Rachlin. Sisters played Nelly Uvarova, Maryana Spivak and Yuri Khlynina, the role of Vershinin went to Anatolia White, and Dr. Russian – Benjamin Smekhova. You put the helmet on, and the journey begins. Garden Prozorovich, and the setting becomes digital (on creation of such virtual universe is a special group of developers). This space seems to surround the capsule, which begin to show colour, to look like tree branches. Not snowing, not that the leaves are falling. The characters appear in a large window front, rear, right and left, each to his own. From inconveniences – you have too quick to turn my head to keep track of the progress of the dialogue, besides Chekhov’s characters talk quite a lot, quickly, often excitedly, as if not hearing each other. In General, the theme of disconnection, impaired mental relations, ability to understand the other person very clearly reflected in the plays are relevant today. In the formulation of this is reflected in particular in the form of interference with the Internet connection. In the finale, all the characters are erased in the white dust that the funnel is tightened upwards. By all means show their disunity, and it is also the mirror of time, which is increasingly in recent months began to sound thought about how we are all simultaneously separated and connected by invisible threads. One of the key phrases that very much resonates with contemporary reality, says Dr. Chebutykin: “We are no nothing else, we don’t exist, but only seem to exist”.
the Rehearsal was a week at Zoom. Then the actors themselves filmed themselves on camera phones, then came the installation. “Didn’t feel like doing the usual online play, which we already have plenty, says Michael Rachlin, – so we decided to try the format that fully meets Chekhov’s content. Each actor appears in his window, which emphasizes their disunity and the existence of its closed world. Masha in Chekhov talks about Lukomorye. This incredible space image of the Russian space. We all live in some enchanted Lukomorye, where something happens that where there, where everything disappears. It’s not like we want. What is zakoldovannoe this – our Russian life?” For the Director, which, although open to experiments, but still is adept live theater, the project was a gamble. He told “MK” that managed to learn from her, what is the main experience.
Continuede only it was my personal, psychological experience. I always suffer in the process, I have many doubts whether it is good, if this works, but I was once again convinced that we must not be afraid to try new things. Sometimes this one can become something worthwhile. Secondly, of course, I’ve learned from talking to artists who don’t just come and say “come on, practice with me,” and they become co-creators, offer some solutions, in the analysis of the material from which I can learn a lot. I would also clash with the new technology. I’m pretty far away from it all, used to work with is more familiar to theatre expressive means and really love them.
Here I was a little annoyed that when you make changes in the installation of some words, moments, the file was converted a long time – it’s called “rendered”. In some moments I said: “Let’s not make any changes because we don’t have time”. There were a lot of nerves, but now I know this technology can use it later to improve it in the process to invent new means of expression, to synthesize them with the traditional. And, of course, it was a totally new encounter with Chekhov himself. I love the playwright who has wanted to put “the Three sisters”, and for me it was some kind of space flight. Classic and built to last, because today we hear that the Czechs sounds absolutely modern. Out of time. And this new form is organically falls on Chekhov’s meanings. He, like anyone else, reveals our Russian reality, meaning, or Vice versa – the pointlessness of life.
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the Emotions of the experience were shared by the actress Nelly Uvarova. Although she actively plays in the theatre, in films, turns out she’s pretty hard to be in a large gathering of people, but still the love for the profession wins.
Nelly, how did live theatrical reality to switch to virtual?
– Hard. Of course, for me it is also a new format. But I think the actor’s nature in principle is based on curiosity, on call. This project had both. The call – because it is generally unknown yet to us trails. Curiosity because the casting was conducted by the audience and we were unfamiliar with the Director. In addition it is not obvious to modern as I thought the audience’s understanding. But everything came together, and it was terribly interesting.
– do you think that the rapid evolution of this format – it is a necessary measure in the current situation, or in any case he would want to develop?
– the circumstances of time, of course, affected the speed of its development. It is, of course, existed before, and now togetherwas Estella and theater. This time also showed that there have always been people who are interested in theatre but don’t like to be in the crowd. For example, I could say for myself that as a viewer running to the theater at two minutes to seven, to very quickly pass the closet, hallways, lobby. I really want to see the show, but I do not want to go through all these preliminary stages, to stay long in a noisy environment. Maybe there are people even more acute feeling inside rejection big congestion of people. Such performances enable them to get what they like in a comfortable environment. View. Only time will tell whether this format become the new direction of art. I live for the theatre, for here and now. There is no substitute for these emotions.
did you gain in the process some new skills that will be able to use on stage?
– This gave me the opportunity to develop a completely different attention to the partner. When his voice sounds in you ear, you cannot see, but only hear, this is a completely different perception. Be important not only voiced the words, but the way he’s breathing. There is a connection on another level, oddly enough – even closer than in reality.
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the Incident could not be called theatre, although he has grown out of the theater because it’s like Nelly said about the dialogue of the actors, a completely different form, a different energy. Has long been voicing the idea that it is not just the future but the present of music for the eclectic. Pure genres is practically nonexistent, the style element is connected in the new sound picture. Here, the synthesis of art, technology, performance, performance, installations and many other ingredients. The result is a new dish. Rasprobuet whether his audience is, and what it will all lead – we learn later.
