The purpose of the Video Director on opera productions on DVD/Blu-ray

[Stanfordian]

On opera productions on DVD/Blu-ray the Video Director is often given as much prominence as the stage director team
I am wondering what the function of a Video director is? I will be grateful for some help here.

[MrGongGong]

On opera productions on DVD/Blu-ray the Video Director is often given as much prominence as the stage director team
I am wondering what the function of a Video director is? I will be grateful for some help here.

The Video Director makes the decisions about everything you see on screen.
I don't think many people would go for a locked-off shot of the stage for 3 hours !

[Alain Maréchal]

I don't think many people would go for a locked-off shot of the stage for 3 hours !

Is that not what one has in the opera house?

[MrGongGong]

Is that not what one has in the opera house?

Not really, most people can move their heads a bit

[kernelbogey]

I believe the Director would choose the positioning of the cameras, and would create a shooting script based on having seen the performance. What we see on screen will be longshot, medium shot, close up and so on. IMV this might correspond to where the attention of a member of the audience might focus.

One of the pleasures of a relay from the Met in the cinema (there are of course others, but I happen not to have seen them) is that the screen allows you to see more of the production, by way of shots of parts of the action, focusing on a bit of stage business and the like. It also provides close-ups of the singers. For some this may provide more of a view of the singer's tonsils than they might wish: but for my money it is a wonderful way of seeing an opera.

In the sense that the Opera Director interprets the staging of the work, the tv/video director re-interprets which part of that the video audience is seeing at any one time.

(If you are a latecomer at Covent Garden, you have the choice of watching an unmoving shot of the stage on a monitor in the Crush Bar - i.e what GG refers to as a locked-off shot - which I can assure you is nothing like a proper video production!)

[Stanfordian]

I believe the Director would choose the positioning of the cameras, and would create a shooting script based on having seen the performance. What we see on screen will be longshot, medium shot, close up and so on. IMV this might correspond to where the attention of a member of the audience might focus.

One of the pleasures of a relay from the Met in the cinema (there are of course others, but I happen not to have seen them) is that the screen allows you to see more of the production, by way of shots of parts of the action, focusing on a bit of stage business and the like. It also provides close-ups of the singers. For some this may provide more of a view of the singer's tonsils than they might wish: but for my money it is a wonderful way of seeing an opera.


In the sense that the Opera Director interprets the staging of the work, the tv/video director re-interprets which part of that the video audience is seeing at any one time.

(If you are a latecomer at Covent Garden, you have the choice of watching an unmoving shot of the stage on a monitor in the Crush Bar - i.e what GG refers to as a locked-off shot - which I can assure you is nothing like a proper video production!)

Hiya GG,

Thanks for the very helpful information. Who would decide what is seen on the back-projections during the production etc.

[MrGongGong]

Hiya GG,

Thanks for the very helpful information. Who would decide what is seen on the back-projections during the production etc.

That would be whoever designed the production
these things are always a collaboration (like most things in the world)

[Stanfordian]

That would be whoever designed the production
these things are always a collaboration (like most things in the world)

Hiya Mr. GG,

Do you know of any books where I can read more more about this type of stage and video production. Opera rather than theatre is my main interest.

[MrGongGong]

Hiya Mr. GG,

Do you know of any books where I can read more more about this type of stage and video production. Opera rather than theatre is my main interest.

Not sure about books
but i've met a few folks who do this
Will have a look

I once spent an interesting afternoon with someone in the studio showing me how the audio was balanced for opera video production and how the balance was different to being in the house, interesting how "moving" the brass away from the middle of the mix made the singers much more audible without changing perception of volume.

[Stanley Stewart]

A timely thread as I've been preoccupied with the transfer of opera, Proms platform staging and an embarrassment of riches from off-air videos, ripe for transfer to DVD from my new Panasonic HD recorder. I'll discount the occasional tantrum on a new learning curve.
Today's quest, now completed, was an off-air recording of Don Giovanni, from BBC 2, June 2004: Peter Brook's much acclaimed production, recorded at the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2002. A splendid cast: Peter Mattei in the title role, with Gilles Cachemaille, Mireille Delunch, Natham Berg and Mark Padmore.

I've always admired Brook's theatre work and his early reputation as a maverick influence in opera and Shakespearean productions at the RSC, together with his clarity as a writer. I doubt whether there are many text books on the craft of the director but I would recommend his articulation on the role of as director in The Empty Space, (1972) Pelican, and The Shifting Point - 40 years of theatrical exploration, 1946-1987, Methuen, (1988). Fascinating look at the changes during the second half of the 20th century. Stand and deliver performances became moribund during an era which learnt to develop from the subtext of a play or opera so that ensemble work could flower and bring a sense of dimension to the theatre or opera house. He provides a perceptive intro to Don Giovanni by mentioning that the opera was always treated as serious drama in the German tradition whereas Da Ponte and Mozart, illustrated in a document of the time, described it as Dramma Giocoso - jolly and joyful - quite different from a solemn piece, albeit still serious. In turn, his production stripped away any theatrical pretensions as he sought to discover the underlying truth in the work. Together with his designer, they opted for simplicity in the staging; the production opens with a starkly lit open stage with a surrounding coal-black cyclorama throughout. Stage properties, light and moveable, resembled an inner ring structure at a circus. The male characters in timeless black or beige clothing, leaving the women in striking prime colour dresses - the mind racing at the
psychological implications! The Mahler Chamber Orchestra/Daniel Harding fully complementing the action and the exquisite, solos, duets, quartets, quintets; I warmed to a sense of totality throughout its 165 mins and my mind is still active with fresh thoughts. Have decided to add the ROH, Act 2, Tosca, (1964) with Callas and Gobbi as a matching partner on the DVD transfer from HD.

[LHC]

Stanfordian,

I'm not sure if this answers your question directly, but the Royal Opera House 'Opera Machine' attempts to explain the various roles of key backstage staff in bringing a production to stage:

"The Opera Machine presents an extraordinary multi-angled view of the intricate theatrical process behind the scenes during a performance. Choose from 17 different camera angles and three different sound mixes or follow the prompt book which is used to cue the technical crew and artists. A flaming helix, trap doors and a two-ton spinning wall feature in this performance of Act III of Wagner’s Die Walküre."

http://www.roh.org.uk/interactives/opera-machine

[Stanfordian]

Many thanks for all the assistance.

[MrGongGong]

Many thanks for all the assistance.

Beat me to it