Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/799350
www.postmagazine.com 26 POST MARCH 2017 D uring the past decade or so, advances in performance capture and related technologies have given birth to many unforgettable screen characters, includ- ing Gollum and Caesar from The Lord of the Rings and Planet of the Apes, respectfully. Now, that same tech- nology, coupled with recent realtime developments, has taken center stage at the theater, giving digital life to various forms of a character in the Royal Shakespeare Company's (RSC's) stage production of The Tempest. The Tempest, one of Shakespeare's final plays, tells the story of Prospero, an exiled magician who decides to settle old scores, enlisting help from his servant, the spirit Ariel, who uses his magic and cunning. The enslaved Ariel obliges in hope that Prospero will adhere to his promise to set him free. Throughout the play, Ariel assumes many non-human forms, including a water nymph and a Harpy. The character, visible only to Prospero, also features more stage directions than almost any other in Shakespeare's repertoire. Lest we forget, the character is magical and able — and willing — to do just about anything that Prospero commands: "to fly, to swim, to dive into the fire, to ride on the curl'd clouds." For centuries, Shakespeare has reminded audi- ences of Ariel's invisibility through lines spoken by Prospero, while theater companies have devised a host of creative solutions to illustrate Ariel's shape-shifting and exuberance. In this recent production, the RSC has been able to illustrate the intended breathtaking wizardry of this character using realtime performance capture and CGI as Ariel morphs into various forms on stage in front of audiences. GROUNDBREAKING This marks the first time that a completely digital character has been used in an RSC production. The feat was made possible through the RSC's collaboration with Intel and in association with The Imaginarium Studios, the production company founded in 2011 by actor-director Andy Serkis (who performed Gollum and Caesar, among other digital characters) and producer Jonathan Cavendish. Intel, which was involved in the technical process for The Tempest through its entirety, also provided the machinery and technology behind it. The concept started a few years ago when Gregory Doran, artistic director at the RSC, wanted to do some type of extravaganza to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death. He began fo- cusing on the masque — an event staged by royalty in ancient times that included technical advances of the day and all the pomp and pageantry costing a king's ransom. The Tempest was chosen since it was one of the playwright's last plays; it also contains a masque scene. "They were looking at what the masque would be like today, and Greg [Doran] decided he wanted something big and unique," says Ben Lumsden, head of studio at The Imaginarium. What caught Doran's eye was the Intel CES 2014 keynote demonstration showing an interactive ad- aptation of Scott Westerfield's Leviathan of a virtual world with a gigantic CG whale floating through it and breaching the screen. The unique presentation mixed storytelling, VR, AR, cinema and 3D into a visually stunning display. Sarah Ellis, head of digital development at the RSC, met with Intel, and soon The Imaginarium was brought on board. "In the end, our technology was not used in the masque element of the play, but that was where the impetus came from," says Lumsden. Instead, the RSC opted to focus on Ariel in character mode, and determined that he would have to drive the perfor- mance in realtime — to get the proper emotional connection between the two main characters, Ariel and Prospero. The question, however, was whether the actor playing Ariel (Mark Quartley) should be present on stage at the time his digital character, or avatar, appeared. "Greg [Doran] was a firm believer that it was vitally important for the actor (Quartley) to be on stage. So, [with the setup] it was like he was a puppeteer and a puppet at the same time, akin to what they did with the theater production War Horse. Audiences see the puppeteers inside the life- size horse puppets but soon forget the humans are present. "You invest so much in the creatures," says Lumsden. "It's about suspending disbelief — you are taking that extra step in the journey." While this unique approach required Quartley to "puppeteer himself," says Lumsden, the process did not require a steep learning curve. The actor met with Serkis for a workshop, where the perfor- mance-capture veteran offered pointers. "But it's all about the acting, and Mark is a great physical performer, which helped him with the part. He is in good shape and took to the physicality of the role." Technical development of the process, however, took much longer, spanning nearly two years. HOW IT WORKS Ariel is a complex character, in more ways than one. According to the story, he is invisible except to Prospero. And he takes many forms, some hu- man-like, some not. "The technology made Ariel a real spirit instead of just another character in the play. He could be shown in several forms other than his onstage presence," says Hein Beute, product manager at Xsens, whose technology played an important role in acquiring the actor's movements. Whether as Ariel the spirit or another form, Quartley performs onstage in a special costume designed by the RSC. It is a skintight garment similar to a wet suit that has the appearance of the body's musculature, as if the skin were peeled back (a la the Body Worlds exhibition). Xsens' MVN motion-capture technology is embedded within the costume, using 17 sensors to track the actor's Actor Mark Quartley (seated), playing the character Ariel, wears mocap technology embedded in his stage costume.