7 August 2013: Sniffing Dollies or The Curse Of The Shower Curtain

'Glorious!' was the Cardiff Players first venture into the world of the projected image. The screen that the images were to be projected upon was fashioned from a white shower curtain, pulled tightly on a frame of piping and attached with bungees. It wasn't ideal - it proved very cumbersome to bring on and off stage as needed - but it served its purpose and worked well.

So well in fact, the role of projected images was ramped up for the next production, the Christmas panto 'Robin Hood'. For this, the screen would be in constant use, with projected images integrated into the scenery and providing video effects at key moments. Fred constructed a rigid wooden frame to which another shower curtain was firmly attached and it was mounted onto the set, flanked by flats, the projector (and me as projectionists) squarely behind it. (To this day, I have no idea how the panto looked.)

Seven months later and the technical demands of Jules's production of 'The Thrill Of Love' will push the boundaries of the projected image even further - and consequently a shower curtain will simply no longer cut it. The screen will form part of the background (and again be in constant use), but be in the unorthodox aspect ratio of 1:3 (i.e. long and narrow) and video inserts will have to be composed accordingly (more of that later...).

Therefore, a higher quality screen was in order - and Fred, through her tireless research, found the perfect one. She sourced a professional quality screen that would not only phase out any projector hot spots (the curse of the shower curtain) but render a bright image with a viewing angle of 120 degrees (essential given that the screen will be at a slight angle to the audience). It also is unaffected by ambient light, which was proved when I projected a test image onto it and it was bright and visible - and this was with the auditorium and stage worker lights on too. One of the problems of 'Robin Hood' was the stage lights bleaching out the image on the screen. No problem with that here, it would seem!

The material arrived in a very long cardboard tube and appeared to be a just an unassuming piece of grey vinyl type material with a very particular smell. Fred and I agreed that it reminded us of camping holidays, camp beds, etc. while Bella said it reminded her of the back of doll's heads. Which kind of gives an indication of her childhood obsession...

Being a large piece of material, it had to be cut in half for the required screen size. What followed was a harrowing fifteen minutes as Fred, with surgical precision, rendered the piece in two. But it was worth it, and the excitement when it was hung and the first images projected onto it was palpable. Oh yes, this is going to be a very special production indeed...

The first incision...

No turning  back now... 

The screen hung in position... roughly.