Wednesday 12th October
Honor and I visited the Capitol briefly to be filmed for some content about the inaugural Capitol commission, which was a little terrifying as I’m not great on camera. Filming seemed to go pretty well though. I’m still not quite sure where that will be shown, or if I need to sign a release form, but we’ll see!
We also had some time in the venue before the filming to do some tests of the newer states ahead of the rehearsals. This was very useful as we had the chance to do some proper colour matching between the screen and the ceiling lights. I’m particularly proud of this one as it was quite tricky to match:
After this, we headed back to the studio for more cue preparation. Honor did have a last minute addition to the show though: a synthpop track that needed some vocoder work. I’d brought my vocoder with me (Roland VT-4 for those playing at home) and we set it up to quickly record the vocals for the chorus. This was pretty fun and unexpected. It made me feel like I was taking on more of a “producer” role, which is something I’ve been wanting to do for years.
We didn’t quite finish the cue preparation by the time I had to leave (7pm), but we decided to use part of the tech rehearsal day (Thursday 13th) to prepare the last two acts. Cutting it fine!
Thursday 13th October
Tech rehearsal day! We met at the studio at 8.30 to pick up the gear that Honor brought along for the show and transport it to the venue. At the venue, we did some partial run-throughs, but mostly worked on the tech side of things—stage lighting, sound, alignment of visuals, etc.
I took a bunch of notes while we did the run-throughs, and realised that there were a few places where things wouldn’t run properly, due to previous graphics not releasing. I think I need some more experience with Qlab in order to make this process more efficient.
This was quite a long day. I had a nap on the couch when we got to the studio while Honor did some guided meditation, and things got a little emotional as we realised how close the show was, and how much we needed to do in order to get it to run smoothly.
We left the studio at 9.30pm, picking up some surprisingly fresh donuts from the 7-11 along the way.
Friday 14th October
This was intended to be a dress rehearsal day, but we still weren’t 100% finished with the cues. We had the first three acts pretty much downpat, with some minor changes, but acts 4 and 5 were a little sketchy. This was mostly fine, as we were able to do some partial run-throughs and work on the cues along the way, but the decision was made to make the last two acts a lot simpler (apart from the massive crescendo in act 4, which had been mostly completed already) in order to save time and our mental health.
I still had some notes for a few of the cues in the first three acts, which I was confident I’d be able to fix by the time we were to do a proper run-through on Saturday, so we concentrated on getting acts 4 and 5 into a playable state. As we’d made the decision to simplify them, this was a smoother operation than the other acts, but we didn’t finish work on them until 8pm.
Around this time, I uploaded the latest version of the lighting design project file to the Capitol system, which I’d been doing regularly during the day (and previous days). Something strange happened this time though, and the system appeared to crash, becoming unresponsive to network messages either from Qlab, the Pharos web interface, Pharos Designer, or the panels around the venue. An incredibly stressful hour followed, as we tried a few things in order to reset the lighting system, with nothing working, until we called Darren, the Ops coordinator for the venue, and asked where the Pharos controller was so we could reset it. After some instructions that sounded like escape room riddles, we were able to go up to level 5, the area containing the old film projectors, and find the controller box. I made doubly sure with Erik (my supervisor/manager) that it would be ok to try power cycling the controller, and after his blessing, I pulled out the ethernet cable (which was also powering the unit) and re-inserted it. The controller came back to life with all connections working, pretty much instantly. A huge sigh of relief from not only myself, but also Bec and Helen, my colleagues who helped to not only show me to the level 5 area, but also reassure me that everything was going to be ok.
This would have been fun if it wasn’t less than 24 hours before the show! Getting to level 5 of the Capitol felt like we were being let into secret areas, with lots of twists and turns.
We were finally out of the venue at 9pm.
Saturday 15th October
Show day! I was somehow able to get a decent amount of sleep after Friday night’s stress, and returned to the venue at 12pm. I continued working on tightening up the cues before Honor arrived, and then we went into the theatre to do a full rehearsal (minus microphones and cameras). This went well, with some minor things I needed to fix.
I stayed in the control booth, unplugging the sound and putting my headphones in instead, so I could work on the final changes without disturbing anyone, but still being connected to the projector screen and lighting. This was a much needed period of relative isolation, as it was possible to take in the changes quickly and effectively without being disturbed by other people.
The next few hours were honestly a bit of a blur, and all of a sudden it was after 4pm and we were running out of time to do a full rehearsal. The rehearsal was almost perfect, except for yet another minor timing and layering issue I needed to fix (this was something only I noticed; I’m not complaining!), as well as the camera not working, which we eventually realised was an issue with Qlab and not any other deeper technical issue (thankfully).
By the time we were finished with the rehearsal, it was getting very close to opening time, and I realised I hadn’t had any food since my 11.30 Woolworths sushi lunch. Luckily I had a muesli bar in my bag, and Honor’s partner bought me a 7-11 pie (thanks Graham!), which I promptly devoured mere minutes before doors opened. I made a mental note to eat healthier in the coming weeks.
Doors opened and people started filling up the theatre. I could feel the anxiety building. However, after being very shaky for the first two acts, I started to get in the zone, and was able to launch all of the cues without any timing issues. I even got to have a bit of fun with some live controlled lighting while Honor performed an unsequenced guitar and vocal song.
Honor’s performance was on point, with enough improvised material to keep me on my toes in terms of triggering cues, but also managed to keep the audience engaged. The fifth act was possibly the most impressive, as it was delivered with almost no lighting cues, and with Honor sitting on the stage lit by a single spotlight—a huge contrast to the rest of the show being flashy and decorative. The event was sold out, and the audience gave a standing ovation at the end, so I consider it a great success.
I sadly didn’t get any photos or video during the event itself, but there are some bits and pieces over at Honor’s Instagram page, mostly as stories (which may disappear by the time this gets read/assessed). I’ve been told that the event was filmed though.
Final thoughts
This has been quite a journey. My role expanded from simply creating lighting states and animations to almost a producer role, spending a lot of time working closely with Honor either at her house, in the studio or at the venue. Honor has been an absolute pleasure to work with, and is receptive to not only new ideas, but also very understanding of when something can’t be done, which I found important, since it was the first time I’ve had to give such feedback, and it was nice to have someone take it well. We get along very well creatively, and have been talking about potentially working on creative projects again in the future.
The RMIT Culture team has been incredible too. I appreciate that they have welcomed me as a colleague and not just an intern; they too are receptive to my ideas and have put up with a lot of both Honor and I taking our time to get things prepared! In addition to Erik providing a lot of support and showing me around the various RMIT Culture areas, I also must acknowledge Simon’s openness and willingness to share knowledge about Qlab and other technical areas.
I’ve already been called upon to create some more lighting states (in fact, I was in today to work on some lighting; thanks again Bec and Darren!) and have spoken to a few people about pitching an event idea, which seems to actually be possible. I’d really love to continue to be involved with the Capitol, as it’s an amazing venue.