Reimagining the opera
How Xsens helped to animate a new vision for the Dutch National Opera
How Xsens helped build a new vision for Dutch National Opera
Housed in a modernist theatre in the centre of Amsterdam, Dutch National Opera is home to some of the Netherlands’ most prestigious opera performances, producing as many as 11 shows every year. In a bid to promote the coming 2020-21 season’s programme, the institution opted for a commercial redesign, commissioning a series of animated vignettes to represent each production.
Dutch National Opera looked to attract new audiences to the theatre with a modern approach. Taking inspiration from innovative artists on Instagram, the organisation decided upon a human-led aesthetic with movement at the heart of the design, which required body motion data captured from real performers.
They looked to the creative talents of Beamsystems, an audiovisual production company also based in Amsterdam that specialises in innovation, helping its clients realise their vision through the use of new technologies – be it installation, content creation, or design. Both Niels Nuijten of Dutch National Opera, and Jason Malone from Beamsystems, spoke to us about how Xsens MVN Animate helped build this visually striking video.
A NEW VISION FOR OPERA
An established art form with its origins firmly rooted in performance history, opera continues to attract a devoted audience. However, with present-day opera sharing the stage with many other performance genres, Dutch National Opera sought a modern approach to re-capture the spotlight. “The team got together and brainstormed: how do we connect the identity of the theatre to the future while keeping its traditional roots? We realised we could achieve this by tying in art and movement. We selected mocap to showcase movement through visuals,” says Nuijten.
Finding a balance between opera’s rich history and modernity was key to the design process. “We started with the ideas for 12 videos and ended up with more,” explains Nuijten. “We wanted to accurately symbolise the operas without relying on cliche or thematics, all while emphasising the emotion that comes with opera. There were two parts to this: visual artistry and original movements.”
“There’s a big mime performance culture in Amsterdam – mime artists can tell a story through their movements,” he continues. “Together with a pair of mime performers we worked together on taking a sentence, word or feeling from each opera, and connecting it to specific movements. The mimes could use small movements to represent the bigger picture for each of the operas and then the visual artist would create the videos.”
THE BRAINS BEHIND THE BROADCAST
Jason Malone has been a supplier of audiovisual installations to the arts for more than 15 years. Now part of Beamsystems, Malone works alongside a dedicated group of technicians and project managers that work to manage the entire creative process, from concept to technical production. After being approached by the Dutch National Opera company, Malone was excited to apply his technical expertise to a traditional art form.
“I have high praise for the opera team for branching out and trying something new. Many institutions in the same position can get stuck in a classical approach, so this was a really exciting opportunity. Opera has always had a more visual aspect than classical music and it’s exciting to see tech being used in areas like this,” says Malone.
Malone turned to motion capture technology for the project, much to the delight of the Dutch National Opera team.
“We bought an Xsens suit because it’s the best solution for mocap nowadays – there’s no cameras and markers needed,” he explains. “They loved the fact that you can wear it under a costume and it’s invisible, it’s great for live performances.”
He continues: “The Dutch National Opera felt that the technology was very ahead of its time as it could capture even quite minute movements in detail. The shoot on the day produced great data even in unusual scenarios, such as the performers moving around whilst tied in ropes, sliding on a slippery surface.”
VERSATILITY AND EASE OF USE
Beamsystems used a suite of different software and hardware solutions to achieve the project’s end goal – the system is easily integrated with other technologies and provides lighting-fast turnarounds.
“We take data from the Xsens software and connect it to different software – the norm is animation rigs, but we also connect MVN Animate to Unity or Steam for VR, which then enables us to create a virtual world where other people can join live with VR goggles. The Beamsystems team fit the tech together and then visualise it. The process of calibrating a pipeline was so fast and simple, a traditional setup with cameras and markers usually takes a whole day,” explained Malone.
“All you need is a space and you’re up and running. Who knows, maybe motion capture could become part of the actual performances,” he continues.
THE END RESULT
What started as a venture into the unknown has transformed into something positively received by both existing and new audiences alike. While displayed in a style unfamiliar to most classical art forms, the animations have still managed to capture the true essence of operatic performance. “It was an experiment, but it makes sense and connects art and movement to opera by putting different disciplines together for a reason, not just for the sake of it,” adds Nuijten.
“As always with a new, experimental direction, there is a bit of insecurity. Will our audiences like this new look? Luckily we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from it. The Dutch National Opera will use the images and videos for the whole of next season, so we hope to keep on hearing more positive responses. We are also connecting to a whole new audience of viewers who, from their interest in motion design, are now discovering the world of opera. We hope to reach even more people by putting the videos up on the big screen at our theatre and through the city.” Nuijten exclaims. Look behind the scenes at youtube. com/watch?v=dffk3n00lvy
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