Projection Design

As projectors become cheaper and more widespread, there’s an increasing demand for their use in shows. The projection designer’s role on a show is to source the images that are to be projected, and to determine how and where they are to be used, working closely with the director, lighting designer and set designer to make sure the overall design is as coherent as possible. Simple projection can consist of projecting images to accompany a performance, while the more complicated projections interact with the set to give shape and texture to flat surfaces. A good place to start with projection is the Michael Pilch studio, which has seen simple projections used to increase the effectiveness of a production without the need for a vastly complex setup, since TAFF have a projector which works well in the space. Be aware that although in Oxford the O’Reilly has a relatively high amount of video infrastructure and equipment (multiple projectors and cameras, video cabling, splitters, switchers and video outputs from the installed QLab system) other theatres do not have as much, and high quality video equipment can be extremely expensive to hire.