[SML] Super Titles?

[Stephen Litterst]

On 8/4/15 9:55 PM, Bruce Purdy via Stagecraft wrote:
>
> The producer of the opera for which I recently designed lights, asked
> me about including Super Titles for next year’s production.
> Apparently some donor wants to help make it happen - although things
> are usually done on a shoestring budget. I’ve never dealt with Super
> Titles, but I’m guessing they involve a video projector and a long
> thin screen.
>
> Anybody here have experience, tips or advice that you could share?

Our opera program took a 4x8 muslin flat and gave it a custom paint job 
-- dark grey actually. That way the "light" from the black parts of the 
projector doesn't make the rest of the screen glow.

Make sure your operator can see the screen.  Also, make sure your 
audience can *comfortably* see the screen.  If your screen is too high 
above the action, the audience will have to crane their necks to see the 
dialogue.

Be suspicious of any director who says, "Oh, Frank will just whip up a 
powerpoint -- he speaks fluent Italian/German/Russian."  Supertitling is 
not a direct, literal translation as closed captioning is. After all, 
when the tenor sings "I love you!" fourteen times in a row, the audience 
doesn't need to read it all fourteen times.

And build time into your tech process -- they're going to come to you 
for help when you can least spare the time.

Steve L.

-- 
Stephen Litterst            Technical Operations Supervisor
litterst at udel.edu           Mitchell Hall
302/831-0601                University of Delaware