[SML] Super Titles?

Fri Aug 7 15:46:43 UTC 2015

It is also use for audience access. Google Open Captioning. It is a way of having access that is passive. The hard of hearing patron comes in sits down and has a way of understanding the show without needing to get equipment. Our venue offers one or two show every run with this set up. We have an operator that has a script loaded in specialized software that lets them make on the fly adjustments. Screen is currently a 6'x10" digital (think red dot scroller at banks and the like) sign hung to the left or right of the stage as the set demands.

Sincerely,

Rob Jensen
Technical Director | Park Square Theatre
408 Saint Peter St. - Suite 110 | Saint Paul, MN 55102
651.767.8484

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-----Original Message-----
From: Stagecraft [mailto:stagecraft-bounces at theatrical.net] On Behalf Of Stephen Litterst via Stagecraft
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2015 8:01 AM
To: Stagecraft Mailing List
Cc: Stephen Litterst
Subject: Re: [SML] Super Titles?

On 8/5/15 5:10 PM, Bruce Purdy via Stagecraft wrote:

> Whilst transport wouldn't be an issue, I do own a couple of fast-fold 
> screens. I was thinking about hanging my 9'x12' version so the bottom 
> edge hangs below the proscenium, in front of the Grand valance. In 
> retrospect, however, 12' is probably not long enough - and I like all 
> the suggestions to use a darker grey rather than white.

It depends on your proscenium width, but we've been doing it on an 8' 
wide screen (above a 36' proscenium) with great success.  It really boils down to how the slides are laid out.

The challenge with a wider screen is that if you increase your slide size to match the width, often your height gets out of control.  You'll need the height for, at most, 4 lines of text, but more commonly 1 or two lines.  At that height, you'll find you won't get much wider that
10-12 feet.

> The theatre has a huge digital cinema projector which they use to show 
> movies on a ~50' wide screen. I was contemplating - if it has enough 
> flexibility - shifting the lens upwards and zooming in. A lot of 
> questions to be resolved regarding capabilities and permission.

I'd be surprised if this projector can zoom in enough to work for supertitles.  And it may be too bright, be prepared to dial back the brightness. One trick I learned from this list is to put up a black slide and reduce the brightness until the black is not visible on the screen.

> The translations are always done by the producer - and I've noticed 
> that the singers often deviate from the written "script" that she produced.

A good supertitle translation isn't true to the script for reasons of space and timing, so your audience probably won't mind.

> It's in English, so why Super Titles?? I'd guess that despite the 
> talented professionals brought in, some audience members don't always 
> understand the words being sung.

 From what you've described, they're probably doing supertitles because "that's what the big-name opera companies do."

I've done English supertitles for English-language opera, but it was a contemporary opera.  Between the orchestration and the vocal parts it just was not possible to understand what was being sung.

Steve L.

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

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