Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020 - 29

from multiple sources, but the production team simply wore two sets of headphones each to keep track of everything.
The core production team spent a
week putting together and testing out the
bones of the graduation. They created
cue lists and scripts, uploaded tons of
pictures, sound, videos, and basic scripting. The next week, tech began. Each day
leading up to the actual commencement,
the team ran the show in a somewhat
traditionally "tech" setting, with dry tech,
cue-to-cue, wet tech, dress rehearsal,
preview, and brush-up. Per usual, the
team polished choices, took notes, made
changes, discovered limitations, and
forged the program that was presented
to the graduating class. Musical performances ended up being prerecorded due
to technical limitations, but aside from
those two songs and a message from a
vice-chancellor, the show was live.

Commencement shot list
All space playlist, press space when titles need to be added as well

Cue Shot Title

Video 1

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22

Stand by
Welcome
Humphrey video
Introduce MG
Graduate words
Hooding
AMD Congrats
AMD and MG
MG Words
Introduce KOM
Speaker
Back to AMD
Introduction
BW Words
Introduction
Speaker
Meg picture
Back to Speaker
Back to AMD
Introduce GD
Undergrad words
Introduce NC
Music introduction

Preshow Video (1)
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Humphrey Video (34)
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Graduate Hooding Slides (11)
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Speaker 1 (4) - KOM
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - BW
Speaker 2 (5) - BW
Speaker 1 (4) - MP
Photo (10)
Speaker 1 (4) - MP
Speaker 2 (5) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - GD
Speaker 1 (4) - GD
Speaker 2 (5) - NC

23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46

Music
Introduce BW
BW words
Introduce MB
UG speaker
MG words
Introduction
UG speaker
AMD Words
Introduce CC
Student awards intro
Student awards
AMD words
Introduce RVR
Graduates intro
Presentation of graduates
Ricardo PIP
AMD Words
Introduce BT
Music introduction
Music
Closing remarks
Gallery view
Post

Video (31)
Speaker 2 (5) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - BW
Speaker 1 (4) - BW
Speaker 2 (5) - MB
Speaker 1 (4) - MG
Speaker 1 (4) - MG
Speaker 2 (5) - LM
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - CC
Slide show (12)
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - RVR
Slide show (13)
Slide show (13)
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 1 (4) - AMD
Speaker 2 (5) - BT
Show movie (34)
Speaker 2 (5) - AMD
Gallery View (7)
Congratulations image (2)

Video 2
Title card - AMD (14)
Title Card - KH (15)
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Title card - MG (16)
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Speaker 2 (5) - MG
Speaker 1 (4) - KOM
Title card - KOM (17)
Speaker 2 (5) - BW
Title card - BW (18)
Speaker 1 (4) - MP
Title card - MP (19)

Speaker 1 (4) - GD
Title card - GD (20)
Speaker 2 (5) - NC
Title card - NC (21)
Title Card - BS/DS Duet (27)
Speaker 1 (4) - BW
Speaker 2 (5) - MB
Title card - MB (22)
Speaker 2 (5) - LM
Title Card - LM (23)
Speaker 2 (5) - CC
Title Card - CC (24)
Speaker 2 (5) - CC
Speaker 2 (5) - RVR
Title Card - RVR (25)
Speaker 2 (5) - RVR
Speaker 2 (5) - BT
Title card - BT (26)
Title Card - NCBT Duet (28)

Audio 1
Preshow video (1)
Zoom Audio (30)
Humphrey Video (3)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Musical selection (31)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Musical selection (31)
Zoom Audio (30)
Zoom Audio (30)
Graduation Audio (34)

Check gallery on backdrop to be speaker 1

Operator Action

Select AMD Zoom for Speaker 1 (4)
Select MG Zoom for Speaker 2 (5)

Advance slides with calls (V)

Select KOM for Speaker 1 (4)
Select BW for Speaker 2 (5)
Quick cut to AMD speaker 1 (4)
Select MP for Speaker 1 (4)
Select AMD for Speaker 2 (5)

Select GD for Speaker 1 (4)

Select NC for Speaker 2 (5)
Select BW for Speaker 1 (4)
Select AMD for Speaker 2 (5)
Select MB for Speaker 2 (5)
Select MG for Speaker 1 (4)
Select LM for Speaker 2 (5)
Select AMD for Speaker 1 (4)
Select CC for Speaker 2 (5)

Advance slides with calls (Z)
Select RVR for Speaker 2 (5)

Advance slides with calls (M)
Select BT for Speaker 2 (5)

Select AMD for Speaker 2 (5)
Select Gallery View for Speaker 1 (4)

Preview

Fade to Camera switcher A (29) PS 3
Humphrey Video (3)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Hooding slideshow
Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 1 (4)
Cut to AMD Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 1 (4)

Pan to Speaker 2 (5)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 1 (4)
Musical selection (31)
Camera switcher A (29) PS 1
Zoom to Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Pan to Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Pan to Speaker 1 (4)
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Award slides (14)
Camera switcher A (29) PS 3
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Graduates slides (31)
Add PIP
Camera Switcher A (29) PS 3
Zoom out on switcher
Zoom to Speaker 2 (5)
Musical selection (32)
Speaker 1 (4)
Gallery view

Notes
Check camera focus to be on PS 3

Both AMD and MG are live

Both AMD and MG are live
Both KOM and MG are live

Both BW and MP live

Both AMD and GD live
Both AMD and NC are live

Select PS1 for switcher
Both AMD and BW live
Both BW and MB live

Both MG and LM live

Both AMD and CC live
CC live PIP
Both AMD and RVR live

RVR live PIP
Select PS3 for switcher
Both AMD and BT live

Switch to multiple pages in gallery view

Tracking sheet for Pitt's graduation ceremony. | Courtesy Eben Patrick Alguire.

In vMix, we created virtual cameras
to capture desktop windows and virtual
microphones to grab audio from various
sources in the computer to avoid crosstalk whenever possible. Because Zoom
lets users pin two speakers at a time, we
devised a "two-camera" setup, where the
virtual cameras would always be on the
two Zoom windows, and we would trade
who was highlighted in the windows
when that specific camera was not live.
Zoom also allows for decent quality video
and audio, and speakers were required
to control their mute buttons. A faculty
member was designated as a "bouncer"
to keep an eye on the participants and
kick out anyone who might disrupt.
Vision mixing software, such as
vMix and OBS, also allows for the creation of virtual environments (originally
for newsrooms), where a 3D model or
high-definition picture can be uploaded
into the program and different areas can
be assigned to different visual inputs.
This allowed us to create a camera control center where we could zoom and pan
around from speaker to speaker. This
could also potentially allow theatres to
create virtual scenery, input performers
into static windows, and to enhance the
show with a color keyed background.
The backstage elements of the virtual world had backup redundancies
built-in and presented a different view for
the team. Our graduation was active in
the Zoom room and streamed live (with

a 30-second delay) to YouTube for family and friends. Thus, the Zoom room
was the "raw" experience, but audiences
saw only the production values visible
through the YouTube stream. The program was run by two of us, one primary
and one backup, ready to take over the
stream if there were technical issues with
the primary computer. We had a stage
manager calling the cues over a separate
program, Teams. The backup computer
also streamed a desktop view of the program to our Teams channel, so the stage
manager and department chair could
see what was going on, even though it
wasn't actually outputting to the official
broadcast. Technological advances and
increased time for planning will probably
result in a better way to manage audio

Model for Future Shows

The department considers our experiment in a produced streaming of graduation a success and feels that it opens
doors to adapt and integrate this technology into future shows. There is a great
deal of difference between our graduation and the full university graduation,
which was entirely prerecorded and
edited to perfection. Of course, Theatre
Arts has a graduating class of around 50,
where the university is closer to 8,000, so
the scale will always be a differentiating
factor, but listening to a live person in a
room, virtual or not, feels different than
watching a movie. It feels more personal
and it feels warmer. Besides, it is fun to
see the little mistakes that remind us this
is a celebration of live art.
None of the team had prior

Also at Pitt
After streaming graduation, Pitt ended up having a very successful production of
She Kills Monsters: Virtual Realms by Qui Nguyen, who has adapted the popular
play and made it available for streaming use. The production included the use of
meeting templates and hand-drawn backgrounds, animated effects, sound, and
props that were mailed to the performers. While not easy, the process and the
end result were very rewarding, and everyone on the team is extremely proud of
what we they were able to accomplish with a near zero budget and a full student
team. Because of the contract with the publisher of the play, the show is no longer available to view, but a number of Q&A panels with performers, designers,
technicians, and faculty advisors is available on the Pitt Stages YouTube page at
www.youtube.com/channel/UCa4QUlswARANvzif_oJGrHQ.

SUMMER 2020 | THEATRE DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY

| 29
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Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2020

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