None of us have seen a time like this one. Concert halls and locked theatres around the world stand empty, their idleness mandated by the global pandemic. Artistic and managing directors struggle to predict when and how their venues might open again—and when audiences will feel comfortable enough to sit together in an auditorium to watch a live performance.
Meanwhile, more people are turning to the arts in their own living rooms. Since the pandemic began, the National Theatre’s online YouTube channels attracted more than 10 million views of its streamed shows through the end of May—and while most venues don’t have the star-studded cast that nets such a wide audience, even a fraction of that number could be meaningful and profitable for a smaller company.
It’s time for theatre, music, opera, and dance companies to reach out to this captive audience by streaming performances. The leap from live performance to streaming is not as difficult or costly as you may think. It also may pay for itself in pay-per-view fees and donations.
To understand the details for streaming video, we asked several of our designers to offer suggestions based on their experiences.
Anyone can stream
Recording a performance with the high production values today’s audiences expect used to take much more effort and technology than it does now, according to Christopher Sprague, Senior Theatre Consultant in Schuler Shook's Chicago office.
“The process can be fairly simple,” he noted. “Before I joined Schuler Shook, some of the projects I worked on had entire live TV studio control rooms,” Sprague said. “Now a lot of this can be done in a cubicle workstation, where you can get a small video switcher that doesn’t take up much more space than a keyboard and a monitor.”
“Most people now carry video cameras in our pockets. The technology and the software and the hardware are all improving and becoming more affordable,” said Michael Burgoyne, Schuler Shook Partner in the Minneapolis office.
The key to this capability, however, is having the infrastructure in place.
“The concern is getting the cabling and the pathways where they need to go in a discreet way,” said Burgoyne. “There needs to be some sensitivity to how we include this equipment in a venue. We can be clever about how to tuck these things into corners.”
Balancing aesthetic considerations with practical requirements is not as complicated as it may seem. “You have to get the data back to the stream, so you need compatible network cable,” said Sprague. “Most video equipment has moved to category wiring. A network cable can move a lot of data these days.”
“Cameras used for recording or streaming video can be very small,” said Burgoyne. “The remote-controlled pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras are smaller and simpler to use than ever before,” he said. “It’s easier to find places to mount them—on the balcony rail, in corners of the house. They are smaller than an automated lighting fixture.”
High-quality sound is just as important as high-resolution video, points out Tim Lindstrom, principal at Thoughtful Technology Design Group. “For many venues, it may be the easiest component to capture. In the simplest sense, you can take the mix off the sound mixing board that you already have,” he said.
Audio mixing requirements for streaming are different enough that a custom mix will most likely be preferable according to Graeme Trott, Project A/V Consultant for Schuler Shook in Melbourne, Australia. “In most cases, the microphones in use for the production can be used for streaming, but some additional microphones may be desired for the stream, for example, to capture every musician or perhaps some ambient sound,” he said.
Overall, it may be faster and easier than most venues realize to add a streaming capability to their auditorium, especially if the goal is to record and edit the program before release, rather than live-streaming as it happens.
“This gives the opportunity to edit the content to make it more suitable for a screen-based audience, or to overcome technical issues,” said Trott.
Live vs. on-demand: What’s the difference?
Performing arts organizations may scoff at those who are daunted by the idea of live-streaming a production or concert. “We perform live eight times a week,” a theatre’s managing director may say. “What’s so different about putting it live on YouTube?”
Audiences have high expectations for programming from a professional company, so they will assume that a live stream from their regional theatre or symphony orchestra will be of exemplary quality. If the program turns out to be nothing more than a stationary shot from a fixed camera in the middle of the balcony rail, they won’t tune in next time.
As with any live performance, technical rehearsals will be required to allow the director to choose the shots and work out all the transitions.
On the other hand, a program posted and streamed on-demand reduces the level of complication for the venue as well as the stress of performing live in what can be an unfamiliar medium. Recording performances for on-demand streaming requires rehearsal as well, but capturing the performance with multiple cameras and editing it into one program can be completed over time. The recording process does not need to be confined to one performance —the technical staff can record two or more performances using different camera angles, allowing them to capture the shots they need using the cameras installed.
Either way, preparation is the key to success. “Streaming a performance requires planning and rehearsal,” said Trott. “The director needs to decide what shots will be needed to follow and capture the action in a way that makes sense to the audience watching on a screen somewhere. It’s also an opportunity to think about creative use of cameras and audio to provide an enhanced experience.”
Getting up and running
A key consideration, along with camera and mic selection is your bandwidth. Trott said, “You will need a reasonably robust internet streaming service.”
“A lower resolution live programming requires about 0.5 to 1 Megabits per second bandwidth with 4K resolution requiring up to 25 Megabits per second upload speeds to maintain live streaming,” Lindstrom said. “The compression engines used for streaming have nuances between each of the manufacturers and may change that compression a bit,” he said.
Within the building, the network switches and router have to be capable of using that much bandwidth as well. “A lot of people put an old network switch on the line and find out it’s not robust enough,” said Lindstrom.
For capture, select your video director and have them involved early in the process, to determine the camera positions required for strong coverage of the performance. The number of monitors required will be at the director’s discretion as well and may depend on the complexity of the production. Split-screen views on one monitor may be adequate for programs that will be edited before streaming, while a live-streamed show may require separate monitors.
A computer and editing software may already be available within the venue (Adobe Premier Pro for Windows or Final Cut Pro for Mac are two of the most common, while VEGAS Pro is good for beginners). Once the editor and director have completed the program, streaming software is required to prepare it for the internet and upload it to YouTube, Vimeo, a website, or whatever online access point you choose to use. The contact provider—YouTube or otherwise—may require that the stream be in a specific format, which will influence the choice of streaming software.
“You need one person who’s fairly savvy network-wise to deal with the equipment,” said Lindstrom. Colleges that teach theatre usually teach video production as well, and the programs may be in the same relative vicinity of each other on campus. The two departments can pool their expertise to stream a theatre production. Equally important, however, is having someone with “an eye for the compositional aspects,” he continued. “You need someone with the sensibility of a video director, who has that confidence to put those pieces together into something engaging.”
What changes, what doesn’t
Remarkably, two of the most critical aspects of a great video production are already in place in most venues: sound and lighting. Sound, as noted earlier, may come into the video right from the house controller, especially in a theatre or opera production in which all of the actors and singers use microphones.
“Lighting used to be a major undertaking in turning a stage production into video,” said Duane Schuler, a founder and director of Schuler Shook, and a working lighting designer at the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, American Ballet Theatre and other venues.
“The cameras have gotten so much better,” he said. “You don’t really have to make that many changes at all. Cameras don’t have much ability to adjust for contrast level, so lighting designers may actually have to lower the light levels from follow spots. If you want to see any of the scenery, you have to make sure the lights are not too bright. The background disappears because the contrast exceeds the dynamic range of the camera until you lower the intensity of the follow spots.”
Streaming should not frighten lighting designers, Schuler said. “With minor adjustments, a good camera team can capture what you’re doing. You don’t need to modify your work that much. You want to show the environment the people are performing in.”
The bigger issues may be in costumes and makeup, he added. “In a live performance, the audience won’t get closer than 20 feet from you,” he said. “Now suddenly you have cameras doing close-ups. The makeup should not be distracting. The little details become very, very obvious on a big screen.”
In addition, Burgoyne point out that clients who have turned to streaming in recent months have made their programs special by providing features an audience could not get by coming to the theatre. “At the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the music director speaks directly to the camera,” he said. “If you can offer something new—a few minutes with a cast member, a backstage interview—that you don’t get in a traditional theatre setting, that can make use of the streaming delivery format.”
Finally, don’t forget the fundamentals. “You have to secure the rights to stream the production from the publisher, and the rights to use the performances from the unions,” Sprague said. Closed-captioning of the performance is standard procedure for operas in foreign languages, but captioning any theatrical production for hearing-impaired viewers will expand the audience who will enjoy the program.
“Making the right investment in infrastructure, equipment, and software can give any performance venue the ability to produce content for streaming now and also for the long term,” said Burgoyne. “Plan to support streaming now and in the future, and you will have the opportunity to broaden your audience and, potentially, create a new revenue stream.”