Piotr Sochaczewski - Since 2018, he has been associated with the Independent Theatre Group Organized in Staszic as a theatre director and lighting director for musical performances and concerts. Since 2021, he has been a lighting director at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. He is the author of the modernization of the lighting system in the main concert hall of the university building. There he also fulfills a pedagogical role - he conducts a faculty showing students how modern stage lighting technologies can enhance the impact of music on the audience. In his latest project, he uses the latest automatic compact lighting tracking system, zactrack mini, and grandMA3 onPC command wing XT for the lighting of the performance "Powoli Molly."
How long did you work on preparing the lighting and tracking system for the musical "Powoli Molly"? I was involved in the work on the performance three months before the premiere, even before the start of the acting rehearsals. Of course, at that stage, it was far from establishing specifics, but thanks to the previously conducted site inspection of the hall, we knew all the challenges ahead of us, and from the very beginning, we could gently adjust the settings on the stage to the architectural conditions and lighting possibilities of the stage with the director - Katarzyna Dąbkowska and choreographer - Agnieszka Łuczyńska. This was very important because most of the rehearsals took place in completely different spaces, and it was necessary to consider what we would ultimately work with. In the arrangements, sometimes a few steps difference was crucial to achieve the appropriate lighting angle.
Could you describe your role in more detail - apart from designing and directing the lighting and tracking, did you also handle console programming? In GOK (Gminny Osrodek Kultury, the Municipal Cultural Center) in Rzgów, they have a console with an operating system I had never worked with before, so due to the rather complicated lighting scenes, we decided to program the musical in the grandMA3 onPC system provided to us by the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music, where I work daily. Thanks to this, I was sure that any solution that came to my mind would be possible to implement. Therefore, programming the performance was also my responsibility.
What were the key assumptions when designing the lighting and tracking for this musical? The main assumption was to create lighting adapted to the plans of staging the performance in various places. Unfortunately, unlike sound systems, light, as we know, is much more individual for each stage, and there is no single standard for the arrangement of lighting bridges, let alone devices. Therefore, we decided to use the specific conditions of GOK in Rzgów as little as possible and design the most universal solutions possible. The functionality of device replacement in the grandMA3 system and the ability to save positions in XYZ format instead of pan/tilt was crucial for this purpose. The zactrack mini system also proved very helpful, thanks to which it was not necessary to program each position in complex choreographies, and the actors' light tracking was automatic.
How many artists performed on the main stage during the event, and for how many of them did you use tracking? "Powoli Molly" is a performance for eight actors and a band, which - in the case of premiere performances - consisted of three instrumentalists and a playback engineer. As for the tracking system, due to the significant density of actors on stage - according to the recommendations of the zactrack tracking system manufacturer - I used two trackers (wireless tracking devices attached to the actor's costume) for the actors. From the five trackers offered by zactrack mini, we created two double sets, one of which tracked the main character throughout the performance, and the other was passed between three other actors backstage between scenes. The fifth tracker was used as a backup in case of failure.
How many lighting devices did you use for tracking? We calibrated all the spot-type devices we had available on stage (15 units). Finally, I handed over 14 of them to zactrack mini at some point during the performance, including two lamps standing on the floor and tracking in an inverted position relative to the rest. As it turns out, this is also not an obstacle for the system.
How long have you been using the zactrack mini system? The system was acquired by UMFC, where I am employed in lighting as part of a grant obtained from the National Center for Research and Development at the end of 2023. Since then, we initially tested both zactrack mini and its larger and more advanced 3D version - zactrack smart - during rehearsals and increasingly larger events. Over the past six months, we have managed to carry out several events where the systems were used. At the same time, the UMFC Sound Directing Department - led by the Multimedia Department - began testing the system in applications outside the lighting area.
What do you think are the biggest advantages of the zactrack mini system? A huge advantage is its "wirelessness." In the case of the discussed performance, thanks to this, I could quickly set up the antennas and start calibration even before the technicians brought power to the appropriate places. Also, the use of radio technology instead of cameras proved very important because actors in the theatre often hide behind the scenery. This also allows the system to be completely hidden under costumes, making its presence completely imperceptible to the audience.
How do you assess the flexibility of the zactrack mini and grandMA3 systems in the context of frequent changes in performance locations? As I mentioned earlier, it is a perfect combination. On the one hand, grandMA3, where we can easily replace devices and use Recipes to adjust only individual presets related to colors or brightness of individual devices, and positions that always required some work can be automatically adjusted to the encountered lamp arrangement thanks to saving positions in XYZ format. On the other hand, zactrack mini, which in a small suitcase allows the use of any head as a followspot without the need to bring additional operators or wonder if we will find the devices we need on-site or if we need to bring another large case. The calibration method is also very quick thanks to the ability to use the position sent from the console, allowing simultaneous calibration of the position in grandMA3 and zactrack.
What is your overall impression of the zactrack company? In September, Oliver Ronshausen (zactrack International Technical Support) visited us at the UMFC headquarters together with the LTT company team (zactrack brand distributor in Poland), which was a great opportunity to ask a few questions and clarify certain system functionalities. We also managed to convey the key steps for further development and discuss the philosophy behind the applied solutions. This indicates a great interest of the zactrack company in the satisfaction of the final recipient of their product, and it builds our conviction that the system will continue to develop, and like in the case of MA Lighting, we can count on further functionalities responding to our needs.
Did you use virtual programming before the performance? Due to the fact that GOK in Rzgów provided us with the hall for only three days of rehearsals, with the first two days separated from the premiere weekend, virtual programming was an essential element of the work. Thanks to this, on the day of the general rehearsals, we could focus on correcting what was already recorded, rather than creating the project from scratch. Obviously, there were some discrepancies between the .dwg files provided to us and the actual architecture of the object, but they were not significant enough to undermine the sense of virtual work. Also, color or brightness reproduction required minor corrections, but with the speed of work provided by the grandMA3 software, this was not an insurmountable obstacle.
What were the biggest challenges you faced in preparing the lighting and tracking for this production? Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge was the time we could spend in the target space. This required the use of modern virtual programming solutions and maximum focus during the premiere weekend to get everything done on time with very little margin for schedule shifts.
Many thanks to our partner LTT for this interview!
Photos: Bartłomiej Stępień
Source: LTT Poland - Click Here!
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