Q&A With The World Is Not Silent‘s Projection Designer Victoria Beauray Sagady 

The projection designer is one of several creative positions on a show, emphasizing deep collaboration with all other designers. It is so important for the projection design to seamlessly work with the scenic, lighting, sound, and costume designs and occasionally assist them in unexpected ways.   We can completely change the context of a scene, enhance the sense of light and space, create new moments with sound, and even work with costumes to create surprising moments.  We also run the risk of doing too much in a world where video content is so readily consumed by audiences, whose brains are hardwired to look at screens and moving images, that we have to be careful we are supporting the story of the show instead of distracting the audience from the story.

The process ideally starts very early with the scenic designer and director so that the ways projections can be used are a part of the initial concept.  Trying to add video to an already existing concept can be very tricky and often leads to less effective designs all around. So, as early as the director and scenic designer meet for the first time, we work on the concept of the design, how projections will be used to support the story and the acting, and all through this process up until tech, I will be creating different ideas and approaches so that I have a toolbox when we get into the space and begin the tech process.  It is very difficult to visualize and understand how an image will work until you can actually experience it in real-time at a scale in the space.  The context of being in the room can completely change how well a choice works, which is why I like to come up with lots of ideas just in case something is not quite right.