An extra dimension at the Birmingham Hippodrome panto
huge pauses, it needs to be absolutely seamless.”
Sleeping Beauty is one of six pantomimes which Tim and his team are working on this Christmas. Between them, the staff are creating magical worlds for shows all over the country including festive favourites such as Robinson Crusoe, Cinderella and Aladdin.
It is not the first time their work will be seen at the Hippodrome as amazing interactives created a 3D genie who zipped around the auditorium in Aladdin two years ago.
And the company’s links with our city go back much further as its first theatre collaboration was with Old Rep based Birmingham Stage Company when they worked together on the first Horrible Histories show in 2006.
At that time, Tim and his team created a 3D rout of the Spanish Armada for Terrible Tudors in which audience members had to dodge cannon balls and burning bits of debris and a 3D Charge of the Light Brigade for Vile Victorians in which theatre-goers became the valiant six hundred.
Since then amazing interactives, under the brand Bogglevision, and BSC have created four more Horrible Histories and the two companies have now created a Horrible Science show which is due to come to Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre next summer.
Tim, who studied art at college before moving into computer generated graphics, says changes are happening all of the time.
“I would say that each year we are developing and improving,” he says. “Particularly in what we can now do in using 3D to create a link between the audience and the actor.”
So how does 3D work?
“Basically we need to see an object in the same way that the eyes see it,” says Tim. “Your left eye sees something from a slightly different angle and your right eye sees something from a slightly different angle. With the cameras we are creating what the left eye sees and what the right eye sees and you get the two viewpoints at once. The different viewpoints come together when you then use polarisation glasses to create the illusion.
“If you take the glasses off when you are watching 3D then you are left with simply that, two slightly different pictures.”
Amazing interactives is at the very cutting edge of this technology and creates work not just for theatre.
“We have been very involved in education work,” says Tim. “We do a lot of 3D interactive work which schools can use to teach science, maths, biology. Schools tend to use it as a treat as the children really want to do the interactive things.”
And the company is also working on an exciting project to take their 3D illusions into a local children’s hospital.
“They are building a brand new children’s hospital in Newcastle and we are putting some of our work into their burns unit,” says Tim. “Changing dressings for children can be very painful so they were looking for something which could try and distract the children while they are having it done. So we are creating 3D images which the children can interact with while they are there.”
The project is ongoing but Tim and his team are creating a series of interactive films which can be selected depending on the children’s age or interests. Choices will include blue skies and rainbows for little children and jungle adventures and sports activities for older children. Tim is also taking advantage of his links with QDOS, producers of Birmingham Hippodrome’s pantomimes, to include some of the pieces they have created for shows.
“That is an area where we would really like to do more work,” says Tim. “This is our first project of this kind but we would hope to be able to introduce it in other children’s hospitals not just in the UK but also in other countries.”
But in the meantime it is back to Sleeping Beauty. Michael has watched the screenings and is asking Tim to tweak an image or two.
And this process continues until the beginning of the pantomime.
“There can always be changes once we set up in the theatre,” says Tim. “It may be that once we are working in the space we need to bring an image out a bit further or take it back a bit.
“What we are working with is basically a series of codes so all we need to do is alter them a bit. Once that is in place we can leave it as all that is needed to start running the programme and creating the illusions is for someone to push the button.”
* Sleeping Beauty, Birmingham Hippodrome: Dec 19-Jan 31, tickets: 0844 338 5000, www.birminghamhippodrome.com
* For more information on amazing interactives see www.amazing-int.com
