The Spaghetti Circus Pirates Show: Previsualization & Postvisualization

About the Production

The Spaghetti Circus Pirates Show was presented for 11 performance in November and December 2006 in a 4 king pole Big Top in Mullumbimby, NSW Australia. The production featured 45 members of the advanced performance troupe of Spaghetti Circus who ranged in age from 12 to 18. The production featured a 3D animated virtual set which was 'puppeteered' in real-time on 3 20ft x 15ft rear projection screens behind the actors. This created the 'largest' video game in Australia at nearly 80ft of panorama. This experiment in 'immersive' virtual scenery was a research project of the Circus Pirates team working at the Entertainment Technology Centre of Carnegie Mellon University Australia based in Adelaide, SA. The 7 member team worked with Director, Simon Adams of Spaghetti Circus to develop a linear narrative for the circus show and then created assets for 2.5 hours of real-time and prerendered content in only 12 weeks. The team was also responsible for documenting nearly 40 hours of DV footage of the production which is now available as a feature film.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Previsualization & Postvisualization

The Circus Pirates team used a 3D Visualization to plan and design our pallet for the production. This was particularly useful to the production team and performers to visualize what they would be experiencing in the Big Top later.

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Spaghetti Circus - Director, Simon Adams

Spaghetti Circus Inc. is an Australian youth performing arts company which promotes excellence in physical theatre and circus arts. We seek to develop the artistic, theatrical and physical skills of youth across regional NSW and provide an inspirational training space for professional artists to explore and develop their work while sharing their unique skills with Spaghetti participants, their industry peers, and the community at large.

Spaghetti Circus Inc. is a non profit community based organization whose purpose and objectives include the following:

To coach children, youth, and adults in the performing arts, particularly physical theatre and circus skills.
To promote performing arts and physical theatre in the Byron Shire and beyond through classes and regular performances.
To introduce new skills to the Circus by inviting guest performers, coaches, and directors to work with participants, as well as encouraging members to take part in training and performance opportunities provided by other organizations and individuals.
To contribute to community entertainment through the participation of the Circus in local, regional and national festivals, as well as cultural, social, school and arts events.
To encourage community participation by training volunteers in relevant tasks so they can assist in Circus activities.
To ensure that everyone can participate in the organizations activities regardless of age, sex, race, religion, socio economic background, or developmental and physical disabilities.
To promote a safe social environment for youth to participate in performing arts, where co-operation between all performers, coaches, staff and management is encouraged.
To teach and encourage members to take part in all tasks and develop an understanding of the creative processes and production elements associated with physical theatre and Circus. These tasks include conceptual storyboard designs, costume and makeup design, sound and lighting, artwork and props, choreography, stage management, coaching and first aid.
To establish an advanced group with the commitment and skills to perform both nationally and internationally.
To generate sufficient income through creative fundraising, sponsorships grants, performances fees and weekly classes to achieve the above objectives.

The Entertainment Technology Center

The Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University offers a two-year Masters of Entertainment Technology degree, jointly conferred by Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts and School of Computer Science. Carnegie Mellon is relatively unique among U.S. Universities in being able to offer this kind of degree, as we have both top-quality fine arts and top-quality technology programs.

The high concept behind both the Center and the Masters program is to have technologists and fine artists work together on projects that produce artifacts that are intended to entertain, inform, inspire, or otherwise affect an audience/guest/player/participant. Because the larger challenge we face in authoring in new media is bringing together different disciplines, our degree program is driven by trying to do this most effectively.

The ETC does not turn artists into technologists, or vice-versa. While some students will be able to achieve mastery in both areas, it is not our intent to have our students master 'the other side.' Instead, we intend for a typical student in this program to enter with mastery or training in a specific area and spend his or her two years at Carnegie Mellon learning the vocabulary, values, and working patterns of the other culture. This learning will be evidenced by their ability to work effectively with those who are expert in it.

Our Mission: To foster leadership in education and research that combines technology and fine arts to create new processes, tools, and vision for storytelling and entertainment.

Christopher R. Antimary: Interaction Programmer

Chris has lived in Pittsburgh for most of his life. His attachment to the city, and his interest in very hands-on uses of technology led him to focus on robotics at Carnegie Mellon University by getting dual degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science. Not being happy with picking just one of those disciplines to enter, Chris was very confused about what he was going to do after graduation. It was during this period of confusion that he went on a trip to the Universal Studios: Islands of Adventure theme park where he rode the Spiderman ride for his first time. The experience was nothing short of inspiring, and the timing of it couldn’t have been better. At the ETC, he is interested in using different kinds of technology in order to blur the line between the virtual and the physical and create meaningful experiences for people. Chris finished his masters degree in December and is now working for Disney Imaginering.

Mark Barrett - Master Programer

After growing up in Colorado, Mark attended Rice University in Houston and received a double major in computer science and English. He also performed in and produced a good deal of theater, winning at one point a university-wide award for best lead actor of the year. He then worked for three years as a lead test software engineer for ViaSat, a satellite communications company. He created development test software for two multi-million-dollar product lines, generally single-handedly. He is excited to be part of the ETC, and especially excited to be part of ETC Australia’s inaugural class. Since half-way through the ETC program Mark has been working with Sídhe Interactive, a games company with a funny name known for their realistic, sober contributions to the marketplace. Based in Wellington, New Zealand, Coolest Place on Earth.

Patrick Donoghue: Lead Modeler

Patrick took his gifts and studied fine art and the history of such at Rocky Mountain College in Billings, MT. It was here that he learned the value of patience, the influence of a good professor and indeed how important friends are (especially when they become your family.) He worked as the co- editor and co-producer of Soliloquy, a literary and art magazine. He had an art show at Ryniker-Morrison Gallery built around the integration of traditional and digital media. He finished his tenure at the school by winning the Department Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts. He has studied the Japanese language for four years and did semester abroad in Queensland at James Cook University studying Japanese Culture and language. He liked Australia so much that he jumped at the chance to come back as part of the ETC- Adelaide program. Having proven his proficiencies with various internet coding languages as well as Maya and everything Adobe, he looks forward to creating entertainment that will make people stop in their tracks.

Shannon Harvey: Producer and Modeler

Shannon comes to the ETC with a Carnegie Mellon education in classical operatic singing, directing, production technology and theatrical management; graduating in 2004 from college of fine arts with a BFA in Theater Studies. After graduation, Shannon was the principal designer and builder of The Hkan nightclub in Pittsburgh. For the past four years Shannon has taught acrobatics, prop manipulation, and clowning in an Australian children's circus. He also worked as a producer for Alchemica Productions an independent production company in Northern NSW; developing feature film scripts and directing and editing a 50 minute documentary. With Australian and American parents, Shannon has spent much of his life hopping across the pond in an effort to finally make Australia his home. Carnegie Mellon Australia's ETC was a perfect fit for Shannon, who was looking for a graduate program in Australia that had the qualities of the academic experience he had undergone as an undergrad. Shannon's vision is to bring about artful theatrical storytelling through dynamic digital media interaction with live spectacle. Shannon is currently a Research Assistant to Don Marinelli, Executive Producer of ETC Global at Carnegie Mellon. He is currently on a research tour to meet with companies to develop potential projects and expand employment opportunities for the ETC community. His travels are documented in a new blog on Immersive Theater and 'Synesthetic Media' http://www.immersivetheater.org Shannon has also recently completed delivery of a feature film of The Spaghetti Circus Pirates Show. It is available on-line at http://www.circuspirates.com

Cameron McCaddon: Writer and Modeler

Cameron earned a B.A. in Creative Writing from UCLA. Since then he has produced copy for advertising agencies, taught English in Japan, bartended in London, written for an online gaming magazine in San Francisco, and patrolled the California coastline as a Fish and Game Warden. In August '07 he will have completed an M.E.T. (Masters in Entertainment Technology) from Carnegie Mellon University. - He is now an Associate Producer and Game Developer at LeapFrog where he is striving to make unique and compelling video games, which unobtrusively combine game play, curriculum and 'story.'

Tim Metz: Project Filmmaker, Texture Artist

A native of Seattle, Washington, Tim earned a Bachelor's Degree in Film Production from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. His first job was working as a postproduction intern for Automat Pictures where he received his first published credit with the DVD release of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE remake. Tim's next job took him to network television where he went to work for NBC's hit show, FEAR FACTOR as the on-location Production Assistant. One of the more unusual aspects of this job included Tim hauling cow stomachs around the set for a particularly disgusting stunt. He then went to work at Ascendant Pictures as a Production Assistant where he did script coverage for the Producers, but also found time to freelance as a staff writer for Gamemethod.com where he wrote reviews for new console games. Tim decided to get his Masters degree in Entertainment Technology because he hopes to expand his knowledge base and skill sets to try storytelling in new and daring mediums. His passion for films remains however, and it has helped him in creating fresh and exciting projects within the ETC.

Michelle Pun: Lead Texture Artisit, Assocate Producer

Born and raised in Toronto, Canada; Michelle was driven by a childhood love of video games to study Visual Arts at York University, where she specialized in computer art and multimedia installations. Thanks to her background in both art and programming, she often worked on projects that played within the space between these two subjects. After completing her BFA, she wanted to explore more possibilities where technology and art meet. Michelle found those possibilities in the Entertainment Technology Center for Carnegie Mellon University. After Graduating with her MET in May, Michelle is now working for Disney Online.

The Spaghetti Circus Pirates Show