The Paper Cinema is a theatre company who have created performances using 2D pictures. They have created a show called Odyssey, which they are touring around the UK throughout 2012. This is based on Homer’s Odyssey, the story of a man’s journey home to his family after the Trojan War. On their website they describe their work:
“A troupe of multi-instrumentalists perform an orchestrated score, including all sound effects, producing an immersive soundtrack. The puppeteers use multiple cameras to augment their range of visual storytelling techniques, bring the 2D drawings to life to create an ambitious, richly textured show. Capturing the fast passed action and movement as the story unfolds audiences are able to watch the entire workings of the show before their eyes” (The Paper Cinema, 2012).
Before viewing this I was slightly worried that, due to the fact that they tell the story with no speech at all, I would not be able to follow the story. However, they use amazing, yet simple, methods of creating sound effects. For example, to make the sound of walking along a beach, they had a box full of pebbles which they stood and walked on. They created all of the sound effects live on stage so they were visible to the audience. All of their music was just right to fit their performance as when tension needed to be built the music was a fast tempo whereas in more serious moments, it was slower. The music brought out the intimacy within the piece. For example, during the sad parts when the lost father is trying to find his way back to his family, the music made his emotions clear. It revealed his desperateness to get home and exposed his feelings of despair and anguish. This performance opened our eyes to the varying range of C.E.P’s and it has shown how different each performance can be. Mostly this performance made me realise how important sound and music are to a production. Even the lack of sound can be effective when the performance calls for it.
Works Cited
The Paper Cinema (2012) About the Show, Online: http://thepapercinema.com/shows-2/about-the-show/ (accessed 11th November 2012.)