British light artist and lighting designer, Lucy Carter, has worked all over the world with the most prestigious dance, opera, and theatre companies, and but has maintained a close working partnership with choreographer Wayne McGregor. This spring, the multi-award-winning designer collaborated with Studio Wayne McGregor, the Royal Ballet, and Ravi Deepres on UniVerse: A Dark Crystal Odyssey.
Carter, who is the recipient of multiple awards and nominations for her work, including two Knight of Illumination Awards, two Olivier Awards, a Critics Circle National Dance Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Dance, and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts Companionship for outstanding achievement and practical contribution to the Institutes’ learning, shared her thoughts on working on UniVerse.
Live Design: What attracted you to this particular production?
Lucy Carter: Working with a fantastic and exciting creative team on such an iconic movie, what's not to love?
LD: You have worked at he Royal Opera House before; does it make it easier if you know the venue and the rig?
LC: It always helps having worked in a venue before, because not only do you understand the way things work, the systems and the teams, but you are always learning about the best angles of light and subconsciously storing information in your mind for the next time. On this production we were thinking about creating a sustainable touring version for the future, and working in the Linbury (a fully LED theatre that is part of the Royal Opera House) provided the opportunity to trial what a sustainable lighting rig might look like.
LD: You have also worked with Wayne McGregor before. Can you describe how you work together? Does he arrive on the project with a theme or reference for you to interpret or do you go to him with your thoughts on the project and he prefers to let you take it from there?
LC: Wayne briefs the whole creative team at the beginning about his ideas for the work; themes he wants to explore and the context in which we will create, at which point every member of the creative team carries out their own research and finds inspiration in response to his overarching concepts. From then on we are collaborating and conversing throughout the process, inputting our own thoughts and ideas to inspire the others. We develop our ideas alongside each other. Throughout the process, even during the technical period we are all responding and re-imaging together to create the finished production.
LD: Did you reference the cult film that the production was based on, or feel any pressure to reference it for a new audience?
LC: We used the original film and its themes as a resource to mine for inspiration, and then created our own responses.
LD: Do you approach a design differently if there are projections involved? Do you typically have to limit certain fixtures or looks to avoid bleeding onto a projection surface or detracting from moving images?
LC: On a technical level it’s essential when working with projection to continuously consider keeping all light off the projection surfaces, and minimizing both spill and bounce light so you don’t wash out the projections. Creatively we need to work really closely to ensure that, progressively throughout the piece, we are on the same page and are driving the same idea home together. Every decision about screen positions, light positions, and technical lighting and video decisions is made collaboratively.
LD: What was the most challenging part of this project?
LC: Balancing light and projections in order to reveal the dancers as prominently as the imagery is always the most challenging element, and it takes time to continuously balance and respond.
LD: What was your favorite part of the project?
LC: The 3D immersive projections and watching the dancers perform within the context of those projections.
LD: What are you working on next?
LC: A new production for Factory International at Aviva Studios in Manchester – Free Your Mind, inspired by the Matrix movies with Danny Boyle, Boy Blue, and Es Devlin
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