In the film "Harry Potter and the Fire Cup" there is a very spectacular moment - the final of the Quiddich World Championship, which, thanks to magic, turns into some unprecedented enchanting show with the air projections, huge holograms, music and fireworks. 16 years ago, when the film came out on the screens, it seemed that this was only possible in the magic world of Hogwarts. Well, and in the movies. Today, AR and VR technologies allow you to transfer fabulous wonders to reality. About holographic performances, augmented reality and audiences "Invest-Forsight" spoke with Alexei Sechenov, director, founder of Sechenov.com, the creator of such large-scale shows, as the opening and closing ceremony of the II European Games, the XIX World Festival of Youth and Students, World Cup WORLDSKILLS, XXVII World Universiade.
- Alexey Gennadievich, you have been creating performances and shows for many years. In 2003, were the operator-director of concerts by Paul McCartney in Russia, in the 2005th holiday of the 60th anniversary of the victory on Red Square, in 2010, in 2010, were the program of Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Igor Cool "Dejauba" ... What has changed since then?
Everything changed! There were even the streets for which we go. The speed of development of the technique is now colossal. We must have time to have time for these changes, because the expression "stand still" has long lost its meaning: you either come forward, or rapidly fall. Today, not to use modern technologies in art is impossible simply because the current viewer does not exist without them. Take at least art exhibitions. Another 15-20 years ago, the gallery would win the paintings of the famous artist and offered the viewer to buy a ticket to see them. Today it seems boring; The gallery invites not to look at the works of art, but to plunge into the amazing world of the artist, which is created with the help of modern technologies - projections, light, sound, screens. I would say, we are present at the birth of multi-art, in which various genres and technological solutions are mixed. And the high-tech show is an attempt to look at the future.
- The WorldSkills World Championship opening ceremony turned out to be stunningly beautiful. Most of all I remember a huge whale, which floats above the hall and as if she dives into a giant aquarium, pulling everything around crystal splashes. What was it?
- A very difficult engineering solution, we used the technology of augmented reality. It was necessary to get a "live" volumetric picture, which could unfold 360 °, and viewers from any sector of the hall, southern, northern, western, east, could be of this whale to see in his full Gras. Here was the most accurate calculation. And 15 years ago, what did we surprise the audience? I remember, at one concert, the jet of concentrated smoke was allowed on the scene, it turned out such as the screen, and we did the image on it. It was a wild, unprecedented, stunning special effect. For those times, of course. Now this is not surprised by anyone, some kind of children's toy.
- How long and money goes to create big projects?
- Create such a show is a matter of unprecedented and cheap. Over the opening and closing of WorldSkills World Championships, we worked for two years. And about funds ... I do not remember exactly how much it was worth it, but at such a scale it is always about millions of dollars.
- And with a small budget you are not interested in working? If, for example, you will ask you to make a magic corporate show for some company, refuse?
- I would be interested to work with such projects, just for some reason I have never come to organize a corporate, wedding or birthday. In general, taking care of the project, I'm not pushing out of the budget and not from the modern technologies available to us, but from the literature. The idea of the script should occur. What world will we invite the audience? It will be the underwater kingdom, cosmic odyssey to distant worlds, enchanted forest, travel to the past land? Money will be spent on creating peace, illusion. And, you know, it's good when the viewer makes the impression that the money for the project was spent very, a lot, much more than in fact.
- Have you ever argued with customers, discourage them from some insane ideas?
- Not. If the customer comes with his idea and wants, for example, in order for the robots or sang during his concert during his concert, fluttering with a branch on the bird branch, let it be so. My task is to come up with how to make the most beautiful as possible, it is impressive, interesting. In the show, all genres and ideas are good, except boring! Customers pay money for the embodiment of their dreams, I take to make a show that will be remembered by the audience, will be bright and spectacular. By the way, many great works of art were created by order.
- What do you think, why do the spectators go to the show? For emotions, mood, entertainment? What, ideally, should the viewer go after a good, high-quality show?
- changed. I think the show was able to change at least one viewer. The show is life, thinking. Of course, we come to the idea and in order to have fun, relax from the routine, gain impressions, but also - to better understand yourself and your way, get momentum to development, inspiration for new affairs. If something stuck in business, try to go to the show. Sometimes such a switching from the working wave on the festive, out of the usual world in some completely different, it is useful, stimulates the release of endorphins and ... new ideas.
"I can't help but ask as Sechenov.com, who specializes in mass events, survived a pandemic. Do you have new ideas for development?
"You know, sometimes come to a doctor with a complaint about poor well-being, and he:" You just need to relax. " Here, during Quarantine and self-insulation, I had such a feeling - it was time to rest a little. And during rest, many unexpected thoughts come to mind. Yes, in 2020, we did not prepare a large-scale show. But opened the workshops, where they can undergo a course and get practical skills director, I wrote a book in which I share my experience as a director, operator, director, it should go in April, we launched a online theater. The first performance, "thick. There is no guilty in the world, "more than a thousand spectators have already looked. On February 27, the premiere will be held in our online theater, show the play "Angel Mary".
- How much tickets do online performances and how do they differ from classical productions that are broadcast on television?
- tickets inexpensive - 490 rubles. I am confident that direct air, online broadcast is the future of art. The difference from television broadcasts and offline performances is obvious - you can instantly get the opinion of the viewer and even respond to it. Previously, the questions of the director and actors could set only journalists during a press conference on the premiere, now it is available to all viewers - you can write your question in the online broadcast chat, will try to answer it. So we did after the play "Tolstoy" - answered the questions of the audience, who asked us about the scenery, about the scenario, about the relationship of Leo Nikolayevich and Sophia Andreevna.
Another important advantage of the online theater is an unlimited number of viewers, it can be millions. Does not need a visual hall, you do not need a big scene. We put our performances on a plot of 100 square meters. But can we transfer the energy of the play through our audience through the screen? This question has become the most important and most terrible. It turned out, it is possible! An online play and classical theater production can live according to various laws, have a different scenography, dramaturgy, but they must be divided with the audience the energy of art, creativity. And here, in addition to the script, technology, it is important that such a concept as talent. When the workshop listeners ask about the formula of the talent, I say:
It seems to me that our experiment with the online theater was successful. Like experiments on offline sites - in our holographic musical "Sasha | Alex »Spectators sometimes do not understand where the artist, where the hologram, and this mixture of two reality gives an amazing effect. Modern technologies provide the opportunity to change the scenery in a second, instantly moving the audience from the park to the club, from the club to the roof ... I think the classic theaters will also use new technologies in their production.
- I like my mother from this a little in itself: it seems, all life flows online, focuses in a smartphone, where children communicate with the teacher and classmates, watch movies and listen to music, discuss homework and memes. If we are "coming" in the theater, without getting up from the chair at the computer ...
- It will not happen anything terrible. This is our reality. In online, as in Offline, you can stick to nonsense, nonsense, and you can be on the beautiful. This is a question of context. The child can go out and go smoking for garages or ride skating. The same with a smartphone. The child goes into the Internet and can watch widgets with a primitive humor or choose good music, performances, lecture. It is easy to make smart quality content becoming more. And if a child who has not taught to learn, be inquisitive, take away the phone, so he will sit down and will look any nonsense and also to spend his time.
In general, all art now competes with a smartphone. And this is not an easy competition. The viewer became more demanding, spoiled. He comes to his smart home, chlives in his hands - the light lights up and playing music, it turns on the smartphone - communicates with friends, even if they live in Australia, he can choose any film to view in his home theater, may feel himself By director, removing the video and laying it on the network ... I need a very good reason so that he threw all these interesting classes, left his comfortable sofa, paid money for tickets and went to the theater, to the concert, to the cinema, to the exhibition.
- This is true. Probably, therefore, the show hoping to attract the audience every year becoming more and more entertaining. It seems that we have seen everything on the stage: robots, dancing fountains, communicating with the artists of the hologram ... There is something to surprise the audience in the future?
- I have no doubt about it! We are in amazing time when the illusion turns into reality. In each of our shows a huge number of technologies - a rotating scene, inflatable structures, holograms, projections, disintegrating screen. Here are the majestic buildings grow right in your eyes, blooming unprecedented beauty flowers on the trees, suddenly began to snow and crawled roofs, all the paints were blocked ... The viewer does not notice how illuminators work, edges, engineers, he notices how beautiful and diverse can be peace. After all, the best technologies are those who do not see, which may not even guess. Art tends to life, so it was, because there is still no more beautiful than sunrise, starry sky or flowering spring meadows.
Talled Natalia Sysoeva