Kevin Van Staeyen and Philip Masure are two great corona heroes for TIM Theater. They plunged into a great adventure last summer that both we, patrons and the general public enjoyed immensely! And we will continue to do so, because our online performances will definitely be a keeper.
Kevin has been an Inspinazine musician for years. He is a musical genius (also a genius toutcourt actually) and lives it out at, among other things Neonerd.
For this project, he took one of his partners under his wing. Philip is all-round musician and an internationally renowned guitarist (Laïs, Urban Trad, Eimear Quinn, among others).
Marc sat down with them and looks back....
I'm sitting around the table with Kevin and Philip from Neonerd Productions. They provide the technology for our online performances. This means they stream via Youtube in the studio. We play completely coronaproof, each in front of his own camera. In addition, Kevin plays the piano in a separate room, just next to the direction room where Philip and Roderik mix image and sound, set the backgrounds for the greenkeys, operate the computers and interaction software....
We especially wanted to do something where we weren't going to flatten out the digital aspect, but were just going to flesh it out.
You are both professional musicians, how do you come to suddenly facilitate online performances?
Kevin: As with TIM Theater, our calendar was suddenly completely blank overnight. With TIM, I had the opportunity to play along online.
Philip: Everyone went online. We saw a lot but were never 100% satisfied with the quality ourselves. We are both nerds in the technical field so pretty soon the idea arose to offer it ourselves: we can do this better, differently! Above all, we wanted to do something where we weren't going to flatten out the digital aspect, but were just going to flesh it out.
Kevin: We flew in immediately. The upstairs in my house was empty, so the ideal place for a studio.
Philip: We literally reinvented ourselves, looked for a lot of things, compared them, tried them out. We actually had a great time despite, or is it thanks to corona.
In your view, what makes the concept of online improvisational theater of and by TIM/ Inspinazie so unique?
Kevin: We record simultaneously with 4 different cameras in the same location, we play and improvise through mixing, we use custom backgrounds, etc.
The client can send us images in advance from on and around their physical location. Viewers then see their own office, their coffee corner, the parking lot,...
Using the interactive tool (Mentimeter) is also an added value. People can give suggestions anonymously. It also took some getting used to for the players but now they almost really engage in dialogue.
Philip: In the beginning we used the youtube chat, but it is not anonymous and again created a barrier for viewers. We now only use it to help solve technical problems on the viewer side or to receive quick notifications of e.g. problems with sound....
So we had to invent everything ourselves, come up with it, with trial and error. But that's just the playground we find so fun and fascinating. We're not called Neonerd Productions for nothing.
That leads me seamlessly to the next question, what were the obstacles, the technical difficulties?
Kevin: The main obstacle is actually that there is no software for what we are doing now, streaming with 4 cameras at the same time. So we've had to invent everything ourselves, come up with it, with trial and error. But that's just the playground we find so fun and fascinating. We're not called Neonerd Productions for nothing. A small example: each camera runs on a battery. When you film, it goes flat in no time, so we tinkered with a "fake" battery that is constantly charged via electricity during the performance
Philip: Of course we remain completely dependent on external services, the Internet, You Tube, Mentimeter... We also learned a lot in the process. There are things that don't happen to us twice, now we have enough alternatives, backups of all devices and connections. When there is a problem we can immediately switch to an alternative without the viewer even noticing. We can even stream over 4G if we have to....
Kevin: Often it is also due to the user himself, setting of the computer, sound... through the chat we can quickly fix those.
One last question: do you see a future in online performances and is there any unexplored territory?
Kevin: Absolutely. You also often read in response that people find it super nice to be able to see everything from the comfort of their armchair, with or without a drink or snack. They don't have to make any effort to get around. Everyone can also watch, from the coast to Limburg and at the same time. It is also easy for organizers, just picking a moment is enough, no hall to book, no catering to order, no travel costs, the number of viewers is almost unlimited... It is something else than a physical performance, but in some cases a fine choice.
Philip: And also together with the players a lot is still possible, invent new forms together, indulge our creativity together!
Kevin: Yes, and just taking this opportunity to put out a call to readers to subscribe to our youtube channel. That's little effort and a big plus for us. The more subscribers, the more accessible Youtube becomes for quality upgrades. We are grateful in advance!!!
>> On Friday, June 18 at 3 p.m. we will play a public performance from the Neonerd Studio. It is free and brought to you by Sociaal Economische Raad Vlaanderen. Theme: "The ups and downs of telecommuting“.
Sign up can here.
