Digitally Printed Backdrops

How Was It Done? - Off the Wall & Onto the Stage

Original Painting: "Silver Slipper Dance Hall”

Above: Art for Scrim Drop based on original painting

Above: Art for muslin drop with people removed

Above: during print production

Above: Actual muslin backdrop with door cut-out and scenic porch during rehearsal.

The 11 paintings selected by Columbia City Ballet for their performance did not exist in print. So they were photographed at their various locations in museums, galleries, private collections and Jonathan Green's studio. The photo positives were sent to I. Weiss to prepare digital artwork. It took several rounds of creative image manipulation to make the pictures suitable for their intended use on a stage.

Most of the paintings were in vertical format, while the backdrops needed to be horizontal. Simple resizing would have distorted the images too much. Instead, carefully blended visual elements were added to the sides by treating each painting as if it was a "cropped version" of a larger scene. Proportional corrections had to be made to ensure that the final backdrops would contain and express all the important elements of the original paintings and still work with regards to the size of the "real people" on stage, the dancers.

In order to have the dancers seemingly step out of the paintings two sets of backdrops needed to be created for each scene. A scrim drop with an original painting and a muslin drop which had all human figures removed.

The scrim drop hangs in front of its muslin counterpart. The dancers who closely resemble the characters depicted on each scrim are positioned between the two. Depending on the lighting, front or back, the scrim drop becomes opaque or translucent hiding or revealing the dancers who make the painting come to life. This is called the bleed through effect, inherent to sharkstooth scrim.

With digital airbrushing the images are truly photo realistic still showing the artist's original brush strokes. Yet the ink is applied more smoothly and evenly than possible with scenic painting thus allowing for the maximum bleed through effect. Our exclusive invisible seams enhance this illusion.

Considering the vision and reality of translating paintings into backdrops digital printing was the ideal medium for this project. Moreover, printed backdrops are perfect for touring. They are more flexible and durable than painted backdrops, and can easily be reproduced in case of damage or where other sizes are needed.

View gallery of 11 paintings >>

To find out more about "Off the Wall & Onto the Stage", Columbia City Ballet or Jonathan Green, please go to http://www.dancingtheart.com/.

Some images and information are courtesy of Big Image Systems.