ICT Theatre: virtual production and motion capture

At its best, actor training responds to the needs of the current profession but also helps shapes its future. Central to this is the need to keep abreast with the convergence of live and digital. Many training institutions have shifted their focus, creating a balance between theatre and digital/recorded mediums, which includes working in motion capture (MoCap) and virtual production environments.

Mia Bird is the founder and creative director of ICTheatre (part of BIMM University), one of the UK's newest and most advanced educational institutions for actor and performer training. ICTheatre places a focus on the integration of live and digital throughout its programmes, rather than seeing it as an added bolt-on towards the end of the training calendar. ‘Students start to work in front of the camera from week one,’ she explains. The organisation has just installed a MoCap suite to allow students the opportunity to train in this digital environment, ‘engaging with a range of vocal and physical styles’. They worked intensively with MoCap company Target 3D to build an in-house 10-week curriculum for their second-year students to support what their graduates need to sustain a career in the performing arts.