The Old Vic
A 360° Video Tour
The Old Vic is one of the most successful, historical and renowned theatres in the world. It has entertained audiences with first class theatre for over 200 years. First built in 1818 the theatre had a capacity of over 1000 people but wasn’t built with access needs in mind. Much like with many of the West End theatres in London, entering the theatre in 2019 in a wheelchair is not up to the standards expected in the modern age. The Old Vic understands that access isn’t just about getting people through the front door, but also making sure that its whole experience is available to everybody - the many not the few - so in 2019 it set about making some pretty major changes.
“We set out to make changes to The Old Vic that were reflective of the needs of today’s audiences and our local community. An accessible front of house, new lift, 10 auditorium wheelchair spaces, double the loo provision, an additional bar, and an ethically produced sustainable range of food and wine on offer, all feel like significant steps towards securing The Old Vic’s future as an artistic
powerhouse and a vital civic resource.”
The new accessible entrance on Waterloo Road.
In October 2019 the Old Vic celebrated the reopening of its front of house spaces following a major restoration project to improve accessibility. This marked the first phase of a multi-phased capital project to renew and the transform the 201 year old building for a 21st century audience.
This project is a physical manifestation of The Old Vic’s social mission to support, educate and welcome more people than ever before. The reopening is the culmination of several years’ work to transform the historic building, including importantly to enable wheelchair access into The Old Vic for the first time in 200 years. Notable features include:
an accessible entrance on Waterloo Road with a lift down to the Penny Cafe and bar and up to the new accessible Box Office and inner foyer areas
a redesigned accessible Penny cafe and bar with a doubled loo provision including a wheelchair accessible loo, baby changing facilities and two ‘roomier’ loos
an accessible Box Office and inner foyer space featuring a bespoke theatrical curtain designed by Rob Howell
the creation of a large outer foyer bar
The new lift in the new foyer and box office.
The task for East City Films, which was presented to us by The Old Vic’s partner Price Waterhouse Cooper, was to create a 360° video tour of the new facilities to live on the brand new access section of The Old Vic website. Research has shown that being able to explore the full 360° of a location allows viewers to fully connect with a space and to trust that what they see, is what exists. This is of paramount importance for wheelchair users or people with access needs, as they need to know as much as possible about a public space before visiting it.
After researching other theatres and how they present the access of the theatre online East City Films, PwC and The Old Vic were keen to go the extra mile with the 360° tour. We found that many theatres simply presented the space with a nameless narrator explaining what you saw. We found this functional but lacking in the creative expression that otherwise runs through art institutions like these.
A panoramic of the new Penny bar & cafe
After brainstorming with the awesome creative team at PwC, The Old Vic encouraged our proposal to use its patrons to show off the new space. With help from the outreach team at The Old Vic, we were delighted to find four wonderful community members and Old Vic supporters that were willing to share their stories. Using testimony that centred around their relationship with the theatre, and clear guided description of the new areas, we were able to create a 360° video tour of The Old Vic that felt like a one-one-one tour given by an old friend. By including a wheelchair user (blogger Shona Louise) and a visually-impaired person (regular Old Vic-goer Richard Parker), we were able to create a video that was trustworthy and reassuring for people with disability as well as able-bodied.
“East City Films were a pleasure to work with and helped us produce a video which by and away was beyond all client expectations. Their team were highly professional and supportive throughout the three-month process. Always contactable and adaptable to a challenging filming schedule. I had a fantastic working relationship with East City and would highly recommend their services in the future. ”
Incorporating techniques which we have used in much of our 360° and VR documentary making we have produced a piece of content that is both informative and emotive - you get to see the new spaces whilst also building a deeper relationship with the theatre’s ethos through people who are just like you.
Sebastian Hagemeister with the Meta Camera in the new Penny cafe and bar.
As this 360° video was primarily for online use we decided not to go stereoscopic and therefore had to select a monoscopic camera which best served the challenges with which we were presented. As we were filming in an open and busy theatre we needed to be able to work quickly - we needed to keep lighting to a minimum and particularly in the beautiful auditorium, that meant battling against some pretty low light. We had a shot from a seat which was just before the curtain went up on a sold out performance, so we also needed a camera that could handle filming people very close to the lens. We decided that the best camera to use was the Meta Camera, which is a back to back rig, with a low parallax, is excellent in low light and has some of the best lenses in 360° filming.
The crew laying track for the moving shot into the new entrance on Waterloo Road.
Audio is always incredibly important and we were keen to capture all the rich sounds of this bustling theatre, creating a video which found the truth of The Old Vic as it enters the 21st century. Working with Oliver Kadel we ended up with a spatial mix that brought the many elements of the building together in a powerful and atmospheric soundtrack befitting this world-class theatre.
As ever our team of Jon Boyce, Andrew Yardley, Conan Roberts, Oliver Kadel, Rachael Sutton, Ashley Cowan and Darren Emerson delivered a piece of 360° video work which is deep in emotion and rich in purpose. We hope you enjoy it. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss a similar project.
A flat image from the 360° Tour featuring the auditorium, the new wheelchair spaces and contributor Lana Rathbone.
A flat image of the new Box Office and foyer, featuring our guide Obed Mayamona.