Tracking Shot

Tracking Shot is an immersive performance work that the company developed at Inteatro in Polverigi, Italy with students from Central Saint Martin’s College of Arts and Design.

It tells the story of a famous actress, who, finding out she is terminally ill, asks the director of the first film she made to re-edit the finale of one of her most memorable performances. As the actress and director reminisce about their lives they journey back through the history of post war European cinema. The piece is a moving and poignant examination of how the past can be remembered and how films often become the memory sign-posts in our lives.

The audience are placed on an enclosed moving platform (a box on wheels) which only allows a forward facing point of view. Acting like the camera in a tracking shot, the platform passes through the action, constantly changing the angle of view, much like the experience of watching a film. Somewhere between a fairground ride and watching a live film, this piece creates a unique theatrical experience, one that places the audience at the centre of an always moving moment of action.

Tracking shot is an ongoing project particularly suited to festival or educational contexts it can be adapted for different languages and cinematic cultures. It is an ideal project for making with large groups (20-30) over a making period of 2-3 weeks.