Lockdown Opera for INO - Bringing the Stage to the Screen, from 20+ Homes

To keep opera alive and accessible during national lockdowns by reinventing stage performance as a digital video series — while navigating strict remote constraints on direction, filming, and post-production.

The challenges were significant — the project had to:

• Be filmed entirely remotely by cast and musicians in their own homes

• Guide actors on framing, movement and delivery without in-person direction

• Coordinate audio from home-recorded music and vocals

• Design graphics, subtitles and animation to enhance clarity and storytelling

• Edit together footage of vastly varying formats, devices and settings

Maintain opera-level production quality under unprecedented conditions.

We broke the project into eight distinct episodes and took a phased, highly collaborative approach:

• Created detailed remote filming guides for each performer (lighting, phone angles, movement)

• Provided live direction via video call during key scenes

• Managed all post-production including:

  • Syncing of vocals and orchestration

  • Remote colour matching and audio mixing

  • Custom graphics and transitions to link sequences

Released each episode on YouTube as a premiere event, allowing the audience to experience opera in a new, intimate format

The video series:

• Reached thousands of viewers across Ireland and beyond during lockdown

• Was praised for its ingenuity, warmth, and cultural resilience

• Helped INO maintain visibility, audience engagement and artistic momentum

Showed how creativity and storytelling can thrive in difficult times

Services Used

• Remote Filming & Direction

• Episodic Series Editing & Animation

• Digital Storytelling for Arts & Culture