METHODOLOGY
Methodology
The method connects the needs of a production with the future care and use of its record. Working alongside the makers, the studio documents the decisions, relationships and practical knowledge that explain how the work takes shape. Its later users and the organisation receiving the material help determine what the record needs to contain.
The current gaps in the record
Productions generate material for many purposes: trailers, press photographs, conceptual drawings, technical files and working notes. Together, they can hold valuable information about the work, but someone encountering them later often needs more context.
A conceptual drawing may differ from what was eventually built. A lighting console file needs details of the equipment and its setup. The timing of a cue or the reason for a change may still be known only to the people involved.
The studio organises these materials and documents the context needed to understand them, while the team’s knowledge is still available.
The principles
01
The work and its record develop together
Understanding performance design requires attention to how costume, light, sound, space and video relate to movement and to one another. The method follows the decisions behind those relationships as the work develops, keeping the artistic intentions connected to the technical record.
The information gathered also serves the production itself. Drawings and models support construction; the production database helps the team find current files and follow revisions. These materials form the basis of the archive.
The studio works alongside the creative team, whose members retain responsibility for the artwork and its artistic decisions.
02
Standards are a form of respect
The studio follows internationally recognised standards to give the work a clear basis for quality and preservation. They provide published criteria that clients, archivists and other professionals can use to assess the material and continue its care.
For each project, the studio identifies the relevant standards and explains how they apply. Openly documented formats are favoured, with the information needed to use what is delivered. The record should remain usable independently of Density Wave’s tools and continued involvement.
03
Heritage is a present responsibility
UNESCO recognises the performing arts as a domain of intangible cultural heritage and identifies documentation among the measures used to safeguard it. Honouring that recognition means making care and preservation part of the industry’s everyday practice.
That responsibility begins with the first conversation: what needs to be documented, where the material will be kept and how it should be available for future use.
Rights are part of that planning: the studio identifies the permissions needed for the proposed uses, gathers the agreed clearances and keeps them with the record. Unresolved permissions and access restrictions are documented so that future users can understand the conditions attached to the material.
04
No one disappears from the record
The record credits everyone who contributes to the work. Technicians, builders and designers receive the same visibility as directors and choreographers.
Names and roles are gathered during production and connected to the relevant materials. A drawing, recording or technical document should retain the information about who created it and whose work it represents.
This allows future readers to trace the production through the people who made it.
05
Documentation that stands on its own
The record explains how its files are organised and named, how versions relate to one another, and how to interpret the technical information.
Before handover, the studio checks that someone unfamiliar with the production can find and use what they need: an operator locating a cue sequence, an archivist assessing a recording, or a researcher tracing how the work developed.
Any gaps or limitations are clearly identified, so future users know what the record contains and what still needs clarification.
Standards & frameworks
These references guide different parts of the studio’s work. The requirements relevant to each project are selected, and the details of the handover agreed with the organisation that will receive the record.
UNESCO 2003 CONVENTION
The Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage recognises the performing arts among its domains and includes documentation, research and transmission among its safeguarding measures.
IN PRACTICE
It informs the studio’s approach to performance design as heritage and its commitment to documenting the work with care for its creators and future use.
OAIS — ISO 14721
The Open Archival Information System reference model describes the responsibilities and processes involved in preserving information and keeping it understandable to its intended users over time.
IN PRACTICE
It guides how material is prepared for archival handover, including the information needed to identify, interpret and preserve its contents. The receiving archive’s requirements determine the final package.
IASA TECHNICAL GUIDELINES
The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives publishes guidance on audiovisual preservation, including digital audio, recording media and video recordings.
IN PRACTICE
The studio applies the guidance relevant to each recording and workflow when selecting preservation formats, documenting technical information and preparing preservation masters and access copies.
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT — ISO 19650
The ISO 19650 series addresses information management using building information modelling, including how information is organised, exchanged and versioned throughout a project’s life.
IN PRACTICE
These principles shape how models, drawings and associated production information are organised, making revisions traceable and exchanges between teams more consistent.
Additional requirements depend on the material and its destination. The necessary descriptions, preservation information and file organisation are agreed with the receiving archive, so the record can enter its care with the context it needs.
Working together
Each service can be commissioned independently, with the planning, checks and handover needed for its agreed scope. Data Management brings together the planning and ongoing organisation of a production’s record; other services can be commissioned alongside it or on their own.
Building the bridge
Every project begins with the work itself, the material already available and the uses the record should support.
What needs to be documented, and which qualities of the work are essential to preserve?
Who will use the material, and for what purposes?
Which standards and permissions apply?
Where will the record be kept, and who will care for it?
What will future tours, revivals, research or funding agreements require?
If an archive has not yet been identified, the studio helps find a suitable destination. The conversation also settles who will hold the material and take responsibility for its continued care.
When the studio joins
From early development. The studio joins during research or concept development, so the agreed documentation can become part of the production’s working methods. There is time to understand the work, gather contributions and record decisions as they are made. Depending on the services commissioned, this may include maintaining production data, preparing drawings or planning recording.
Closer to performance or installation. The studio can also join when the work is approaching presentation or already running. Existing material is reviewed and gaps identified. Documentation and any agreed recording are planned around the people, time and information available. Standards, credits, permissions and preparation for handover remain part of the work.
Early involvement allows more decisions to be recorded while the team is together. Joining later, the studio agrees what can still be documented and makes any gaps clear.
The handover
The studio coordinates the transfer with the client and receiving archive, confirming that the agreed material has arrived intact and been accepted.
The handover establishes who will manage ongoing storage, preservation and access. The client receives a record of where the material is held, who is responsible for its care and whom to contact about future use.