INDUSTRY FIELD GUIDE
Theater rehearsal and performance recordings for AI research
A staged rehearsal can show how cues, speaker turns and movements align across camera views.
NAICS 711110 · Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters
A staged rehearsal can show how cues, speaker turns and movements align across camera views. Public experiments at the Library of Congress illustrate machine-learning uses for collection discovery and metadata. A production recording may support a different buyer task, such as cue recognition or multimodal alignment, only after the production has established the necessary rights. Library of Congress AI experiments · Performing Arts collections
Commission a short scene with an original cue sheet
Use an original scene that the company can authorize. Record one wide shot, a separate dialogue track and a cue sheet with entrances, sound changes, lighting transitions and dialogue boundaries. Capture a second rehearsal with different timing. For evaluation, ask a model to identify the cue from the evidence without seeing the cue sheet first. Hold one scene back for testing.
Verify every layer of rights
A theater’s license to stage a play may grant a different set of rights from recording or AI use. Review author and publisher permissions, performance agreements, music, choreography, recordings, venue access and union or guild terms. Agree what happens to the recording, whether any identifying output is allowed and how assets can be withdrawn. Keep audiences and third-party scripts out of an initial example. Dramatists Guild guidance on audiovisual rights
Describe an original exercise and the rights holder for each element. Include views, separate tracks and the cue labels a buyer could inspect. Describe collection capabilities
Original Fiund exercise
Align an original cue across views without using the answer sheet as input
An independently written tabletop scene has a wide-view timeline, separate dialogue track and hidden reference cue sheet. Dummy events replace a real production, audience, script or stage system.
| Record | Source | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| TH1 | Rehearsal A wide-view timeline | At video second 6, a performer places a blue paper square on the table. At second 9, a second performer enters the frame. |
| TH2 | Separate dialogue track | Original line Harbor spoken at audio second 4. Verified synchronization note says video time equals audio time plus 2 seconds. |
| TH3 | Evaluation setup and Rehearsal B | Reference cue labels are stored separately and are not supplied as model inputs. B repeats the blue-square event at video second 8; B audio synchronization is not supplied. |
Question for the model
For Rehearsal A, which dialogue instant aligns with the visible blue-square event, and what must remain unresolved if the same alignment is requested for B?
Show the reference answer and checks
TH1 places A's blue-square event at video second 6. TH2's verified two-second offset maps audio second 4 to that instant, aligning the original Harbor line. A separately retained reference key can check the event's cue label after the model responds, but must not be included as input. TH3 changes B's event timing without supplying B's audio alignment, so A's offset cannot establish B's corresponding dialogue instant.
- Feeding the cue key into the model and treating its repeated answer as independent recognition.
- Reusing A's synchronization offset for a second rehearsal with no supporting note.
Fields to preserve
- Rehearsal, view and track identity
- Separates repeated performances and modalities.
- Verified synchronization map
- Defines the cross-track time relationship.
- Visible event and dialogue span
- Provides observable evidence for the cue.
- Hidden reference key
- Keeps the evaluation answer separate from the model input.
Test another case
Use a second original scene with a different prop event and synchronization offset. Hold back its cue sheet, then score recognition and time alignment independently.
Use original practice scenes and dummy timelines or separately authorized adults. Clear author, performance, recording, music, choreography and venue layers for any real collection; exclude audiences and third-party scripts.
Discuss a contribution
Describe the sources you control, the task they could support and what has already been checked. Use the existing-data assessment for an archive or the collection brief for a new recording project. The contributor agreement defines Fiund’s licensing authority and compensation. A guide or fictional exercise does not establish an accepted collection or a sale.