11.1 Digital Media in Live Performance

Digital media is revolutionizing live theater, blending the physical and virtual. Projection mapping creates dynamic scenery, while video integration and real-time rendering add layers of visual storytelling. These tools offer new ways to craft immersive, interactive experiences.

Interactive media and motion capture push boundaries, allowing audiences to shape performances and bringing digital characters to life. Meanwhile, live streaming and telematic theater connect global audiences and performers, challenging traditional notions of presence and liveness in exciting ways.

Projection and Video

Projection Mapping and Digital Scenography

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• Projection mapping involves projecting video or images onto irregular surfaces (buildings, set pieces) to create immersive environments
• Allows for dynamic, changeable scenery without physically altering the stage
• Digital scenography uses digital projections to enhance or replace traditional physical scenery
• Enables the creation of complex, layered, and interactive visual environments (3D landscapes, abstract patterns)
• Offers flexibility in rapidly changing between different settings or moods within a performance

Video Integration and Real-Time Rendering

• Video integration incorporates pre-recorded or live video into live performances
• Can be used for storytelling, creating visual effects, or displaying multiple perspectives simultaneously
• Real-time rendering generates computer graphics in real-time during the performance
• Allows for interactive and responsive visuals that adapt to the actions of performers or audience input
• Enables the creation of dynamic, immersive environments that blend the physical and virtual (realistic simulations, fantasy worlds)

Interactive and Multimedia

Interactive Media and Multimedia Performance

• Interactive media responds to input from performers, audience members, or sensors
• Allows for non-linear storytelling and audience participation in shaping the performance
• Multimedia performance combines multiple forms of media (video, audio, animation, live performance) into a cohesive work
• Creates rich, layered experiences that engage multiple senses
• Enables experimentation with non-traditional narrative structures and performer-audience relationships

Digital Puppetry and Motion Capture

• Digital puppetry involves manipulating digital characters or objects in real-time, often using motion capture technology
• Allows for the creation of non-human or fantastical characters that interact with live performers
• Motion capture records the movement of performers and translates it onto digital characters
• Enables realistic animation of digital characters in real-time, blurring the line between live and virtual performance
• Can be used to enhance or extend the physical capabilities of performers (exaggerated movements, inhuman abilities)

Remote Performance

Live Streaming and Telematic Theater

• Live streaming broadcasts live performances to remote audiences over the internet
• Allows for global accessibility and participation in live theater experiences
• Telematic theater connects performers in different physical locations through telecommunication technology
• Enables real-time interaction and collaboration between geographically distant performers
• Explores new forms of stage presence and the relationship between physical and virtual space
• Challenges traditional notions of liveness and the shared experience of theater (performers in New York and London performing together in real-time)