On 11-1-96 Dan Zellner wrote:
>The Internet is one stage and an actual theater is another. Two audiences
>are being addressed but with preference to the live audience. Live actors
>and cyberactors.
>
>The Internet is interactive. Use of a computer is interactive (this is what
>makes it different than T.V.). Meaning that an audience might expect to
>participate (role play).
On 11-1-96 Nina LeNoir wrote:
>I think the audience is always in control, since they can always turn the
>performance off, or leave. I would worry if there is no concentration on
>the audience, for without an audience is there really a performance? Of
>course, it can be argued that the other actors are also a form of audience.
>
>
>The director in me keeps wondering what the audience experience is going to
>be. What will they get from attending?
On 11-1-96 Monika Wunderer wrote:
>Do we want the audience to be the gods or do we want "us" to be the gods?
>
>As I see our project now, for me it is too komplex to experiment with the
>audience to much. that was what i meant to let the technicians be the gods.
>Because they do have to keep the control during the ongoing of the play.
All of these concerns strike me as being quite valid and to the point.
However, I do not think they are mutually exclusive. Through the use of
perspective I think we can accomplish most of the goals that are mentioned.
My understanding is that the stage is going to be divided into a grid or
matrix which will be used for two essential purposes, to create a virtual
representation of the characters and objects on stage for both the Internet
audience and the other real location stages. It is my belief that this
grid can be designed and implemented by Rainer and the technical crew to
allow and encourage a great deal of interactivity, particularly with the
Internet audience, while at the same time it helps to create a play with
much more dramatic impact for the live audiences and actors. This is the
way it would work:
The Internet audience, watching on their individual computers, would be
able to select the perspective they desired by hitting designated keys for
each perspective. For instance, if they wished to, they could see the
stage the way the live audience was viewing it or they could hit a key and
change the perspective to see the stage and other characters through the
eyes of Odysseus, or for that matter from the perspective of any other
character they desired.
In addition, assuming the grid is three-dimensional and not
two-dimensional, the Internet audience could view the play from an aerial
view in much the same way the Gods would be watching the proceedings.
There are also many other options that could be made available, such as,
the use of cinematic perspective, meaning the Internet audience could
select closeups, medium views, and long views, among other possibilities.
This would greatly increase the level of interactivity of the Internet
audience while in no way distracting from the flow and continuity of the
performance itself. And, to answer Monika's question, we, the crew behind
Oudeis, would still be the Gods deciding the action, place and timing of
the play. But we would also give the audience a good measure of free will,
or at least the illusion of free will.
As for the live stages, since there is going to be interaction amongst the
various locations, the use of perspective by the director and technical
staff could be applied to intensify the performance for the actors and live
audience. For example, When the Gods are portrayed they can be shown
looking down on the actors and audience as they speak. They can also be
magnified in size for dramatic effect or used to show a truer
representation of a giant such as the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Other actors
could be shrunk to show the passing of distance.
There are many other possibilities, such as expanding the grid in the live
locations to cover the audiences so that representations of the Gods and/or
other characters or objects could appear above them or among them.
Dan Zellner wrote on 11-1-96:
>For Oudeis there are a number of considerations that make it different:
>What are the tools being used to make theatre in this situation?
Well, I think the use of the grid in the furtherance of perspective is one
hell of a tool.
Now, obviously Rainer and his crew are the best able to answer for the
feasibility of these ideas and I am certainly interested in hearing his
thoughts but my instincts tell me that with the capabilities at our
disposal this is something that can be accomplished and in fact builds upon
some ideas that have already been discussed. It definitely would make this
experience unique and also much more satisfying for all involved.
Lee