3 Experiments

In Today's lesson to help kick start our knowledge of multimedia devices and to ultimately fuel the creation of the piece we did some "experiments" with different types of multimedia. This was a good free lesson where we were given the opportunity to play around with technology independently like projectors and Macs to create general ideas and techniques of creating good multimedia displays. We were told to sit down in groups and come with 3 solid ideas we could try out on the equipment. Here are the three ideas my group came up with;

1. The thought criminal scanner machine: We wanted to create the illusion of a futuristic lie detector but we also wanted for it to seem simple. I came up with the idea of using colours to convey the truth or lie without the use of text. We came up with green and red and used that the connotations of green is good and truth whereas red conveys danger and lies. Olivia then set up a Prezi that she could control from a laptop going between white, green and red. We then got a projector and Samantha held it as if it was a scanner. We then saw the potential to add text into it. The lens could be blurred and focused, We then tweaked the Prezi so that the word "thought criminal" could be seen as we focused the lens. We did this so that if we use it in the actual performance it will give a deeper performance aspect to the piece.

2. The Window: One of the ideas that we didn't get to put into action was "the window". We print off a picture of a poster of Big Brother. We make sure that it is black and one and has thick and distinctive ink. We find a strong light source like a lamp or a stage light. There was a prop window with a blind that was translucent which meant that light could easily be reflected through it. If we got someone to stand behind it, it would create a nice silhouette of the actor. We would make sure the blind was up to start off with, The poster of Big Brother would clearly be visible. The actor would close the blind for privacy but as the light  shines we see the poster embolden and cast a haunting shadow proving that he was always watching.

3. Running live feed: There were cameras that could be connected to an out putting device such as a projector or laptop. Mr. Rennison made a good point about the imersive theatre dynamic. When cinema is created the audience is subjective to the confines of the screen and will be taken away on a story but will never believe it is real. I proposed to use the live feed camera to break the limits of the screen. If we showed an audience a clip of a person being chased and they believe they are watching a film scene but suddenly the person on the screen has run into the room and they physically see him behind them. 1. This would smash the fourth wall between audience and action and 2. They would see themselves on screen and realise that they were part of the action.