Browsing by Subject "Live performance"
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Item Engaging audiences : smartphone use in live performance(2019-06-20) Gendal, Alex Jay; Lynn, Kirk; Ortel, SvenSmartphones have become integral to modern society and culture. We use them daily for communication, research, and recreation. In live theatre, smartphones become disruptive when audience members interact with them rather than view the performance. Smartphones by themselves are not a distraction, but even without interaction they buzz, light up, and make noise. For these reasons, smartphones are also considered as a distraction from other forms of live entertainment, like movie theaters, concert venues, and museums. I believe smartphones are a huge untapped resource to further connect the audience with live performance experiences. Smartphones have the capability to create a new level of engagement by giving audiences agency over how they want to participate within a theatrical experience. While there are already plays that integrate smartphones, this thesis investigates smartphones as a storytelling device. Specifically I will look at integrating smartphones in a live-performance narrative to enhance audience engagement. To do this, I will focus on three main questions: Can smartphones successfully be used to engage audiences by giving them agency over the narrative? What forms of smartphone communication allow audiences to easily interact with the narrative? Can audiences feel that the choices they make with their smartphone affect the arc of the narrative? In order to determine how effective smartphone use in live theatre is, I will create an original play that purposefully interweaves audience engagement with smartphones throughout the narrative. To gauge the success of this investigation I will gather data from the participants during and after the performanceItem Live design as living process(2021-05-05) Bruner, Michael Andrew; Bloodgood, William; Ortel, SvenLive events and performance are fundamental aspects of our culture. They are the spaces where communities form and where productive dialogues occur between strangers. As the United States of America faces social isolation due to the novel coronavirus along with increasingly divisive politics, live performance is sorely needed to heal our communities. However, due to the pandemic, live performance defined as an event with performer and audience co-located in a shared time and space is no longer a safe avenue for creating art. The current pandemic is by no means the only force shaping our current reality; climate change, political unrest, digital technology, and global capitalism are all looming ecological forces we are facing. All of these forces need collective action to be effectively addressed. Live experiences are a critical component of manifesting the necessary social cohesion to redefine our relationships with the Earth. The current state of the world leaves ecologically minded artists with a fundamental question, what are the vital ingredients of a live experience? This thesis is an exploration of live experience and how we can look to the properties of living systems as lens for guiding successful design decisions. My goal is to reveal the elements that index a performance as live from an audience's perspective and re-imagine my design methodology as a living process. Through the design and implementation of an interactive installation titled, Elemental Media, I experiment with novel modes of audience interaction and involvement that respond to our current moment. Creating a hybrid event that takes place both virtually and physically offers a lens for considering how differing mediums and modes of spectatorship are involved in generating experiences of liveness. Assessing the success of this process and performance involves gathering audience responses, documenting and reflecting upon personal experiences, engaging with the writing of other researchers, and synthesizing these findings into principles for live design as a living process.Item Real talk(2014-05) Wilcher, Marcus; Mills, John, saxophonist; Hellmer, Jeffrey L.This dissertation is intended as a supportive document for the five-part suite for ten-piece jazz ensemble entitled Real Talk. It is divided into six chapters, four of which are analytical and cover the following topics: Form, Melody, Harmony, and Other Compositional Techniques. Subcategories are used within these chapters to draw attention to specific compositional components relevant to the construction of the piece; illustrative tables and examples have been provided to assist in describing these components. The ultimate purpose of this document is to describe in detail my technical approach to the composition.Item Transitioning bodies, transformative stories : live performance of transgender autobiographical narratives in the United States(2020-08-17) O'Rear, Jesse Daniel; Gutierrez, Laura G., 1968-; Alrutz, Megan; Rossen, Rebecca; Hunt, Grayson; Chavez, Karma RThe relationship between transgender communities and the autobiographical is historically and contemporarily contentious and complicated. Our autobiographies are demanded of us by the medical industry in order to gain access to healthcare; by the justice system in order to determine whether or not we are honest and worthy of safety and freedom; and by the media who perpetuate this system of what scholar Viviane Namaste calls the “autobiographical imperative,” the expectation that trans people will offer the intimate details of our personal lives at any time to a curious cisgender audience. However, many trans people have also relied on each other’s autobiographical narratives to learn how to navigate these same harmful systems, as well as find camaraderie, solidarity, and solace among one another. To this end, I execute performance analyses of three works by transgender-identified artists to examine the ways in which each production engages with the complexities of the autobiographical for trans subjects: Shakina Nayfack’s One Woman Show (2013), D’Lo’s To T or Not to T (2019), and Sean Dorsey Dance’s Uncovered: The Diary Project (2009). I argue that each work in its respective form, narrative structure, and execution either circumvents, directly challenges, or illuminates the oppressive parameters imposed by the autobiographical imperative. Additionally, I analyze on my own participation in a fictional piece of devised drama, TRANSom (2020), which I argue was subjected to what I have termed the “autobiographical assumption,” a consequence of the autobiographical imperative where imaginative work by trans people is perceived to be autobiographical. Finally, I reflect on the existence of and possibilities for sharing trans narratives in the realm of social media where interaction and affirmation can be immediate quantified. While this project recognizes that visibility and representation are not answers to discrimination, violence, and poverty (and, in fact, as Black trans women scholars and activists like Tourmaline remind us, often open doors to increased harassment), I hope to encourage space for present and future works of performance which allow for trans artists to bring their stories to the stage in ways that are beneficial to the artists and their communities.Item Video games as live performance(2018-06-26) Mallin, Robert Randall; Lynn, Kirk; Ortel, SvenOver the last 45 years, what started as small gatherings of video game players competing against each other, has grown into a 1.5 billion dollar industry known as – Esports (Chalk). Predominantly popular with gamer audiences, Esports does little to engage non-gamer audiences. Additionally, the live events make poor use of scenographic design techniques which includes media, scenic, lighting, and costume design. This is where the thesis investigation began by asking; “how can I enhance the live Esports experience with scenographic design?” However, the priority of Esports is to maintain the integrity of competition by ensuring a play space that allows players to perform uninhibited by any external factors. This priority to maintain the integrity of competition in Esports creates limitations over many scenographic design techniques – and due to this – I question whether Esports intends (or wants) to be a performance at all. This lead to the next driving question; “Can the playing of live video games be performative?” Furthermore, “Can a live video game performance engage both gamers and non-gamers?” A format that allows gamers to perform characters or personas is streaming. Gamers who do this are called streamers. Streamers broadcast live video of themselves online while taking on personas and directly communicate with audiences via microphone. This thesis draws inspirations from the elements of streaming, and a popular platform for streaming is TwitchTV. The elements of streaming include personas, the streamers vocal communications, and audience interactions. None of these aspects are present in Esports. In fact, these elements of streaming have never been applied inside a shared space with a live audience. To find answers to the questions presented in this thesis, I produced a live performance inspired by Esports and TwitchTV at the University of Texas at Austin. For this performance I will create a new scenographic design format to support a live performance of video games. With this design I will focus on performative gaming ahead of competitive gaming. To help gauge the success of the event, an anonymous survey was given to audiences. The survey identified audience members as gamers or non-gamers and had them answer a series of questions about their experience.