Friday, 25 January 2008

MANIFESTO

And Finally.....

Manifesto for our group

We initially started to research the issue of racism, as we wanted to work on a topic that has affected many people and has been a problematic issue for many years. Although we felt this was still a dominant issue, we wanted to touch upon an area that the majority of people could relate to as well as something that stems directly from the module itself. We decided after much thought that racism may have been too specific as it only affected a particular group of people rather than all people in general.

From the onset, our seminar groups discussions have been heavily related to the Internet, in particular Facebook. With an increasing number of people joining Facebook, and the internet becoming more of a focal point in our lives, we aimed to explore this issue in more depth. The internet was our main influence for our final topic of discussion. We feel that the internet has taken the world by storm. It is a whole new world that gives ordinary people unrestricted access to completely uncensored information. We discussed positive and negative aspects of the Internet, as well as discussing the issues that have been made most public, controversial, and problematic. One of which was violence. The increase of violence in modern society has always been linked to the increase in violent shows on the media. Now, it appears that the internet is taking the blame as well. Street violence, especially gun violence in Britain is on the rise in the younger generations with teenagers being shot dead almost every week in large cities. Recently, Anthony Anderson was jailed for three years on account of ‘outraging public decency.’ He urinated on a dying woman whilst his friends filmed the footage and then claimed, “This is a youtube moment!” Is the internet to blame for his behaviour or are we just using the internet as a scapegoat for much deeper problems within British society? Is violence is an outcome of the Internet and whether the Internet contributes to violence as a form of entertainment.

Our objective is to present our audience with an issue and tackle it through discussion. We felt that by staging a live debate that concentrated on the issue of the internet contributing to violence being seen as form of entertainment, we would not only be able to express our own individual views on the matter, but also gain the understanding of the public. We wanted to question the public’s understanding of violence as entertainment and whether or not they feel it has a place.

As a group of four strong minded people, we felt it necessary that we all had our own say. Our intent is not to force our opinions on others, but provide them with a choice and let them reach their own decision. There is no right or wrong answer to the question proposed, it all comes down to personal opinion. The aim of the debate is to demonstrate this, by getting our audience involved they too can voice their opinion, after hearing the research and opinions that we put forward and taking part in an in depth discussion. In order to do this we understand that it is vitally important that we have provided them with enough information for them to make a decision for themselves.

Violence affects everyone in one way or another; it is present in all types of media, television, newspapers and the internet! But would violence as entertainment still be present without the internet? Has it contributed to crime rate and sadistic behaviour? What do we view as acceptable entertainment and should we interfere with the contents of the internet by using censorship? Through our discussion and debate we aim to try and bring some light to these subjects, and even if we do not come to solid conclusions- we hope to get our audience members thinking about them.


What we hope to achieve:

Our main aim was to produce a live structured debate open to the audience to contribute and speak their opinions. We wanted to use an issue that is growing rapidly but is often disregarded therefore we wanted to raise awareness. By having a debate we hope to produce a valid argument that covers points both for and against violence in the media contributing to real acts of violence in today’s society. We hope to achieve a heated argument between the four of us, but we also hope to provoke to audience, raising elements that they may be able to identify with or feel strongly towards. By having a group debate, we are able to have a general idea of what contribution the media has to violence today. By aiming our debate around young students who are highly opinionated and less influenced by the media than young children for example, we hope to form a successful argument by stepping out of the box and looking at these issues as outsiders. As students and young adults we are very prone to violence, and we often regard it as part of the binge culture we live In today, therefore it is interesting to look closer at something we are affected by everyday, the media, and question whether it is causing or influencing these problems.
By taking part in virtuality in performance, we have learnt the huge affect of the media and technology on our lives without realizing the extremes of these effects. By forming our debate we hope to discover what these effects are.

Evaluation.

The debate, did not go to plan, due to unforseen circumstances we had to perform in the following week.

I decided that i still wanted the debate in place, and so with the help of Chris, Kyle and Ian, i managed to come up with the idea of SKYPE, linking three out of the four group members together to form some sort of debate.

Despite technical issues, i found the whole experience interesting, i felt we had added virtuality into our presentation.It was disappointing as i felt if more people were present and if we had done it on the week planned, a real debate could have taken place, as it already formed with the five people present, with more there, more of a bantor and atmosphere could have been created. As stated in our manifesto our aim was tpo provide the audience with something to think about, not to force our opinion on them, which i felt we did.

Even thou, i felt let down by the group, i was happy with the way the presentation was conducted it was an experience and a learning curve.

Monday, 21 January 2008

THE DEBATE!!

My research over the Christmas break, led me to an unexpected path! At first I thought that the Internet was to blame for the amount of violence which we had in our entertainment. But as I began to research, I found that violence has been around for a long time, dating back to ancient times! I also found, that people in other cultures still have public stoning and hangings; all of this is viewed as entertainment without the influence of the Internet.

I also found that, the content of violence on the Internet is very minimal; most of the content is facts and news about reality rather than actual sources of entertainment!

I also found that violence on television, film and indeed video games is to a much higher extent than that of the Internet.

Vladimir Propp, the Russian formalist, talks about how violence is part of the 31 components which make up any story, from fairy tales to modern day soap operas! Blockbuster violent films will still draw in the numbers as violence has and always be entertainment to us! This will be explained to a more detailed extent during the performance. As part of my research, I also spoke to peers and co- workers, to gain an impression of what the public thought, there were mixed feelings, some agreed that the internet did not contribute; other argued it did, as the internet was unavoidable! However with this in mind, I planned my argument!
The main points i wanted to argue where:
1. Violence has always been in our enetertainment since the Greek ages.
2.People watch violence, in the hope to understand it!
3.Propps ideas.
4. Blockbuster Violent films still popular.
5. Indvidual choice!
6. Public violent events still happen in other cultures.
7.The difference between facts and fiction.
8. We can chose what we view on the internet.

Together with Kims ideas, i felt we had a very strong argument!

Video Bar

Oppoiste you will see, a video link of lots of violence on the internet. Ask yourself this. IS THIS ENTERTAINMENT??

Friday, 4 January 2008

Week 10

Week 10.-
This week, the blurb on the fighter cockpit, drew my attention to video games being seen as a form of entertainment.

Video games transport us into a different world, a work of virtuality which we control, we become that character and that character becomes us. The game is out stage and the story the script.

Like theatre, video games have expanded and developed. We no longer have to put up with 2D images and single camera angles, with such inventions as the Playstaion 3, and Nintendo Wii. Performance can be created. The Nintendo Wii. Allows us to create our own characters called ‘Miis’. We can make them look like us and even give them characteristics of ourselves.

Computer games and consoles have become fully engaged in the multimedia virtual age, and have re mediated themselves too, we can still play, Classic sonic the Hedgehog and Mario, but on a higher level, we become that character and play out a performance but to a larger degree.

‘The fighter cockpit exemplifies the theatrical space of the digital world, and if the critics have not seen this, the video game designers certainly have.’
I think that although theatre has reinvented itself it need to a larger degree, the audience craves more and so more should be given to them.

This source of research, I also felt was applicable for my project, as the topic was that of violence, I felt it important to show how violent video games are seen as entertainment and weather this too was a contributing factor. Kim and I, designed a group on facebook raising these issues, as we were all on facebook, we thought this was the best platform, added to this; we could invite other, outside our class to comment on the issues, making our research more in depth. We felt it was important to see other views on such an important subject.

This week, I also watched Complex, which was the performance mentioned earlier put on by the Graduating Performing Arts Students.

Electra was very interesting. The set consisted of about 5 television screens, and one large projection screen. The five screens allowed the audience to see the action from Nemours angles, whilst the projection screen provided us with action linking to that what was happening on stage, I felt this performance encompassed a lot of multimedia work, and was extremely effective. The Multimedia added to the performance and created a different platform of theatre. This piece juxtaposed with the following story, that of Oedipus. as this one had no multimedia effects, instead relied on action alone. This piece was extremely physical. It was different but at the same time very effective, it proved that theatre does not have to have images of virtuality in order for it to be effective, and that like Chris said; theatre can indeed compete with other forms of media.

WEEK 9

This week, I began focusing in my essay as well as my group work. I chose the question ‘-

• Can theatre compete with other forms of media in the digital age? Should it try? Discuss with reference to the work of contemporary theatre practitioners engaged with ‘inter medial’ work.

As part of my research, I looked a theatre through the ages, as well focusing in on, experimental groups such as the builders association and the blue man group. These groups show intermediary work, so I thought it important to discuss them, I found their ideas different and inspiring they were a new type of theatre and so I felt that they needed to be discussed in the essay. The builders association in particular uses a lot of digital aids including web streaming and video footage in their performances, they too have videos and even art work to express the messages; they do not rely on live performances alone.

Added to this, I also interviewed, a family friend, who is a director. Chris Green has been a director of film and television; I wanted to see what he thought of theatre in the digital age. He believed that traditional theatre still had its place in society today, as it been around for generations, he commented on how it has always competed with different forms of media, and can still triumph he agreed that with other forms of media the theatre is at threat. But argued that by getting involved with media. The theatre can overcome any types of threat.

It was interesting to get a different prospective on things as it provided me with more of an idea of weather or not theatre could compete.

I began exploring the idea of remediation more, to see if this could contribute to my research, from doing this I found that it is a must for theatre to constantly re mediates, as the audience are for ever changing, likewise so does the content have to change! Remediation does not mean that the content has to be lost, but generated again using new material, for example, The Performing Arts Students, are putting on the myth of Electra and Oedipus, they will be performing one, with no visual effects the other which contained multimedia. I will comment on this further after seeing the production.

I also began interviewing people as my personal research for my debate I wanted to gain an understanding of what the public thought before I planned my debate, this way I could form a balanced answer. Please refer to the videos for the interviews that took place

WEEK 8

. As well as expanding on our group projects, we also carried on the research of theaters changing to adapt to the audience. The audience as a spectator now wants to become more involved in the performance and live it for themselves. I researched into Coco Fusco, a female dramatist, who takes her spectators on journeys and allows them to explore the experience for themselves.

Coco Fusco not only performs live but also creates videos of her work.


‘Fusco’s recent art projects combine electronic media and performance in a variety of formats, from staged multi-media performances incorporating large scale projections and closed circuit television to live performances streamed to the internet that invite audiences to chart the course of action through chat interaction. In collaboration with Ricardo Dominguez, Fusco is currently developing a bilingual on-line game that maps the movements of and restraints upon the various social groups that inhabit the US-Mexico border for the 2005 InSite Biennial. She is currently developing a serious of new performances and videos about the role of female interrogators in the War on Terror’

Her work is ferocious and compelling, it can be commented as gender orientated as a lot of her work relates to females.

Coco shows us of how media and performance combine together to make a virtual performance, it is extremely interesting and engaging.

View the website for clips of previous productions:
www.cocofusco.com

In out group, it became clear, that as a group of four we had very different ideas on how chosen subject, I thought it would be interesting to take advantage of this, I suggested we formed a debate, this way we would all be able to discuss what we thought and all have an individual debate, I began watching political debates and researching material so I knew what was involved in a debate, and how it should be presented.

WEEK 7

This week, I became interested in the idea of what theatre is now, the posted link on Minerva talked about, how theatre is no longer theatre, and instead it is something which we are all familiar with. The example given, was how in the west end musicals sell out a year before. It is because of other forms of media! The first example is that of The Lion King, does it sell out because people want to see a musical, a show or is it because, People know the well know version created from Disney and want to see a spin of from that? It is hard to determine weather; this can be classed as a form of theatre! If Disney had not made the film, it would not be familiar, so would it be as popular, a lot of what the theatre put on is down to the new Media.

The second example is that of reality television! Sound of Music and Joseph and his Technicolor Dream coat are now box office hits in the west end. Two of the most popular shows, however, I think this is greatly to do with the fact that the starring roles came about from the BBC shows, How to solve a problem like Maria and Any Joseph will do! Millions voted for the favorite Maria and Joseph weekly, the winners winning the leading role, but if these two people were not televised, I doubt that these shows would attract such high number. From reading both articles on Minerva, I believe that the future of theatre does lie in other forms of media.

Zarrilli et al, comments that key developments in theatre happen as key developments in human nature do. This is something which I concur with, this day and age human nature is engaged with the celebrity world, and so theatres have adapted this theory. Theatres are now using top celebrities to draw in the numbers! Sir Ian Mckellin played King Lear in Courtyard Theatre Stratford upon Avon in spring 2007 and the show was a sell out. This shows how theatre adapts to the human demands; they want famous celebrities they get them!!

As part of the group work, I began to investigate further into racism as a form of entertainment, it became apparent to me that violence was also huge, so we began toiling with the idea of having violence as the over all theme, as this could include racism, happy slapping bullying and much more. Giving us more content to work with.

WEEK 6

Last week, we were set the task of reading a chapter from the book Virtual Theatres. The introduction talks about how technology and virtuallity are becoming more and more involved in out theatres now. From studying experimental theatre as another module, I can see this is true.

Theatre groups such as, The Blueman group, Ping Chong, and Coco Fusco, all break down the 4Th wall convention and become some what engaged with intermediary work. They go beyond what is normal and are not afraid to experiment. Since late 1960s a massive change has been seen in the theatre world, a change which has experimented, some has been successful other have failed, but it is safe to say that technology is playing more of a part in our theatre today. Video and Internet are being used more and there is now less of an empathizes on live theatre, and more of an empathizes on visual instillation. Giannachi express how important virtual work is as it takes place through the viewer’s performance, rather than the actors. Virtual theatres, appeals to viewers on different levels and is more stimulating. As modern technologies improve likewise does the theatre.



Gabriella Giannachi discusses this idea in depth, she also comments on the previously discussed topic of Remediation. A phenomenon rapidly taking over in our per formative society. Theatre is now being forced to re mediate its content in order to appeal to the audience. We have seen many famous books go from paper to film; the theatre is grasping onto this idea and making the material suitable for the theatre. And example of this is Tolkiens Lord of the rings, the popular trilogy started as text before becoming sequel of films, now it has been put to the stage, using a range of virtual techniques in its performance. Remediation is essential in the running of virtual theatre.

After reading this chapter, it became apparent that we could adapt some of these ideas into our performance piece. We didn’t want to do a straightforward performance, but instead a reflection on what we had been studying over the last few weeks.

We came up with the idea of how the internet exploits racism as a form of entertainment and question why! We wanted to show, the amount of racism shown on the internet and question the public to weather t was a form of entertainment. We began researching the subject. We found many videos on YOUTUBE alone, all exploiting racism, added to this I even found websites glorifying racism. We raised the issues of the internet encouraging violence, and investigated the different types of racism. Racism happens every day, but the media only gets involved when it it’s published an example of this is the famous racist encounter which happened in Celebrity Big Brother.

We had ideas of making a collaboration of videos. Empathizing the shock factor and then making a docudrama by interviewing people on their responses, we would then make a video for our performance.

Below is a list of links to some of videos and sites we found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_MS6LNimDU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoWZk8R2WB4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk
http://www.adl.org/poisoning_web/racist_rock.asp
http://www.stumbleupon.com/tag/racism/
/Week 5-
This week, we began thinking about what made a worthwhile performance. We watched videos last week by Guillermo Gomez, and a you type video entitled The punishment, these were deemed as performance but where they worthwhile?? The punishment was particularly disturbing as it showed a group of young children being asked what they thought of President Bush, the end result saw these children punishing Bush by sticking pins in him. It was ironic as they didn’t know what they were doing. The children spoke in a foreign language which made it even more disturbing as we could only see their actions, despite the subtitles!!

We were introduced to a series of links. all displaying types of performances, again this was traumatic. Thousands of people upload video footage onto the web which the deem as a performance. Such things as violence. Cruelty, sex and more. At first seeing this video was worrying however, when I began to think about it, we pay to go and see theatre of cruelty and violent films. These people are just doing the same but in reality. I think it is more disturbing to us as it is reality; I began to question where is the line drawn before virtuality and reality.

Yes, it is true that no one wants to see a Cat being killed, or bullies in a playground, but Blockbuster movies are made such as Die Hard, where nothing happens but violence! Theatre of cruelty was and still is popular, they are acting, but still we flock to see it performed. It is true that we watch violence to understand violence. It is hard to determine, where reality ends and virtuality begins.

I then began thinking, with my group what we deemed as a worthwhile performance, we came up with the following five. :

1. A drama which I can relate to, and has an impact on me, an example of this is ‘Close every door.’ It is a drama based on a women suffering with Neurofibromatosis, the condition I suffer from, it was worthwhile to me because it made an impact on me.

2. Footage of people completing marathons, I think this shows exceptional talent and people should be praised for it.

3. Award winning films, for example. ‘Last kind of Scotland’ this shows excellence in acting especially when portraying important events this film is directed by Kevin McDonald and is Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.

4. a piece of theatre which not only shows excellent performances but everything from lighting sound and set is outstanding.

5. A sports team who constantly show excellent ability to achieve their goals, e.g. - Wales winning the grand slam in 2005, after winning every single match.

I wrote a response to what is a worthwhile performance: The term performance is described as ‘a musical, dramatic, or other entertainment presented before an audience’ It is something which an audience will chose to see, weather the enjoy it or not.

In today’s society, performance takes place every day, not only in the theatre or TV and radio. But also constantly on the internet, thru the media such as ‘YOUTUBE’, and other sharing programmers. It is hard to determine what constitutes a worthwhile performance, as the material is so vast. It comes down to a personal opinion. For example: During Week 5 seminar, we explored a web page with the thread entitled ‘Top Ten Shock Blogs’. This consisted of 10 You Tube videos, which were extremely shocking; the themes included the broadcasting of bullying, animal cruelty, war, misogyny and work place satire. Some of the class were mortified by the content where as other argued that if the performer had a reason for the performance can be accepted. On a personal note, I can see no reasoning for filming the broadcasting a violent attack! But others may argue it is to raise awareness for the fact it does happen in every day life, therefore by making the public aware and act upon what we have seen the performance becomes worthwhile as it as made a positive impact.

Performances are meant to be shared; there would be little point in a performance if it was to be kept private. But with such powerful tools now such as the internet performance can often been pointless. We also discussed the massive phoneme of Face book, in class, and agreed that it is a personal performance for others. You chose how you are depicted by other, by what you say about yourself, what pictures you put up and weather you tag yourselves in photos or not. To be on Facebook, no longer means to keep in touch with lost friend, but to broadcast and make a performance of yourself, unless you’re honest and show the real you, what your portraying is a lie, and is worthless as it means nothing!


We also looked at a page entitled ‘Weird and Wonderful Blogs’. A page with links to videos which others had taken, including drawings on ideas of what the world will be like in year to come, Hens being filmed 24 hours, and a man in search for a wife. Although at first glance these can be viewed as pointless, it is interesting to note that they all have hidden meanings. For example, the filming of the hens to me commented on how, like hens we to are constantly monitored, making me think about our privacy and raising awareness, therefore like the bullying video the performance becomes worthwhile. On the other hand, it could be just the filming of a flock of hens, and so has no point and is worthless.

Blogging heads was and interesting link we looked at, as it showed to people having a real conversation about current affairs (In this case 9/11). It became a performance once it was broadcasted, and allowed the public to see to different views on such an important affair.

To finish, I would like to comment on the link regarding the High court and You Tube. In very recent news, a member of the public was sentenced, as they recorded a court case on their mobile phone and broadcasted it on You Tube, this is an illegal act. But it raises the question of, why did they feel the need to broadcast such an event? It must have been, to them something they wanted to share, bringing me to the point, that a worthwhile performance is indeed something which has to be decided on personally.



To finalize on what I have discussed, and drawing information from various sources, I think I am just in saying a worthwhile performance, no long means a play, a musical or a Film. With the internet now, anything is possible, and as long as the performer has a worthy reason, or meaning behind their act, it can be see as worthwhile. Even if is to cheer someone up by appearing a fool on you tube! Writing a poem and creating a blog about it. The answer to the above question can not be clear cut; it can not even be answered in full! A worthwhile performance is something personal and something which will constantly change!
The group’s responses can be found at:
http://virtualityandperformancegroup.blogspot.com

Week 4

Week 4-

We began, adding to the blogs which we had created my own blog and an outlook on my thoughts and feeling can be found at:

http://katenicholas.blogspot.com/

I began looking at my peer’s blogs, and picked out three which I liked the content off:-

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1 Performing girls.

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1 Leigh

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1 Clem.

I picked on these three in particular as they all seemed to be addressing the idea of our module more clearly. They seemed to discuss relevant material and gave me something to think about.

After posting what I consider to be cool on my blog, which can be viewed by the link above, we began as a group of three to make a film about what is cool. We took the idea of what is cool, and instead of a statement changed it into a question what is cool??

After a discussion, we decide to have a short film, of one of the groups members smoking a cigarette, then raise the question to our audience weather it was cool or not to smoke!

The film was only about 60 seconds long; it was simple yet effective as it raised awareness of smoking. With the group formed we began discussing idea of what we would like to do for our performance, we said the task of individually

To finalize, we were asked not only to begin thinking of our performance but also define Performance with reference to Auslander, and Virtuality with reference to Novak. I came up with the following

Virtuality – Novak describes virtuality as three different concepts, space of the Platonic Ideal; the space of consciousness; and technologically constructed information space. According to Novak, reality is virtual as we can never anticipate the end result. He expressed how reality is the most plausible for us and virtuality goes beyond that, virtuality is like outer space; it goes above normal to achieve excellence.

Performance- A Performance is something which spectators observe, be it live or filmed. Auslander talks about performance in his book Liveness, performance in a mediated culture. He argues that live events, from, theatre to sport are ‘now themselves pale replicates of mass-media technologies,’ Everything and anything is a performance, even our own Facebook pages, they are a platform of what and how we want other to see in us. Performance is not only a term used to describe theatre. It goes a lot deeper than that. Performance happen everyday, we are just oblivious to them!

I began researching into different kind of performances, and came up with 5 very different types:
1. A Stage performance, be it a school nativity to a west end show.
2. A Rock Concert.
3. Personalized WebPages such as Facebook. My Space and BEBO.
4. YOU TUBE videos, even if is a group of friends on a night out.
5. A football match, the players, the spectators and the coaches are all performing.

I began to establish, how virtuality and performance can combine together. Virtuality widens the gateway to performance immensely with the technologies of virtuality performances can be created on another level.

Thursday, 3 January 2008

WEEK 3- Radio, television and early virtuality.

Week three, began with us exploring the idea of radio and TV in the virtual world. After reading all of the links given on Minerva The title of this week’s seminar was Radio and TV, so I began to explore how radio and television are involved in the virtual world... I

Ten years ago, the majority of people had four channels on there television set and where content with that. Now, it is seen as abnormal for a household not to have Digital TV, or ‘SKY’.’ This is an example of virtuality in television. Sky opens up a different gateway for the audience. Over 200 channels are available, news. Weather movies and sport are on 24 hours a day. We can even pick what camera angle we want to watch a football or cricket match from. Recent improvements allows us to pause live television, and pick up where we left of, as well as record multiple channels, we can even watch again if we have missed out favorite television program. Virtuality has taken over television completely.

Likewise with radio, it can now be accessed via the internet, where we can listen live, as well as listen again, in some cases as far back as the month previous, many of the related links on Minerva referred to this change, and provided video link up with a chance to express views. It became easy to see how television and Radio have adapted, and how theater will change too.

We also began creating our own blogs, were by we discussed, what ourselves as individuals thought of as cool content. Minerva provided us, with different links such as the cool site of the day, an uncool site of how to be cool, this was to be cool:

‘Have you always wanted to be the cool guy, who always seems to do the right thing? Or are you dying to be the cool girl, who flows through life with ease and grace? Are all of the 'cool' kids making fun of you? Here are some steps that define the essence of being cool. The rest is up to you.’
After looking into these site, what I perceive as cool will be different from the next person, below is a list of five websites I think are cool and why.

1. www.wru.co.uk Being very patriotic I like to keep tabs on what my National Rugby team are doing, team news an up and coming fixtures, I even comment in the blogs about game plans and coaches decisions on the squad.

2. www.dressupgames.com – This site allows me to customize my own hairstyle, by uploading a picture of yourself you can experiment with different styles and even submit so people can have their say on your new mop!

3. www.miniclip.com- when work is driving you insane and you need a break, this is a really cool website, and it allows you to play free games an ease tension, its very addictive.

4. www.facebook.com – Being a student, a lot of my friends I don’t get to speak to, this site allows me to keep in touch with them, as well as contact friends I have not seen for years!!

5. www.westerntelegraph.co.uk this site is an online newspaper for my local county, it’s an easy way of keeping up to date with the counties news without having it posted to me weekly.


We briefly touched on the subject of remediation, something to be explored further in future lessons. I began investigating into what remediation was, remediation is the term used, for reassessing something and then either adding or regenerating the material to improve on it, sometimes, material is remediate so it becomes more familiar to the audience. An example of this is in advertising, Marks and Spencer’s uses a famous Slogan, ‘ This is not just any…… this is M and S…..’ added to this, the news music which is recognizable to us, other companies now use this slogan, as a mimic but still people will remember their product because of the way it has been presented.

Week 2-Theatre and Virtuality (theatre and intermediality 1)

We began this week by discussing definitions of the term ‘Virtual’. Virtual is a term which can be used to describe a number of things. Without a doubt, we are living in a virtual society as computers are so heavily involved. You can do almost anything via virtuality now, online banking, shopping even play sports through such virtualtiy adaptations such as the Nintendo Wii.

I found a description for Virtual:
adj. [via the technical term `virtual memory', prob. from the term `virtual image' in optics] 1. Common alternative to logical; often used to refer to the artificial objects (like addressable virtual memory larger than physical memory) simulated by a computer system as a convenient way to manage access to shared resources. 2. Simulated; performing the functions of something that isn't really there. An imaginative child's doll may be a virtual playmate. Oppose real.’

I began thinking about how Virtuality played its part in theatre and performance. The theatre is now using form of virtuality to engage the audience on a higher level, making it more of a stimulating experience.
I began investigating into theatre groups which have become engaged with virtuality in their performances. II came across an interesting article on Hamlet, and how the director Carlos Cueva had adapted the Shakespeare classic to fit into today’s society:
‘Our Peruvian society is also increasingly dominated by pre-fabricated needs and tastes. If you have no dreams of your own, they are made for you. Thus each of the seven actors was given an individual multi-media set for this theatrical piece with which they could work on their interpretation of Marketing-Hamlet’

More and more companies are using aspects of virtuality in their performances, many used use of video.

Samuel Weber discusses Virtuality in theatre. He discusses how theatre has changed, and the impact virtuality has on theatre. He looks back to theatre of cruelty and juxtaposes the then and now. His Website is below:

http://www.hydra.umn.edu/weber/art2.html
I became interested in the idea of Myth Hacking. The website explains how a Greek tragedy such as Medea is hacked into and exploited via 3D images and video link ups. It explains that the performance can be viewed both live as well as an internet link up.

There are two ways to visit the ME DEA EX universe - physically attend the performance and see the live actress interacting with 3D world projected on the walls, or enter via the internet and affect the show, while watching the actress via her webcam. Both ways, you may become part of the chorus (the global village), that sing classic lines using text-to-speech mechanisms, saying: We could have saved the children… We could have done something…

We began discussing the idea of Meda Ex, which is Medea in 3D, the production above is fully engaged in virtuality not only is it accessible on the web, but it is performed in multiple languages. Making the production available on the internet increases the changes of gaining more of an audience and shows how virtuality can be a good thing for theatre.




We confront virtuality everyday and so it would be foolish to say that it did not belong in the theatre, as with anything the theatres must change to move with the times, it is inevitable that virtuality will continue into our theatres.

Week 1.-The matrix beyond Facebook: Web 2.0 and wikis, blogs, youtube and more

The first week, saw us being introduced to the module and what to expect. We by looking at clips from the blockbuster movie, The Matrix. This started a conversation about the internet as a form of media; we also looked at as video bar which conspired of four videos all commenting on the internet in one way or another. These video suggested to me that slowly but surely the internet is taking over all other types of communication as it is the easiest and fastest. It is fascinating to think that through mediums such as SKYPE, the world’s largest video calling tool, I am able to contact people on the other side of the world literally at the click of a button!

We began discussing how computers now play a major part in our lives, for example every single member of the class had a Facebook account, and admitted to checking it regularly, most on a daily basis.

Social networking sites, blogs and video sharing sites such as YOUTUBE now dictate our lives.

We were given a series of links to look at; one which interested me the most was discussing the idea of ‘Web 2.0’. This is the phrase given to the improved version of the World Wide Web.

A quote by actor Stephen Fry describes Web 2.0:
An idea in people's heads rather than a reality. It’s actually an idea that the reciprocity between the user and the provider is what's emphasized. In other words, genuine interactivity, if you like, simply because people can upload as well as download".

Thoughts, feelings debates and conversations can now take place over the Internet 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Related Links for this week.

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1

https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_8955_1

Introduction.

Over the past twelve weeks, i have been keeping a written log,of what has been discussed in the weekly seminars, i have researched ,material and added my own thoughts to the subject. I have now created an online blog showing my weekly reflection of what what discussed.