April 2013 – Dream Reality

Instructions

Posted on April 28, 2013May 17, 2013 by Kim Louise Price

For the rehearsal process of our piece, we decided to experiment with mobile phones as a way to give instructions to the participants. During this experimentation process, we discovered that by giving instructions by using mobile phones alone, the piece became too hesitant. This was due to the fact that the instructions heard by the participant were misunderstood, or the phone was too quiet.

One member of our group called the number to the specific phone being used and asked the participant to repeat everything that was being said to them. The members of the dream reality group realized that this way of giving instructions to the participants became too complicated. From this idea, we then decided to keep the concept of using mobile phones, but to make it easier to give instructions to the participant who answered the phone.

the instructions which the participants read out loud were written down on cards and numbered 1-5, then the participant read out these instructions when told to do so. this was to maintain control of our piece as it was scripted. we could not have had the participant who answered the phone say anything they liked as it would have required a high level of improvisation. this would have slowed the piece down greatly.

This idea then gave us the thought that we could write out the instructions so the participant could read them out when the member of our group instructed them too after they answered the phone. The process of trial and error with using mobile phones meant that we came up with an idea to make the piece flow more and gave us more control over what the participants would say. whilst we still used the mobile phone to give instructions, we realized that even when the phone was put on loud speaker, it was far too quiet for the other participants\audience members to hear. to resolve this, we decided to use a microphone for the instructor to use so everyone would be able to hear what was being said.

Our influence for this idea came from Blast Theory’s use of mobile phones within their own performances such as A Machine to see with and Ulrike and Eamon compliance in which they too use mobile phones to instruct their participants at different intervals throughout the process. The difference between our group and Blast theory is that, they used these instructions to guide their participants to a different location. With dream reality, we instructed our participants to ask the ‘suspects’ a series of questions in order to find the person responsible for the attack.

In Blast theory’s a machine to see with, they tell their participant through the mobile phone that they are the lead in a heist movie. similarly in dream reality, the instructor tells the participant that they are now the hero. “A Machine To See With is a film where you play the lead. There are screenings every 15 minutes. You sign up online and hand over your mobile phone number. On the day, you receive an automated call giving you the address you need to go to. Once you arrive on your allotted street corner your phone rings. From there a series of instructions lead you through the city. You are the lead in a heist movie; it’s all about you.” (Blast theory (2013), Blast theory online: http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/bt/work_amachinetoseewith.html (Accessed: May 2013)

Our influence to use technology in our piece, mainly mobile phones, largely came from Blast theory. However, we felt as a group, that as mobile phones are usually the first point of call during any disaster or any event, it would be a very useful concept to explore.

The instructions that we used can be seen below, simply click on the PDF files:

1 2 3 4 5

Ideas, Post Performance

Music – 2

Posted on April 26, 2013May 17, 2013 by Daniel James Roberts

As our performance is now progressing, we have needed sound effects to accompany our work. We have decided that we would need a sound that would signify a bomb blast. Although we wanted a bomb blast, we also collectively agreed that we didn’t want the sound to be too literal. With this in mind, we deliberated at what sounds we could use that would imply a bomb had just exploded. After searching through several different types of after blast sound effects, we thought of the idea that we could shock our audience out of the dream state we are hoping to place them by playing a sound that ring through the ears. We decided we wanted this because after loud blasts, victims regularly suffer from tinnitus. After collecting a sample of sounds, we decided that this would be the most suitable sound file to use.

Tinnitus Sound:

In addition to this, we also wanted to add sound that would help suggest something had happened. Through further searching, we decided that we wished to add emergency sirens with the tinnitus sound file. As our script also discussed a car fleeing from the scene, we also wanted to add this. As we needed an mp3 of this, Luke went away and recorded himself speeding away.

These are the two sounds we decided to also use:

Car speeding away:

Emergency Sirens:

One we decided on what sound files we wished to use, it was my job to mix these all together. To do this I used Traktor, a DJ software package, to record myself live mixing these together. To ensure that I did this at a high standard, I mixed each sound to the tinnitus mp3 one by one. To begin with, I mixed the siren sounds together with the tinnitus.

This was the result:

After successfully mixing these together, I then mixed in the car speeding sound to complete the sound.

This was the result:

Reviewing the sound, I feel I created a nice sound effect that replicated the aftermath of a blast. I’m glad that as a group we decided that we wouldn’t be too literal with our sound effects, as it’s permitted us to have a soundscape that allows the audience to imagine.

Update.

During our tech rehearsals, it became apparent that the sound file was too long. As the tinnitus sound effect was a very irritable sound, we decided it would be best to shorten the mp3 from two minutes to fifty seconds. Here is a copy of the revised version of our sound effect.

Here is the revised version:

Visuals and aesthestics

Developing the script

Posted on April 26, 2013May 17, 2013 by Nina Woods

After going away and writing our own monologues we grouped together and read what each of us had written. Coincidentally we each created events that occurred in a park. Already we had subconsciously created a thread that bound each of the texts together. We decided to develop this and create more links between the characters and the situations they find themselves in. The aim of doing this was to keep the audience guessing and keep them interested as the plot twists and turns as each person is accused.

We took this a step further by making the audience member the protagonist of the piece; they would lead the investigation and ultimately find out who is guilty. For this we took influence from Blast Theory and Gobs Squad as they both use the public within their performances to lead and very much be a part of their performance.

An awareness and worry was raised at just how much we were going to rely on the audience. We felt that creating a script was the ideal way to regain some control as this way we would at least know what they were going to ask and we could have set responses.

Improvised sections are also written in the script in which tasks are set for the audience to complete such as the searching of the contents of bags and the searching of finding items in the space.

Below a link can be found to a PDF of the script. This includes each of the characters and ‘Mobile’. ‘Mobile’ stands for the member of the audience who will answer the phone and then lead the investigation.

Click to open script – Dream_Reality_Script

By Nina Woods

Rehearsal

Technical Meeting

Posted on April 26, 2013May 17, 2013 by Nina Woods

In doing a Multimedia Module we really wanted to push the technical aspect of our performance. We met with Darren Page and the technical team to discuss our ideas and to see whether or not it was possible to materialise them. The first idea we proposed was the idea of suspending a fabric cube within the LPAC Auditorium. After some debate of how we were going to do this, the conclusion was reached that scaffold poles would extend from the balcony enabling us to drape the fabric over the poles until they reached the floor. This was possible for three of the walls – but we were unsure of how we were going to make the fourth wall. The problem was that the scaffold poles would be suspended by a rope, tied to the grid. Therefore the fourth pole would not be able to attach onto anything. We came to a compromise and decided that the fourth wall would be made through the use of a cinematic screen on the stage. Below a template can be seen of how the space will look:

As you can see this still creates an enclosed space with an opening on one side. Doing this helped in terms of projectors as it meant we could use the bigger projector which the LPAC. The benefit of using this projector is that it was connected to the technical desk, meaning footage played on the projector could be put into Cue Lab and manually controlled.

The next technical issue we approached was the use of projectors. We went into the meeting wanting to use 5 projectors, one for each of the sides of the cube and the roof. The idea in doing this was to have different sleep related media surrounding the audience members, creating a visually engaging space. However the technicians raised the view that to do this each screen and therefore each projector would need a laptop behind each one, with someone controlling the laptop. Due to the nature of our performance this would not be able to be us controlling it as we were in the controlled world. The assessment falls in performance week, meaning that there would not be enough technicians available. The point was raised that the use of so many projectors would also run the risk of something going wrong.

We contested this greatly as we really wanted to have four different screens, enabling graphics to change the location of the space and provide multiple visuals at once. However we took their advice as we did not want malfunctions with videos, completely impeding our performance. Therefore we decided to narrow it down to just two projectors, one for the cinema screen and one for the grid. We could still use all the sleep media footage we had acquired and run less of a risk of something going wrong. The technicians also suggested the use of light on the remaining walls of the cube to create the same ambiance and atmosphere.

Experimentation

Putting the performance together…

Posted on April 25, 2013April 25, 2013 by

Now we have established our main idea, it was time to start testing the elements of the performance so we would know what the final piece would look like. We managed to collect our fabric to create the cube in which the audience will be immersed in, and we were able to gain access to the projectors we are going to use. One of the videos which may be used was projected onto the material to see how clear of a picture we would get. It became apparent that for in order to project the video correctly, we would have to project through the material, as when images were projected onto the material it would mirror the actual image. The results are in photo form below:

As you can see, this image is mirrored from the original video, so in order for it to be projected the correct way we had to project through the material. The image was just as clear:

Therefore this will enable us to use projections both on and through the material of the cube, if we feel projectors will take up the space within the performance area. Overall the projections were solid and the images were clear to see.

By Francesca Brooks