The pandemic has forced all members of the arts community to be flexible and digitalize: museums, galleries, theatres, concerts, and, of course, the spectator, who is constantly searching for entertainment and educational content. As a result, all sorts of adaptations are emerging and developing in the creative industries, including the phenomenon of digital theatre and one of its new areas – multimedia film performance.
Prolonged isolation and severe restrictions on attending mass events have pushed the creative industry, including the performing arts, to come up with new formats. The main goal is not to lose a spectator who is not ready to give up cultural development even in the most difficult times.
Theatrical productions are becoming a new type of content, which will be one of the newest factors in shaping the cultural future of modern man in quarantine.
In the weeks since the beginning of the pandemic, a new trend has emerged from nowhere: digital theatre. This is not the same as broadcasting performances on the Internet: we are talking about projects that are originally designed for online format, like the so-called film performances. Thanks to their multi-frame nature, they allow utilizing all the benefits of creativity of the digital age, turning from a stage production into a real multimedia masterpiece.
In the new realities of performance adaptation, the main attributes of this creative sphere appear. Also, we can already predict some of the methods that will be used in the future, integrating theatrical art into a new form of content.
Augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR) are becoming important attributes of the XXI century. They create the necessary effect of presence in the film performance. However, sometimes “the main disadvantage of AR is the mere lack of content that would captivate the viewer for more than 10 seconds”. In the end, theatrical idea is still in the first place.
The next attribute is sound techniques. Among them, there are technologies that allow you to broadcast sound in separate audio streams: the method of dividing the audience into groups, in each of them they first hear the same thing, but then choose different tracks; as a result, the audience becomes actors and part of the plot.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of multimedia film performances is the digital methods of creating scenery (both for filming and post-production), where the equipment for reproducing virtual design is very compact. For example, video mapping technology creates three-dimensional high-resolution graphics that are projected onto an empty stage, creating an environment for the viewer who can watch a movie through a mobile application, fully immersed in the atmosphere of the action.
The multimedia of digital performances allows to add a “second scene” with the help of electronic projections. Projections are created from real photos, video clips, virtual and graphic images. Some productions use online drawing, which allows to supplement the content with visual images or texts.
New forms of expression in the performing arts are developing rapidly, but they can only exist as a result or professional work of the director at the stage of conception and the arts manager at the stage of planning.
That is why all professionals need to constantly learn how to incorporate innovation into their work of art. To do this, you can take the opportunity to apply for a scholarship in areas such as THEATRE DIRECTING and ARTS MANAGEMENT and choose the course duration suitable for you.
