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The music in this section is derived from previously uploaded original music composition demo, but with some percussion samples added to the original.
This part of the original plan was considered to set up some digital media content: the sensors were set up on the drums and played live, so as to influence the video footage through the live drum playing. However, in practice, we found that the sensitivity of the sensor was too difficult to manipulate in such a sound environment, and was prone to errors during live performance, so we changed this stage to direct percussion.
The percussion samples come from a Chinese national instrument, the demi-drum, which simultaneously produces the sound of a drum being struck, the sound of a bell, and the sound of metal rubbing against metal. In this piece of music, some of these drum samples are added and played live, using the instrumentalist’s walking route as a clue to lead the audience from the corridor into the formal performance venue.
To furthermore, percussion and vocal samples are also used in this piece. The vocal samples originate from the north of China, and this special singing style is called hu mai, which is a special method of singing to achieve the effect of singing in harmony with one person, with a unique ethnic characteristic.
In part 2, in order to state the background of the story (fish live in depressing and crowded waters), the color of the music in this part turns low and depressing, and the 0 to 43 seconds need to give way to sound space for the lines, which are mainly produced as background music. 43 seconds later, the dance joins in, and there is a strong twist in the visual effect, in the case of the original piano as the base, the more intense percussion and string groups were also added.
In the third part, the music is accompanied by the sound effects of the water flow, which is also composed as an aural effect with fluidity, consisting mainly of delayed electronic pads. At the same time, the percussion in the second half of this piece of music is joined by a processed electronic sound similar to poor contact, in order to articulate the next part of the fifth part of the segmentation of different music.In this section, the music is less melodic than in the previous sections, partly because of the need to give way to the lines, and partly to match the sound effects and balance the frequency range.
The first rehearsal was postponed due to the length of time it took to arrive at the production for our show and the complexity of setting up a 5.1 sound system at the same time. During this rehearsal, we identified a number of issues for improvement.
Firstly, the actors’ movements need to be further explored and improved. During the rehearsal, we found that the carp characters were not very expressive and it was difficult to show rich emotions, and the use of the carp characters also limited the actors’ movements – the actors could only lift the carp characters to do some simple movements. So from the audience’s point of view, the whole plot and story line of the performance, including the emotions of the characters, were not expressed very clearly.
Secondly, after a group discussion, we agreed that we needed to add some more lines and dialogues. We found that the existing acting, music and sound effects were not sufficient to adequately convey a clear plot and storyline.
In addition, we found the realisation of the original dance section to be more difficult than we had imagined. Our original plan was to have members of our group perform the dance, but after rehearsals we found that the non-professional dance performances were not expressive enough, so I contacted my friend who is a dance major and communicated with her about the overall timeline, story and content. Expressed emotions and invited her to join us for the performance.
Also, after completing the setup, we realised that the venue setup (sound system, decorations, projector and screen setup, etc.) was taking much longer than planned, and we had to find a way to shorten this time while arriving and setting up the venue a little earlier than planned on the day of the official performance.
Finally, in the music section, I think some adjustments need to be made based on dance time adaptations and line additions. On the one hand, some of the music needs to give way to the frequency of the lines and dialogue; on the other hand, the music should have a greater sense of rhythm and passage when joining the dance to provide better conditions for the dancers to play.
The first collaborative rehearsal revealed a lot to us. First and foremost was the difficulty of articulating a clear narrative – how do you tell the story in a way that is clear to the audience? We found it difficult to do this with just dialogue-free puppetry, and the performance came out as a muddled mess. After a productive meeting, we decided to add narration and dialogue to strengthen the narrative.
In the evening, I urgently penned a clear version of the voice-over script, in which the dialogue makes the story more detailed and the characters more three-dimensional, which I think is a very necessary action. I made plans to dub it with Hongpei, with him tackling the narrator’s part and me handling the dialogue for the small fish.
In addition, we have made new changes to the set-up —- The small ice screen in front of the big screen has been moved to the west, echoing the screen in the entrance corridor, symmetrically on either side of the big screen.
One important change: we decided to put the projector behind the screen so that it wouldn’t get in the way of the audience’s experience in the centre of the stage, but also so that it could be a source of light that came for the shadow puppetry.
Here I have prioritised the actions to improve:
Script for voiceover and dialogue.
dubbing (filmmaking)
Make a detailed list of the entire performance, down to the second-by-second details of who should come on, what should be performed, what lines should be said, etc.
subtitle the projected video.
Practising pupperty playing
Schedule the next rehearsal time (which is on the day after tommorrow) try to ensure that the performance can flow during the second rehearsal. I hope that the outcome of the second rehearsal will be a clear line of movement for the actors.
Finally, this very initial rehearsal allowed me to see clearly for the first time how the whole performance was working and to have a clearer idea of what needs to be improved, I’m excited to be able to evaluate and reflect on this invaluable information, which will go a long way to improving the quality of our final performance.
We explored a variety of materials and crafts to create a wide range of props for this theatre performance project.
Four Little Fish
Upper stage small fish
The overall design of two of the small fish is similar to that of the big fish, but we used material packages to make the process much simpler to save unnecessary work. These two small fish have light strips wrapped around their interiors, enabling them to emit a faint glow on stage, enhancing the visual effect. They will be on stage in three of the acts.
Upper stage small fish
Lantern Fish
The other two small fish are decorated on top of the lanterns to mimic the form of a fish. The red fish is controlled by Hongpei Cao and performs in real time, with its performance projected on the left screen. The pink fish is used as a live decoration.
Four Little Fish finished product and live effect
Decorative Goldfish
We also made decorative goldfish. We used glossy cardboard and drew goldfish patterns on it. Although the original plan was to hang these goldfish on the stage, we finally decided to place them on the wall by the passageway for safety reasons.
Decorative Goldfish
Balloons
We hung different coloured balloons at the entrance, including transparent, light blue and dark blue. The transparent balloons were also filled with tricolour wool inside. When viewers wish to enter, their faces are blocked by the balloons, which creates a suffocating, crowded and oppressive feeling, symbolising the crowded and oppressive existence of carp in the lake.
Balloon making process
Foam Tape on the Floor
We noticed during rehearsals that the audience would have trouble determining where they wanted to stand, so we decided to place a foam strip on the floor to differentiate between the stage and the auditorium. The foam paper will be painted with a blue water pattern, suggesting that the story takes place in water.
I attended the Edinburgh Blues and Jazz concert and found their set interesting – the projected video responded to the rhythm of the music so that the audience could simultaneously feel a stronger resonance on the audition. They take on abstract and realistic usages for different music and scenarios.
To direct the audience’s attention to a specific screen, we ingeniously used 5.1 surround sound along with strategic changes in the front and back screen spaces. In this way, the audience is able to naturally turn in the desired direction based on the visual-sound interaction.
Light and shadow
The shadow play in the opening credits aims to create mystery and intrigue. At the end of the movie, the shadow play mirrors the opening, implying the carp has returned to its cage.
During this week, we conducted our first system connectivity test in the Atrium. Owing to time constraints, we separately tested the interactive installations and the surround sound system components. The surround sound setup consists of five Genelec speakers and a subwoofer, connected to an RME UCXII sound card to receive audio from the computer.
Given the complexity of routing surround sound audio files directly from the computer, during actual performances, the main stage’s surround sound audio and projection videos will be played through a Protools output sound card and on the first expansion screen. Meanwhile, the television visuals will be displayed using QuickTime on a second expansion screen, ensuring there is no interference between the two systems.
Initially, we added spatial sound variations to a segment of pink noise. Through testers listening from the audience’s position, we achieved a relatively balanced effect by real-time adjustments of each speaker’s input level on the virtual mixing console. Subsequently, we played a completed surround sound segment, which resulted in a satisfactory performance outcome.
Following that, we tested the projection system and the Max interactive installation. Our initial idea was to create rock props fitting the scene, inviting audience members to jump around in the setting. We planned to capture the vibrations with a geophone and transform the visuals accordingly. However, in practice, we found the geophone to be extremely sensitive; it could detect strong sound pressure levels even from a distance or as soon as an audience member entered the door, making it challenging to set an activation threshold for the device.
Therefore, we intend to connect the system to percussion instruments, transforming the corridor scene into an interactive performance. When performers strike the drums, it will cause changes in the visuals. Additionally, we plan to optimize the interactive system to make it appear more diverse.
Video Design of Interactive Installation – Fangyi
1.Use ChatGPT and Runway, two tools, to create unique images and videos. Start with ChatGPT to generate an image.
This process begins by defining the type of image you want. Whether it’s a landscape, object, or abstract concept, you need to provide a detailed description, including the scene, objects, colors, and style. Once you have this concept, you can tell ChatGPT, and it will generate a unique image based on your description.
After the image is generated, the next step is to use this image as the basis for video production. This is where the Runway tool comes in. Runway is a powerful machine learning platform, specifically for image and video editing. First, you need to register an account and log in on Runway. Then, select an AI model that suits your project. Runway offers a variety of choices, each with different functions, and use various tools and settings to transform and enhance the image, such as adjusting colors, adding dynamic effects, or converting the image into a series of animated videos.
2.Add transitions in Final Cut
3.Creating font effects in Touch Designer:
• Create a text node, modify the font content. Use a merge node to combine different texts. Adjust the text’s position on the Y-axis. Increase the font thickness.
• Create and modify a grid:
Use a grid node to create a grid. Adjust the grid’s length, width, and height to make it rectangular. Add a noise node, connect it to the grid to create dynamic effects.
• Attach fonts to the grid:
Use attribute create to add normals and surface textures. Set up geometry, light, camera, and render nodes for rendering.
• Colors and materials:
Add materials and colors (such as pink) to the fonts. Optimize effects, including adjusting background color and resolution.
• Adding special effects:
Use nodes like feedback, blur, level, etc., to add visual effects. Combine different effects with a composite node.
• Creating a box background:
Create a box node and use geometry and render nodes to make a box background. Add dynamic effects with feedback, transfer, label, and composite nodes. Refine effects by adjusting parameters like scale and opacity.
• Final adjustments:
Adjust the position and angle of the lights. Adjust colors and transparency to ensure a cohesive overall effect. Add a bloom effect to increase brightness and vividness. Finally, add a breathing effect to make the box dynamically change.
Here’s a detailed arrangement of the visual part of the total show that I was responsible for. It’s worth noting that we’ll have a variety of forms incorporated into the performance (e.g. projections, puppet show, dance, etc.) but I don’t want to make the show overly complex and confusing, and I’d like to try to highlight only one of these forms per scene, e.g. in Scene 2 it will be mainly performed by the fish lantern, and in Scene 4 it will be more of a dance performance. I have highlighted the focus of each part of the performance in red in the table and tried my best to make it the centre of the performance.
Based on last week’s meeting, Jules’ suggestion was for us to cut back on unnecessary content so that the show tries not to be too complicated, and Andrew’s suggestion was for us to prioritise first and see if any elements can be cut back by evaluating them. Therefore, I only made some tables for evaluation.
Development – Integration attempts
We explored multimedia techniques to enrich the audience’s experience. Working closely with composer Xianni, we carefully synchronized visual elements with the music. Drawing upon a diverse array of artistic materials(first/second-hand videos) and technological tools like AI Generation and Cutcap software, I aimed to create a dynamic backdrop that enhances the music’s emotional impact. Through trial and error, the video production showcases the harmony of creative vision and technical skill. We worked together and joined forces to push forward to form a merger of music and video to make it look more harmonious.
After that, we tried a projection experiment with the borrowed projectors… the colours are excellent while there’s only one projector perfect fit.
To sum up, we are all confident about the performance so far, and further details will be confirmed at the rehearsal.
This substantial project requires significant time, materials, and patience. Given its pivotal role in a typical performance, I desired to grant it greater expressive freedom. Hence, I opted to create a fish-shaped lantern capable of mimicking the fluid motion of swimming fish.
Research
I studied the traditional fish lanterns from southern Chinese lantern festivals, tweaking them slightly. Opting for a classic red and green palette, I aimed for better visibility. Though crafting fish lanterns is intricate, I honed my skills through traditional sources and online tutorials. Having successfully made three in high school, my prior experience assured me of success this time around. Unlike in high school, though, this time I made mine movable.
I started by sketching designs and structural blueprints, figuring out the ideal cane size and estimating the fish lantern’s dimensions. Choosing the fish’s colour and shape was next. For assembly, I divided the lantern into four sections, connecting them with wire hooks to create a swinging motion. This approach is rooted in the principle of energy conservation, akin to how a whip works.
Here are all the materials required for the production.
This part of the music comes from the second half of a previously uploaded music demo.This part, being the climax and the most important part of the performance was considered a priority to produce and finalize a relatively complete version of the show, so that rehearsals for this part of the show could be brought forward.
This part of the music is still composed in a combination of frame and character instruments, with the string section’s staccato as the frame, and considering the cultural background of the mythological story of the Carp Leaping Dragon Gate, the character instrument chosen is the traditional Chinese Suona, which possesses a special, extremely loud and clear tone, and has a special auditory impact, which is able to push the whole story to the climax.
It is suggested that, Suona’s affordance that “thy songs were small pieces, but thy tunes sounded louder” makes it adept at conveying explicitly strong and straightforward emotions.(Wang, 2022). As a traditional Chinese instrument, the Suona often takes on the role of expressing emotions of great joy and great sorrow in music, and is often used in ceremonies, such as weddings or funerals, so the emotions and cultural colors conveyed by the Suona are extremely intense and prominent.
Reference:
Wang, J. & Li, W. (2022) Situating affect in Chinese mediated soundscapes of suona. Social semiotics. [Online] ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1–20.
