Good vs. Bad

Hey guys! It’s been awhile since I updated but here we go! Keeping in mind with the fact that technology is constantly changing and affecting the ways of the theatre. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking of how you can define a good source from a bad source; and it seems pretty easy. Right? As long as it seems like they know what they are talking about you should be able to trust them and be allowed to cite them. But, it’s actually not that easy. You should be able to analyze and read the information given to you and know that it is valid. So as you do research you should be able to identify information that is valid and that you can trust from those that aren’t as trustworthy.

            As you guys know, my topic is technology in the theatre. For the past couple of days I’ve been doing some research on the advances it has been making and trying to find examples of both good and bad resources. Like I have said before, it is not always easy to identify one from the other. Obviously, the site should know what they are talking about or have valid information to back themselves up. Since I have been blogging, I have also come across other blogs that have been solely dedicated as “theatre blogs.” They are actually pretty great and very interesting. They have given me a new perspective that I would not have thought to look through. For example, this one blog discusses the issue as to whether theatre is really dead or not. It is a very opinionated blog and while it does have some resources; it’s still just an opinion. You would not want to quote them in a research experiment or paper. Another example of a theatre blog, discusses how theatre should be embracing new digital technology.

            Then, I also found some great articles about the advances that theatre is making with digital technology. A news article I found from Science Daily talks about how two universities used 2-D and 3-D technology, scenery, and actors to put on a show. Actors were used from both Canada and Florida and put on a show together without leaving their respective campuses. “That’s how his body was ‘beamed’ onto the stage where he joined live actors from Bradley and another virtual actor from Canada. It was all done in real time and merged with 3-D and 2-D sets on multiple screens.” (ScienceDaily). You know that this is a valid source because it has research from universities and scientists. The other article that I found as a valid source for this topic came from BBC News and talks about a new device in the theatre where audience members can scroll through captions about the performance while sitting there as an audience member. This is also another example of a valid resource because it is from a news station and you most definitely can trust those at all times for their valid resources and trustworthy sites. 

If you want to visit these sites they are available down here when you click on the links:

Blog #1: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/feb/04/noises-off-theatre-dead-blogs

Blog #2: http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/23/stage-theatre-digital-technology-ished

News Article #1: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8380266.stm

News Article #2: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070322105323.htm

Do People Use the Internet to Make Their Lives More Satisfactory?

     In class, we each had to read an article that was related to the Web in general. My group was assigned an article named, "Does Using the Internet Make People More Satisfied with Their Lives? The Effects of the Internet on College Students' School Life Satisfaction." The article presented a study that is still fairly new today and it examines different personalities such as introverts and extroverts; and has the students filling out a questionnaire about how the Internet makes students feel. It discusses self-efficacy, self-esteem, social outcome expectations, behavior, and environment. The summary of this is basically the more extroverted you are in your "real life" the more extroverted you are more likely to be on the Internet. But, also keep in mind that you can be a completely different person on the Internet and that plays a factor into this as well. The other observation was that introverted people didn't use it for social activities but more for games and information; or if they felt like they couldn't socialize in their "real life" they could socialize on the Internet. Another factor taken into account with this was their environment and how college students and how this affected their use of the Internet. Towards the end of the article, since this is all very new, they mentioned that they had limitations and not everything was taken into account. So, they stated that a good way to see if their lives are more satisfactory with the Internet is to take into account how they use the Internet. What websites are they visiting? Do their personalities come into play? Are they the same on the Internet as they are in their "real lives?"
    I found a paper that was written in 2003 by two different authors. It's titled, "Individual Differences in Internet Usage Motives," written for a conference. They take into account three different personality types [psychotic, neurotic, and extravert] and have the students fill out a questionnaire about their personalities, their habits, and what types of devices they use on the Internet. So, while this paper is not venturing far from the previous article I was given, it is looking at it from a slightly different perspective. It's looking at specific types of personalities (and while it may be a little outdated) it's still pretty relevant to this day (you would just need to add in many more new devices that have come about since 2003). They hypothesized the usual predictions one would have about these different personalities and then they had the students fill out the 3 different surveys. They were asked to report on a scale of 1 to 9 their computer expertise (1 being the lowest and 9 being the highest). Then, they were asked to report on how much they used certain Internet applications (they were supplied with a list) and had to rate on a scale of 1 to 9 how often they used them (same scale rules apply). Finally, they were asked to report on why they used these different technologies (their motives) and these were divided into 4 categories (interpersonal/communication utility, entertainment, information, and convenience). They also took gender into account when taking these surveys but gender didn't seem to prove significant in this research.
     The results of this survey were not the same as they hypothesized and not what you would normally expect out of the different personalities. The extraverts seemed to "reject" the Internet for personal communication and socializing. "Instead, those scoring high on the extraversion prefer to voice their opinion. Moreover, extraverts tend to use the Internet to do research and to share music with others." (Amiel, Sargent, Page 13). Although, those that scored high in neuroticism tended to be females. In addition, these people are quite the opposite of the extraverts and want to use the Internet to "escape loneliness" and "belong to a group." However, they do not use it to take part in one-on-one discussions or online chat groups. "Finally, those scoring high on N demonstrate an interest in alternative news and a need to learn about potential threats ("so that I can learn about what could happen to me")." (Amiel, Sargent, Page 14). And finally, those scoring high on the psychoticism side displayed just generally uninterested in communicating with others on the Internet. These people had more interesting motives, "including pass time,  nudity and pornography web-sites, and file-sharing services." (Amiel, Sargent, Page 15). They also use it for finding information about people and what could happen to them. One could also make a guess that they could be the people to create fake websites since this type of personality in a person usually disregards the rules in society.
    This article seemed to go more in-depth about what types of websites people used based on their personality types and if that was really helping to satisfy their lives. In this perspective, these people are, in general, using the website to enhance their lives and hopefully making it more satisfying. They are able to use the Internet for several different motives and can accomplish many different goals on it. Students can share music, files, find out what's going in the world, socialize with their peers, and many other things. So it's taking a look at the patterns of what different types of students use the Internet and their patterns of Internet usage. Unless, a student is completely disinterested in technology and does not like it; the Internet can only enhance your life with the buttload of information at your fingertips and different social networking sites.

Here's the link to the paper if you would like to take a look at the tables generated from the results of the surveys. Or if you wanted to read the paper, it really is interesting to see how different personality types can use the Internet.
http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&hid=113&sid=daff3596-fd6c-481e-94d0-6dcd2304dcb0%40sessionmgr114

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

So, I'm pretty sure that everyone has heard of a guy named William Shakespeare. Right? He's pretty famous not only for his amazing plays, sonnets, and poems but also for the Globe Theatre where all of his plays were performed in Elizabethan England. It was built in 1597 by Shakespeare's acting troupe called: The Chamberlain's Men. It burned down in 1613 during a performance of Henry VIII due to a cannon being fired off; this was their version of special effects. A year later, it is rebuilt on the same grounds or very near to them and this time they decide to tile the roof instead of thatching. By 1642, a Civil War breaks out between the Puritans and the Royalists and they have to close the Globe (or rather demolish it) in 1644. This is just a basic and very brief overview of the timeline of the old Globe Theater.
Back to when it first burned down, it was during a performance of Henry VIII. The Globe Theater was very much known for being a place where the upper class of society would go to just be seen in the box/balcony seats and the lower class of society were there for the entertainment. Basically, it was a place to socialize and mingle. Anyway, being that the Globe was there for entertainment they liked to use very realistic special effects and wanted to keep the audience engaged and entertained as much as possible. The way it was designed as a building was that it had a roof but it was "open" so that it could allow for smoking effect, cannon firings, fireworks, entrances that required "flying" from the Heavens. The floors had trap-doors which also had the advantages of adding surprise entrances for certain characters (for example: the ghost of King Hamlet in Hamlet). As you can see, the special effects they had were very real/literal and very primitive compared to all the crazy special effects that we have today. Obviously, it was not a good idea to have a thatched roof when they had special effects such as cannon firings. That's just asking for a fire. Am I right? But what was also unique about the Globe was the architecture and design of the building. It was built to be like an outdoor theater where the Sun could come in and light the stage. They didn't have all the sophisticated lighting techniques we had today.
But, since the old Globe Theater was torn down by the Puritans they decided to rebuild it. The idea came up in the 1970's from Sam Wanamaker. In 1989, they established where the old Globe possibly could have been and had to get an idea as to where to put the new Globe. When they were building the new Globe they found bits and pieces of the foundation from the old Globe and discovered that they were only about 200 yards from the previous location. The new Globe Theater officially reopened in the year 1999 (so pretty recently) with the show Henry V.
How did they know where to build the Globe? How did they know what the Globe looked like? How did they get the dimensions? Should they use artificial lighting? What modern adaptations could they add to make sure another fire didn't occur? Obviously, a lot of questions and research went into rebuilding the Globe. But what modern technologic modifications are there in this new theater? They didn't have cameras back in Shakespeare's time so they didn't have to pictures to look from when rebuilding the Globe so they had to look back at descriptions written down in books. One of the books mentioned that has a description is Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction where there is an interior and exterior description. But there is also a picture of the Swan Theater (another theater in London at the time) that was built similarly to the Globe and architects most likely branched off of this as well. It's also known that the theater was based off of a Roman amphitheatre; although it's also said to be an octagonal shape as well. When they built the new one they went off of a landscape picture where you can see the top and exterior of the Globe Theatre but they also went off of an interior picture of the Swan Theatre which was assumed to be very similar to the Globe. So, judging by how seating was and the style of the inside (amphitheatre) the Globe could house a good amount of people. But, the new modern, technological aspect of the reconstructed Globe include having the thatched roof be covered in a fire-proof liquid (the first thatched roof in London since 1666). So, the goal was to rebuild the new theatre but to make it as authentic as possible. While they may have achieved that in making it look as authentic as possible there are still some major modern changes (although there is still no heat or air-conditioning). They use natural lighting but they obviously have artificial lighting to enhance it as well. Technology really comes into play during the process of rebuilding the Globe and just measuring out the dimensions but doing those based off of old paintings, drawings and descriptions. But, obviously, the lobby of the reconstructed Globe will be cleaner than what it was back in Shakespeare's time and much more modern looking. Also, I'm pretty sure that the new museum, restaurant, gift shop, and lecture hall was not included in the old Globe and have modern twists to them as well.

http://www.globe-theatre.org.uk/
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/history_for_children/18004
http://www.william-shakespeare.info/william-shakespeare-globe-theatre.htm

At the start of it all...

Yay! It's my first blog post of the semester! I haven't blogged since middle school when I had a live journal so just stick with me while I figure it all out again and get it set up. Anyway, the topic I will be researching throughout the semester will be related to theatre and technology. This is my primary major and when we were asked to pick a topic related to our field of study I could not wait to get started. Focusing my major towards the technological side of theatre such as design, stage management, lighting, sound, scenery, and painting. There are so many options and so many ways that theatre itself has advanced tremendously over the years. 
As a theatre major we have to take all beginning classes to each aspect of theatre (no matter your focus) such as acting and performance, stage design, history of theatre, and stagecraft. In each of these, you get a little brief history/overview of that aspect and usually they are all related to each other or repeat one another. But, when you get these brief histories you can really see how theatre has advanced throughout the years technologically speaking. We no longer have only one actor on the stage for the whole show, we don't use the traditional masks like the Greeks used to, we have different types of stages (proscenium, experimental, etc.), and today a lot of shows try to use as much technology (light effects, sound effects, etc.) to put on a "spectacle" and a lot of people get distracted from the actions and emotions being conveyed on the stage. It all depends on the designer and director usually to make decisions about what is going to happen during the show artistically speaking; and then there are shows who don't use as much because they are trying to focus on the acting. 
Anyway, the point that I'm getting at is that it is very clear that theatre is not the same as it used to be and in many ways has been enhanced because of these technological advances. What are some of the benefits and consequences? Shows also have to be advertised and promoted; so how is that being accomplished in today's world? Can you go online to pre-order tickets instead of going to the box office at the last minute right before the show starts? You can also (in most cases) probably choose where you would want to sit during the performance when you order the tickets online. Then, you have the obvious sound effects, lighting effects, and costuming techniques as well. The book I'm reading in my Stage Management class is even outdated and we're looking at it in class, and the professor is obviously going to show us how they do it today versus in the past, but it is still interesting to see how technology has changed the way we do things now.  
I'm really excited to get started and to start researching about my topic. I hope you guys enjoy this! Like I said before, it's going to take me awhile to get everything fully set up because I don't know all the "ins and outs" of this blogging site or even blogging in general. But, I'm looking forward to the research ahead and I think that I will find it interesting and I hope you guys do too!