MediaSynth 4.3 - inter-play

I loved your portrayal of teenage relationships and enjoyed how the phones were used as your voices. I liked how you used the screens to be your voices just like how we do in reality. The plot was also very funny.

The show was so funny. I really like it! And it was very entertaining. The way that use background video to show what is going on on the phone screen was very good and funny. I really enjoy the comparison between what's going on on the screen and what people are actually doing. It's very sarcastic and funny. From my point of view, maybe another less noisy music will be better because when I look at the show, I think the music was kind of distractive. Anyway, the performance was soon good!

The dance was so beautiful! I really enjoy the whole show. All the settings and background were very engaging and playful. Also, the dance itself was very professional and the performance was fantastic. The idea to use shadow to do the dance was very innovative and at first I didnt realize what you guys were going to do. I think the dance, music and the video worked very well together. The thing that I think can be better is that maybe you can use some technology to see what is going on on the outside screen? Maybe in this way you can manage your performance better? That's just a travel point and I think your performance is perfect.

Jonathan's acting is A+. I found myself very enthralled by the entire piece with the duality of calmness/acceptance and rage/anxiety/rejection. It reminds me of the 5 stages of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). I suppose in a sense, with the world crashing down around you, it is somewhat related to grief (that you're going to die as well). I think the juxtaposition was good mostly because Jonathan did react to Cloud. His confusion and exasperation at Cloud just calmly playing the cello turned Cloud into a performer. Overall, a great performance. :D

I really liked your take on Hello World! I thought it was really cool making it interactive and I think the idea that you guys tried to portray was really informative and impactful. I was really impressed at how much you guys were able to accomplish within such a short amount of time--especially coding up the animations and rigging up the Wiimote--great job! This was definitely a really polished work and it was quite nice getting to watch how the user got to interact with the game and control the world. I wish I could see what you guys could do if you guys spent even more time on this..! Perhaps the user could have more controls or you could have an animated background or really pinpoint the Wiimote controls more precisely.

I remember laughing for your presentation during class, it was amazing. I like how you present phone screens to show the conversation between the three people. And I think you've done a great job documenting your project, especially the reflection part.

I found the juxtaposition of Cloud's cello music and the destructive imagery in the video to be a great way to catch the audience's attention as well as convey the message. Jonathan's acting kept the audience's attention throughout the piece as well as gave a character that was more relatable. After reading your documentation I found it interesting how you had other contradictions or divides. Especially with the visual divide, I wonder what kind of an effect it gave your piece. I wonder if there could be more meaning placed on what is occurring on which side of the stage.

I think that the project did a really good job combining integrating digital media in a live performance. The concept was simple and well executed, being very similar to a theater production with a very involved stage crew. The acting was spot on and suitably dramatic for the style of piece, with touches like the exagerrated fight over the marker being notable highlights. A very minor thing that bugged me was that the on screen motions didn't exxactly match what was happening on the stage, but the amount that would be gained by engineering a one-to-one ratio isn't super significant. On a whole, great job with the performance!

Your project was very neat! Although I didn't get to play it myself, it was entertaining to watch. I think putting the instructions up on the screen along with the game so that it was easier to pick up on would have helped a little bit, since the people who played it seemed a bit overwhelmed exploring options. I recall that neither of the players utilized the mortal avatar very much, and when one did switch to control it, he wasn't sure exactly how to interact with the stuff on the field. Besides this, I thought the game was very cool and that you guys did a great job with it.

I thought your project was awesome. I loved how the audience was included in such an interesting way. I also thought it was unique and extra special that every iteration of the "game" would produce a new story, and thus a new piece of art.

I really like the interaction of your prohect, and I am amazed by the web app you made. It was a brilliant idea to use webpages to get people involved, and your story was fun.
Nevertheless, I think the story can be more interesting. Maybe you could think more in the endings. But it is so amazing that you did that much in short time period. Awesome!

Thank you very much! I'm glad that you enjoyed our show. However, the effect that you couldn't notice me in the show is an original effect I want to put into the show: I'm only perform as back ground music and provide only an environment while Jonathan is doing his fantastic performance. But if I didn't introduce my role as a performer, it could be strange to see me on stage, so I gave myself a role but serve for my original intention. That's why I didn't design our show to attract any attention on myself.

I really liked your project! I didn't quite hear what you guys said in the beginning, but the gameplay was fairly simple, and intuitive with respect to the effects. I wish I had a chance to try it, but everyone who did try it seemed to enjoy it. If you guys had more time, using the kinect would be really cool, but I think you guys did really well considering the constraints. I also really enjoyed how it felt very game-like, though that also made me expect more in terms of gameplay. All in all, I think you guys did a fantastic job in creating a interactive piece using technology that not only surpasses the requirements, but also has a lot of room to expand and improve.

I really liked for the idea of this project; it reminds me of old clues games I used to play when I was younger. I thought adapting that with interacting media was a pretty creative idea that could make it more accessible to people not in the same place. However, I do think for the purpose of our short live performance, it was a limited constricted and we didn't have enough time to properly explore the project. There might have been a way for, the live class performance specifically, to make it more completable in the time allotted.

I really liked this project, not only because the idea was funny but also because it was super relatable. I have definitely done this myself when friends have wanted to do something with me and I just wanted to stay in my room and be lazy! I think this performance really highlights how much control a person has over the perspective an audience has when they use media. Even though we have things like instant messaging, pictures, video, etc, the true context of media still sometimes can't always be seen, which is one of the biggest weaknesses of the medium. Overall, good job with the project!

I really enjoyed the experience of your performance- the interaction between the action of the participants and the idea behind the whole project. Although I didn't get the point and the way of playing at first, as soon as I got your idea behind the game, I thought it fits the game really well and the experience has become somewhat educational. One more thing made me very exciting about your project is that you guys choose to use the Wii controller to do the work and it's really fun to try on that controller, for that's my first time using Wii! Overall, I love your project and you all did a great job!

The use of technology in this project was very well-polished given the time constraints of this assignment!
The way you incorporated the audience into the performance and the amount of planning that went into this project is impressive. The reveal with what the first 'choice' meant was clever and interesting.

My criticism with the project was with the dryness of the creative side of the performance. The story could be more engaging, especially with the standard you set with the interactive part. I suppose I could withdraw those reservations given how much you've put into the technical portion and that you had 16(?) different possible outcomes.

I loved how dramatic your project was! Jonathan's emotions and reactions were so believable and I loved how he really made use of the whole space by running back and forth, banging on the windows, and flipping over the table. Cloud's cello playing was beautiful and it really added to the piece. Your movie was the perfect backdrop to provide context to your story and I liked how a lot of your clips showed recognizable landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the White House. Overall, the multimedia aspect of your performance was great. However, I think that having the two reactions to the end of the world did not add to your performance. Jonathan's reactions were so dramatic that I found myself watching him instead of Cloud, who was much more calm (which I know is what you were intending). Thus I think that having Jonathan be the only one reacting to the end of the world with Cloud playing the cello but not acting would have had the same effect.

Hello!
This project was pretty simple, short, and sweet. I feel that you all really executed the idea well; the acting wasn't excessively cheesy, the visuals and audio was quite in-sync, and the concept was cute. I particularly enjoyed the part when Everi pointed away and Ricardo was tricked into looking in that direction, because his facial expressions were especially on point. I also loved the ending when Everi carelessly tossed the pen after properly branding the painting, as I think it really captured the entire vibe of your short. Some minor criticisms, or rather questions I have, mainly pertain to your engagement with the assignment. Although the skit turned out really well, I guess I'm left wondering if it was really necessary for Azer to stand away and draw the scenes separately, since I can tell that causes a slight time discrepancy between the action of drawing and what's actually drawn. I also wonder if this is an effective integration of multimedia and performance, since I feel like your intended effect could be done without the use of a separate performing drawing on a tablet. I think this could be remedied if there was a reveal that the drawing was done by someone else, or some sort of indication that the drawing was done in real time, elsewhere.
In any case, great work! I think that I speak for the whole class when I say that it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

I really enjoyed this project. I think your concept was a brilliant and cute idea especially for the prompt. The turn out was great. I think the audio really matched the feel of the silent comedy. Also, the acting was very good and properly mischievous. It really was comedic! The only thing I could say to improve is something you touched on in your process, which was the timing. Sometimes that was off, but it is understandable with all the conflicts you ran into trying to rehearse. Great project; well done!

So I had to leave early to catch a flight so I didn't see anyone's performances but I'm going to comment on your anyways because two of your members helped us out with our performance. Not sure how much use my comment will be though... But given your group and your member's experience with building games, I'm sure your product was great! I definitely like your idea of 'playing god' and creating something similar to Minecraft and Garry's Mod. I wish I was there to see it! I tried downloading the .app but it said something like it wasn't supported for some reason :/. And lol "Also, the Wiimote sucks,"

This was a really wonderful performance! I loved how you used phones as a medium for audience participation, and how you kept the effects of the choices a secret until the end. It's like a choose your own adventure, but with more mystery behind the choices, since as an audience member we didn't know who were were making the choices for. I think you guys did a great job in making the performance interactive. The technology was very well integrated with the performance, and the variedness of the performance was attention-keeping and interesting. The acting/blocking could have been better, but since you were essentially working with whatever choices the audience made, it was really well done for a short show. The pauses between while voting weren't too awkward either. All in all, a great job!