On Friday April 7th, I hosted the event Digital Seance in St Mark’s in Lincoln. The exhibition contained all of the elements I had previously worked on collected in one space for audience members to experience.
Before the event could take place, the venue had to be set up and set dressed. Due to limitations on time and what I was allowed to do in the space, not all of the intended set-dressing elements could be included. The main focus was eating up the space in order to project all of the different elements in there own space where they could be seen. Each of the exhibits; the Ghost Arms, the Haunted Photo, the Map of Hauntings, and the Seance, were all projected in there own space, The projectors were set up away from each other, and attempts were made to hide each of the different projectors. Old-looking books were stacked around the projectors, and pieces of fabric played over then to hide them as best as I could. These stylistic choices embedded the materials into the scene, and kept them disguised, to an extent, to the audience. However, 2 of the projectors were close together, and it was not practical or safe to hide them, so they were left in the open. Other elements, such as skeletons and masked were also around the room, in order to build up the mise-en-scene.
In order to make the projections as clear as possible, the room was darkened as much as it could have been. Paper was used to cover all the windows, and the lights reminded off. This made the room darker, and the projections clearer. However, if the room could’ve been darkened further, it would have made the projections more effective.
The Ghost Arms were the first piece set up for the exhibition. Displayed against a wall, an actor was used to gauge where the arms needed to be to look like they were on people. A mark on the floor was put down to direct people to the best spot to stand to make the piece as effective as possible. This footage was played on loop, allowing the audience to step in whenever, without a worry of having the replay the footage every time. Where this projector was uncovered, it could also be adjusted if necessary for an audience member; however this was not needed throughout the course of the exhibition. This installation worked effectively, as the arms could clearly be seen on the different patrons. Audience members initially had to be directed to the piece, but once one had been in, others were more open to taking part.
The haunted photograph was not the next key piece. This was the brightest of the projected exhibits, as it needed to be the smallest, the distance between the wall and the projector could be reduced. This film was projected into a picture-frame, giving it the effect of being a portrait. Although it was not alongside other paintings or photos as originally intended, it was displayed alongside a pair of hanging masks, to make the frame more incorporated into the scene. The changes in the picture looked effective and could clearly be seen throughout the course of the event. However, the length of time between all of the changes may have been too long, and too quick when they did happen, as they were easily missed by audience members due to these timings.
The Map of Lincoln’s hauntings was the next piece that was up during the exhibition. As this was a static map, audience members were less interested in this piece. However, with the addition of my own knowledge about the hauntings being told to the audience, they became more engaged. On it’s own, the map was the least effective piece of the exhibition, and in future, the stories should be directly incorporated into the map to make it more engaging in it’s own right.
Whilst all these pieces were set up throughout the exhibition, the Ghost Stories that were recorded were played. These were played on a loop, with the individual stories cut together with some music fitting the theme and tim period. These stories were too quiet and hard to understand, due to the effects put on them. The noise of the exhibition’s attendees also made these more difficult to hear. In future, these stories will be further incorporated into the map, improving both pieces by combining them together.
After the guests had experienced all of the different elements, I hosted the Digital Seance itself. I gathered the people around and directed them to where they could see the Seance. I then played the footage, and acted out the live portion of the piece. Due to lack of time, and the importance of timing, I read the script from a notebook. Although the visuals could have been clearer, the audio from both parties was easily heard, and the audience appeared to be engaged. The effects and transitions worked well when projected, and the timing between my speech and the recorded speech worked well, despite a few minor hiccups in the presentation itself. The appearance of the ghost matched up with how a real person would look, and the placement of the character made him look like he was interacting directly with myself. After the Seance itself, the audience could go back and experience the other parts of the exhibition once again.
Overall, each part of the exhibition was given its own space, and each piece could be enjoyed by the audience members passing through. The location had enough space for all the exhibits and guests, as well as all the technical aspects needed. However, further set dressing could have been used to improve the overall atmosphere of the exhibit. A tour of the exhibit can be seen here: https://youtu.be/QQ93mZBYbxE