Gothic
Repeat & overlap - for chamber group - strings, wind, brass, percussion, piano, voices
At Night - (visual cues)
Speaking Literally - for narrators
Urban
Rattle & Buzz - for contemporary instruments, percussion - synth/keyboard, electric guitars, drums etc
Cut - Up Rough - (visual cues)
As a Matter of Fact - for 'artificial' voices
Group one (Gothic): Repeat & overlap / At Night / Speaking Literally
Group two (Urban): Rattle & Buzz / Cut-Up Rough / As a Matter of Fact
The elements when arranged randomly and when superimposed form the basic material for the multi-media work. At its simplest, this will result in two forms: one Gothic, the other Urban, in style. Other works with more complicated interpretations could be derived from the 'cross-breeding' of the Gothic and Urban elements. The performers have considerable discretion in the way that the material is performed, but it is hoped that a single person will act as a 'director' in order to shape the material and influence the style of presentation.
Depending on the resources, time and performing space available a variety of presentations are possible - ranging from a completely taped format played back from a video machine on to a TV, to a more complex 'live' performance involving live musicians, narrators, actors and video display of the visual scenes.
The elements are designed in such a way that an audience should easily be able to interpret the resulting works as having a more or less coherent narrative. The elements for the Gothic work are mostly derived from nineteenth century novels, simple theatrical/film scenes and small snippets of chamber music. The Urban elements are 'synthetic' readings of various types of data, typical cinematic city scenes (from the viewer's point-of-view) and music improvised from graphic notation on contemporary instruments. One of the aims of Making Scenes is to show that a coherent narrative can be derived from random associations - albeit when framed within a conventionl stylistic form.
The most important directions for performing/interpreting the indivdual units of Making Scenes are found in the titles and instructions found on the puzzle trays.
Repeat and overlap (chamber group): Conductor/leader of the chamber group - move the squares around until a satisfactory order is found. You can treat the 'space' as a bar rest. As well as playing the music from left to right, attempt other directions, or change the order as you play. Experiment with tempo, dynamic, phrasing, articulation, repeats and 'mood'. Try superimposing and overlapping the different elements. Musicians - play the music with a clef appropriate to your instrument / voice or as directed. Try playing at a different octave. Where transposing instruments are indicated play the music as written - do not transpose.
Rattle & Buzz (improvising musicians): the graphic notation is designed to inspire an improvising performance on contemporary instruments such as synthesisers, electric guitars and percussion.
At Night - video/film scenes set in a nineteenth century house at night, not necessarily in period costume. Each scene faded to and from black.
Cut-Up Rough - video scenes/stills filmed in an crowded, frantic, urban environment. Shot from the viewer's point-of-view. Some or all of the moving scenes in slow motion.
Speaking Literally - narrators should chose 3 concurrent sentences from the novels indicated. The blank spaces can be treated as a silent period.
As a Matter of Fact - The voices of the narrators could be manipulated electronically to achieve an artificial, synthetic effect. Alternatively a synthesised 'computer voice' could be programmed to read the indicated data. The blank spaces can be treated as a silent period.