“Multi-user performance of Commedia dell’ Arte in 3D” by Wilson, Holoubek and Poochareon

Commedia is a medieval form of highly improvisational theatre from Italy in which archetypal characters like Harlequin the sly trickster, or Columbine the tough smart wench, were combined with satire, acrobatics, and low-ball farce into a style that transformed and shaped the writings of Shakespeare, Moliere, and The Loony Toons.In Gilligan’s Island, Gilligan’s bumbling servant combined with Skippers overweight bravado, against Professors ungrounded wisdom and Mr. Howells miserly riches all vying for the attentions of innocent Marianne and vivacious Ginger typify the modern retellings of Commedia characters and scenarios. Buggs Bunny is Harlequin drawn to life, while Lara Croft is Columbine in perfect 3D.We believe that bringing improvised Commedia to Multi-User 3D Performance will add to both disciplines. It will expand Commedia to the limits of imagination while it will give Multi-User 3D Performance a set of time tested techniques to explore improvisation.Our purpose is to create an application in Macromedia Director that allows actor-driven 3D characters to be controlled through motion and other media capture devices. Imagine Toy Story where the ending changes every night, while the characters play with the audience, and you begin to get the idea.

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