Scenography: Close Bounded
with Sound and Light Design?
Presented at the Szenografenkongress
Saturday, May 12th, 2001, Bablesberg Germany
Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity
• “Since the mathematicians have invaded the
theory of relativity, I do not understand it
myself anymore.”
Albert Einstein
Dramatic Space and Time
• Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
• The Relationship Between Relativity and
the Dramatic Experience
• The Dramatic e = mc2
Scenography: Close Bounded
with Sound and Light Design?
• Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity
• The Relationship Between Relativity and
the Dramatic Experience
• The Dramatic e = mc2
Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity
• Downtown Bern, Switzerland.
• If you are moving away from a
clock and look back at it, the
light you see must catch up with
you. If your motion is near the
speed of light, the clock you see
will be slow.
• A clue to the flexibility of time
itself.
Image © Bettmann Archive, New York
Understanding Relativity
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/think.html
• The speed of an object varies with the speed of the
train. The train above is travelling at 30 mph, and
the man on the train throws the ball in the direction
of the train’s travel at 20 mph.
Understanding Relativity
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/think.html
• To the man on the ground, the ball is travelling at
50 miles per hour.
• However, to the man on the train, the ball is only
travelling at 20 miles per hour.!
Understanding Relativity
QuickTime™ and a
GIF decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/think.html
• No matter how fast the above train travels, the light from the
man’s flashlight will still travel at 300,000 km/sec!
• For both the observer, and the man on the train, the light travels
at 300,000 km per second!
• The speed of light is constant!
Understanding Relativity
QuickTime™ and a
GIF decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/time/think.html
• If velocity = distance/time, and both the distance the
light travels, and the velocity of the light are the same
for both observers, then time must be different for each
observer!
EinsteinΥs Special Theory
of Relativity
• "The relativistic analogy can be carried to its logical
end. Since time begins to slow down with higher
speeds, it can be shown that at the speed of light it
stops totally and beyond that begins to run backwards!
Similarly, matter having contracted more and more,
ultimately vanishes. But beyond the speed of light it is
difficult to imagine negative matter with infinite
mass."
-Albert Einstein
Einstein’s Special Theory of
Relativity
• As c approaches 300,000 km/sec, time slows down.
• If c = 300,000 km/sec, time stops
• If c > 300,000 km/sec, time goes backward
• Spaceship travel close to the
speed of light would cause
time to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n .
• We could travel forward in
time!
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/hotsciencetwin/
The Relationship Between Physical
Space/Time and Dramatic Space/Time
But isn’t this exactly what happens
in the dramatic experience?
Antony and Cleopatra:
28 spaces in three days!
The Relationship Between Physical
Space/Time and Dramatic Space/Time
=
?
• Inside it feels like we are not moving, and time is
progressing normally
• We are aware of another world where time and
space are compressed
The Relationship Between Physical
Space/Time and Dramatic Space/Time
c = d/t
Or, if c is constant,
time = d/c!
“c”
is a very important part of the
dramatic experience!
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
Frame of reference:
1: an arbitrary set of axes to which the position
or motion of something is described or
physical laws are formulated
2: a set or system (as of facts or ideas) serving
to orient or give particular meaning”
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
Physical
Dramatic
Space and Time
Space and Time
• The theatre building,
audience, seats, other
audience members, etc.
• Time passes normally
according to a watch
• The dramatic setting of
the play
• Time passes according
to a set of dramatic rules
The transition from the Physical space/time to the
Dramatic space/time is accomplished in the
Exposition of the play!
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
Physical
Dramatic
Space and Time
Space and Time
• Space is determined by • Space and time are
physical scenery
relative to each individual
• Time is relative to an
outside reference (clock)
Notice how dramatic time conforms more closely
to Einstein’s understanding of relativity
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
• "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute,
and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty
girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute.
THAT'S relativity.”
-Albert Einstein
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
ct1
ct1
ct2
• A window “frame” converter
The Frame of Reference
for a Theatre Audience
• “c” is the speed of dramatic imagination
• It is a constant similar to the speed of light or
the speed of electromagnetism
• Since it is constant in the formula
c=d/t
we can freely manipulate distance and time in
the dramatic frame of reference!
• Next: transforming physical mass using “c”...
The Dramatic e=mc2
• "It followed from the special theory of relativity that mass
and energy are both but different manifestations of the
same thing -- a somewhat unfamilar conception for the
average mind. Furthermore, the equation E is equal to m
c-squared, in which energy is put equal to mass, multiplied
by the square of the velocity of light, showed that very
small amounts of mass may be converted into a very large
amount of energy and vice versa. The mass and energy
were in fact equivalent, according to the formula
mentioned before. This was demonstrated by Cockcroft
and Walton in 1932, experimentally."
The Dramatic e=mc2
• Energy
is equal to
• Mass
multiplied by the ratio of
• Distance
to
• Time
The Dramatic e=mc2
Energy:
• 1: vitality of expresssion
• 2: the capacity of acting
• 3: power forcefully exerted
• 4: the capacity for doing work
Energy: the life-force of the drama, or the vitality of dramatic expression
The Dramatic e=mc2
Organism:
• “1: a complex structure of interdependent and
subordinate elements whose relations and
properties are largely determined by their function
in the whole;
• 2: an individual constituted to carry on the
activities of life by means of organs separate in
function but mutually dependent.”
Energy: the organism or life force of the drama; the vitality of dramatic
expression
The Dramatic e=mc2
Mass:
• “the property of a body that is a measure of its
inertia, that is commonly taken as a measure of the
amount of material it contains, that causes a body
to have weight in a gravitational field, and that
along with length and time constitutes one of the
fundamental quantities on which all physical
measurements are based”
Mass: the physical entity of the drama: the inert actors, scenery and costumes
The Dramatic e=mc2
Velocity
• “Quickness of motion”
• v = d/t
where
v = velocity
d = distance
t = time
The Dramatic e=mc2
Space:
• “1. a period of time
• 2. a limited extent in one, two, or three
dimensions: Distance, area, volume.”
Distance:
• “a separation in time.”
Distance is a measure of space.
The Dramatic e=mc2
Time:
• “1: the measured or measurable period
during which an action, process, or
condition exists or continues”
• 7a: rate of speed: TEMPO b: the grouping of
the beats of music: RHYTHM ”
Velocity
The Dramatic e=mc2
• “c” is the ratio of two very similar, but complementary
quantities, space and time.
• “c” is the factor responsible for placing the dramatic mass
in motion;
•
“c” is squared in the formula e=mc2 because it has an
exponential influence on the creation of the life force
energy of the play.
• “c” reveals mass through light and sound, as perceived by
the eyes and ears;
Velocity: The ratio of space to time (d/t); the space time continuum;
transmitted by sound and light, and perceived by the ears and eyes
The Dramatic e=mc2
e=mc2
• Dramatic mass put into motion by
space and time creates the lifeforce or energy of the play.
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
• The speed of light is a constant:
300,000 km per second
• Note that the speed of light is always
measured and defined relative to the
observer (e.g., a time reference)
• It remains constant for all observers,
regardless of the relative velocities of the
observers.
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
Source: http://csgrad.cs.vt.edu/~chin/speed.html
The speed of sound, however, is dependent on the space that
conveys it. The speed of sound varies depending on the medium
that conveys it.
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
Light-particles accelerated, on the other
hand becomes mass. Light, then, must be
unequivocally anchored in space.
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
• Note that the speed of light is always measured and
defined relative to the observer (i.e., a time
reference);
• whereas,
• The speed of sound is measured and defined
relative to the space that conveys it (i.e., a spatial
reference).
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
• Light reveals
space by
defining it
relative to time
• Sound reveals
time by defining
it relative to
space
Light and Sound,
Space and Time
• How far is Potsdam
from Berlin?
• 40 km?
• 30 minutes?
Light and Sound Compared
186,000 miles per sec
Transmission
1 foot per picosecond
1100 feet per second
1 foot per millisecond
.000016 - 000038 inch
l = c/f
.75 in - 50 feet
311,000 - 737,000 gigacycles
frequency
20-20,000 cycles per second
all frequencies
White Noise
White Light
Sight and Sound Compared
Angle of Incidence Equals Angle of Reflection
Also Diffraction, Absorption, Transmission, Doppler shift
Sight and Hearing Compared
Reflected Light
Perceive Mass Through Changing Air Pressure
Rods and Cones
Perceive Frequency With Basilar Membrane
Two Eyes
Perceive Space With
Two Ears
Sight and Hearing Compared
Reflected Light
Perceive Mass Through Changing Air Pressure
Rods and Cones
Perceive Frequency With Basilar Membrane
Two Eyes
Perceive Space With
Two Ears
Two Eyes
Depth Perception
One Ear
One Ear
Horizontal/Vertical Localization
Two Ears
Sight and Hearing Compared
Rarely Occurs Naturally
Pure Tone
Perceptual Relativity
Out of Tune
Color Blind
Color Perception
Tone Deaf
Blue, Calm
Color Bias
Low, Ominous
Rods and Cones
Fatigue
Basilar Membrane
Pure Color
Clashing Color
Sight and Hearing Compared
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• …is very difficult to do!
• Aristotle proposed limiting dramatic space/time
through the unities of time, place, and action
• Continued in mid 18th Century neo-classicism,
and in the development of the “box set” and rise of
Realism
• All dramatic ideas do not conform so well to a
drama of limited time, place and action!
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• The history of theatre is one of different attempts at
reconciliation:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Periaktoi (Sophocles)
House-platea staging and pageant wagons of medieval
drama
Perspective scenery of the16th and 17th century theatre
Stage machinery of the 18th century
Lighting in the 19th century
Modern theatre (with its fly system, traps, wagons,
projections, etc.)
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• Shakespeare “required a fluid stage where space
and time changed freely and quickly.”
• Limited the physical space time (e.g., scenery,
costumes, etc) requirements.
• Late 19th and early 20th century designers such as
Appia, Craig, and Meyerhold developed
innovative solutions to free the physical
space/time in support of a fluent dramatic
space/time.
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• The development of Film
• Film allows space and time to change as
quickly as the dramatist requires.
• Film is chiefly limited to two dimensions,
however!
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• 20th-21st century explorations of time in the
visual arts
• The development of the music-video of the
MTV generation
• The development of the film editor as
“visual percussionist”
Reconciling Dramatic Space/Time
with Physical Space/Time
• 20th-21st Century explorations of space in the
sonic arts
• Monaural sound, stereo, 5.1. 7.1, 9.1, 10.2.
• It would “take about 1,000,000 channels to fully
capture one space and reproduce it in another in
all its detail…”
• The audio pixel: a regular array of transducers on
a two-dimensional grid…(of) hundreds or
thousands of transducers
Conclusion
• "Relativity teaches us the connection
between the different descriptions of one
and the same reality.”
A. Einstein
Scenography: Close Bounded
with Sound and Light Design?
Presented at the Szenografenkongress
Saturday, May 12th, 2001, Bablesberg Germany