Opera Composition and Performance Utilising Computer-Based Recording Technologies and Virtual Instruments: A Case Study

Eve Klein, University of New England Part of CW15

Classical music has resisted incorporating music technologies into compositional practices, in part because technology allows greater access to the techniques and timbres associated with virtuosic human acoustic performance. However, classical music composition and production can be enabled by music technologies, and they offer an effective vehicle for women to test and occupy the role of composer, performer and producer. This paper outlines how home-studio music production technologies were used to compose and stage The Pomegranate Cycle (2010, 2013). The Pomegranate Cycle was composed, recorded, performed and produced by a female opera singer using consumer-level recording technologies. This self-directed methodology is unique in opera, providing a model for other singer-composers.

Valuing the older dancer through digital technology

Sonia York-Pryce, Queensland College of Art Part of CW15

Today’s focus on a youth-orientated consumer culture weighs heavily in the current dance world and for some who are approaching forty, retirement is perceived as the legitimate choice. Should this still be the case? The findings in the research indicate there is a deep-vested interest in the lived body experience of mature dancers, their worth to Western contemporary dance culture, their peers and their corporeal value. This Western cultural norm has engendered prejudice towards the physicality of mature dancers’ bodies, disregarding a lifetime of embodied dance experience. Which is the preferred or appropriate body to perform, the youthful or the mature? By investigating through film and photography, from a dancers’ perspective, I aim to highlight the mature mover and conserve their visibility in the dancer-world.

Cinematographic Evolution: What Can History Tell Us About The Future?

Daniel Maddock, Griffith Film School Part of CW15

Many commentators and proponents of the film industry have called for a review of the cinematographic award asking who is responsible for these images; the cinematographer or the visual effects artists. Theorist Jean Baudrillard said cinema plagiarises itself, remakes its classics, retro-activates its own myths. So, what can the history of filmmaking tell us about the practice of visual effects? Four of the previous five winners for Best Cinematography in a Feature Film at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards (2009-2013) have been films which have contained a large component of computer generated imagery (animation and/or visual effects). Some of these films have moved far beyond creating virtual backgrounds for the actors to appear in. Avatar, Life of Pi and Gravity are examples of films creating whole universes and characters for the actor to interact with. This paper analyses the use of visual effects in popular filmmaking prior to the use of computer technology for the art. This historical analysis is then compared and contrasted against today’s discussion/argument of cinematographic authorship. What did it consist of before the use of computers in filmmaking? Are and will cinematographers always be the authors of the image?

CreateWorld 2015 : Second Call for Participation

Planning for CreateWorld 2015 continues, and we’re delighted to announce that Cat Hope has been confirmed as a keynote speaker.  Cat is a musician and co-author of the recently published book Digital Art – An Introduction to New Media, which explores the idea of digital art as part of the ongoing continuum of technology that artists have been fascinated with throughout history.

A second call for participation has also opened, seeking posters, papers, performances, exhibitions, workshops and panel session, with submissions due by January 16, 2015.

Read more »

CreateWorld 2015 Call for Participation

CreateWorld is our 2 day performance, presentation, and professional development event, specifically for academic and technical staff who work in the digital arts disciplines.

The conference features a wide range of academic and technical presenters from the tertiary education and industry sectors, and includes several keynotes, panel sessions, hypotheticals, hands-on technical workshops, and regular presentation sessions.

The organising committee has issued a call for participation and are seeking posters, papers, performances, exhibitions, workshops and panel session.

Read more »

/dev/world 2014 Workshop Registrations

Registrations for /dev/world have now closed, and we need just a little more information from delegates – mostly, are you coming to a workshop, and are you coming for lunch on Monday.

Due to venue capacity, workshops are limited to 20 people each.  Places will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please complete the form below as soon as possible so we can confirm catering requirements.  If we receive more than 20 registrations for a workshop, we’ll hold the overflow on a wait list.

Note that if you attended one of the recent iOS developer workshops run around the region by Secret Lab on behalf of the AUC, you’ve already covered what will be offered in the workshops.

Please select a valid form

iOS High School

Melanie Tarr and David McMeekin

David McMeekin and Melanie Tarr began an iOS development course at a high school in 2012. The course has grown in strength since then and just published its first app on the app store.

The first part of this talk outlines the pitfalls and advantages in coordinating a high school iOS program, including guidelines for other developers considering this, and where the program should ideally fit within a tertiary/secondary environment.

The second half of the presentation is about coordinating a mentor development team, the challenges and success the mentors faced, and how to overcome those hurdles, followed by a brief outline of the app development process for the first app published.

David McMeekin is a software engineer who is currently a research fellow and lecturer at Curtin Uni. David is still unsure as to what he wants to be when he grows up but currently is enjoying research in the area of semantic web and search for the real time delivery of spatially enabled data.

Melanie TarrMelanie Tarr began working at ECU too long ago to mention now, and supported the engineering department as the Mac support engineer for four years. She then moved to Macintosh technical support for WAAPA, managing all of its IT support for two years before having her first child. She is now a PhD student (ECU), and believes digital literacy includes coding and has seen that high school children are capable of this.

 

Tinkering with Object…what? Swift?

Matthew D’Orazio

Every now and then it’s nice to do something different¹. For some, this means writing code. And for that special group, it sometimes means writing ‘things’, that work on ‘that Apple laptop, you know, for that guy who works out in the field’.

This talk will examine the new Swift language from the perspective of one who sparingly uses Objective-C. What does an outsider really think of the Apple eco-system? For those coming in from the ‘cold’, what are the pitfalls and gotcha’s? What amazing things are there to be discovered? And, how can we make the transition easier?

So, come join me on that old, familiar, horrifying journey—learning just enough of a new language to write something awful! But hey, at least it gets the job done!

¹Half hour later…‘WHY DID I AGREE TO DO THIS?’.

Matthew D'OrazioMatthew spends his days, slaving away in a metaphorical basement, trying to fix scary databases (no, a phone number is NOT a primary key!), maintaining terrible websites, despairing at the fourth drive failure of the day, and generally being pulled from project to project.

When he’s not working on technical tasks, he’s off writing papers, organising conferences and streams (e.g. PyCon AU, OzCHI24), and designing his doomsday bunker that must by necessity be completely cut off from the Internet, ‘The Cloud is trying to kill us all!’.

 

Model-View-ViewModel

Jimmy Ti, Queensland University of Technology

Most of us architect our iOS and Mac applications using the MVC paradigm. MVC serves us well but it has some problems, namely “Massive View Controller”, awkward placement for network logic, and poor view testability.

This talk aims to introduce the MVVM (Model-View-ViewModel) paradigm, advantages of this paradigm, and how to adopt MVVM for iOS development.

Jimmy TiJimmy is a Ph.D student at QUT, his research investigates how to apply mobile services to enhance social interactions in public urban environments such as public transport.

Being a passionate iOS developer, Jimmy strives to instil thoughtful design and great user experience into every application he develops.

Learning and growing through AUC’s nurture, Jimmy, together with Zac and Tony, founded Eat More Pixels – a company that focuses on creating useful, beautiful and playful apps that make our lives easier and fun.