UpStage
Encyclopedia
UpStage is an open source server-side application that has been purpose built for Cyberformance
: multiple artists collaborate in real time via the UpStage platform to create and present live theatrical performances, for audiences who can be online (from anywhere in the world) or in a shared space, and who can interact with the performance via a text chat tool. It can also be understood as a form of digital puppetry
.
troupe Avatar Body Collision; the group had been creating live performance on the internet using free chat applications such as iVisit and the Palace, and wanted to create an application that better met their artistic needs. The first version of the software was created with a grant from the Smash Palace Collaboration Fund, a joint initiative of Creative New Zealand
and the NZ Ministry for Research, Science and Technology
; it was launched in January 2004 and began to be used by artists and students around the world, as well as by the originators, Avatar Body Collision.
In 2006, the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the Auckland University of Technology
began a relationship with the UpStage project, which has seen teams of final year software development students work on UpStage as a real-world software development project. This has provided invaluable ongoing maintenance and development for the software.
Also in 2006, UpStage received a second grant, this time from the Community Partnership Fund of the New Zealand government's Digital Strategy, which enabled the development of UpStage V2. Douglas Bagnall was once again the lead developer, working this time in conjunction with the AUT students. UpStage V2 was launched in June 2007, with a two-week exhibition at the New Zealand Film Archive
and the first UpStage festival, 070707. The festival featured 13 performances by artists from around the world and took place over a 12 hour period on 7 July 2007.
A second festival was held on 080808 (8-9 August 2008), this time covering an 18 hour period and involving artists from at least 14 time zones. It was reviewed in the Australian Stage Online.
application, UpStage can be accessed by both performers and audiences from almost any internet connected computer, using any operating system and browser; computers behind firewalls
may require specific ports to be open, and the browser must have the Flash player plug-in as this is used to serve the media to the browser.
"Players" (performers) log in to UpStage and have access to a "workshop" or backstage area where they can upload media (graphics and audio), create "stages", and assign media to stages. Once on the stage, a logged-in player has access to numerous tools which allow them to manipulate the media - place, move and speak aloud with graphical avatars (using text2speech), change backdrops, play audio files, draw directly on the stage in real time, add live web cam feeds, use text chat and perform other tasks in order to create and present a performance.
Audience members (also known as "chatters") do not log in - they simply follow a link from an email or another web page, and arrive at the stage which loads as a web page in their browser. They do not see any of the player tools, but they see and hear everything that the players are creating on the stage, and they can chat in the text chat along with the players. Audience chat appears grey and silent, while player chat is black and spoken aloud.
Newcomers (both players and audience) to UpStage can learn the basics very quickly, and the fact that no additional software download is required (unless the Flash player plug-in is not already installed) makes it very accessible. The chat interface encourages playful banter and audience members contribute to and embellish the performance via the chat.
The media used in UpStage performances is created outside of UpStage, using graphic or audio software. Once optimised for Upstage, it is then uploaded via the web interface known as the Workshop and becomes available to everyone who has a log in for that particular UpStage server.
UpStage is free and open source
; it can be downloaded from the SourceForge
site and installed on a web server, giving control over who has log-in access. The interface can also be customised.
Cyberformance
Cyberformance refers to live theatrical performances in which remote participants are enabled to work together in real time through the medium of the internet, employing technologies such as chat applications or purpose-built, multiuser, real-time collaborative software such as UpStage...
: multiple artists collaborate in real time via the UpStage platform to create and present live theatrical performances, for audiences who can be online (from anywhere in the world) or in a shared space, and who can interact with the performance via a text chat tool. It can also be understood as a form of digital puppetry
Digital puppetry
Digital puppetry is the manipulation and performance of digitally animated 2D or 3D figures and objects in a virtual environment that are rendered in real-time by computers...
.
History and context
UpStage was developed during 2003 by programmer Douglas Bagnall, to realise the vision of cyberformanceCyberformance
Cyberformance refers to live theatrical performances in which remote participants are enabled to work together in real time through the medium of the internet, employing technologies such as chat applications or purpose-built, multiuser, real-time collaborative software such as UpStage...
troupe Avatar Body Collision; the group had been creating live performance on the internet using free chat applications such as iVisit and the Palace, and wanted to create an application that better met their artistic needs. The first version of the software was created with a grant from the Smash Palace Collaboration Fund, a joint initiative of Creative New Zealand
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets and audiences for New Zealand arts domestically and internationally...
and the NZ Ministry for Research, Science and Technology
Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (New Zealand)
The Ministry of Research, Science and Technology was a government agency within the New Zealand government.Its main responsibilities were to:* Manage the Government's research, science and technology investment...
; it was launched in January 2004 and began to be used by artists and students around the world, as well as by the originators, Avatar Body Collision.
In 2006, the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences at the Auckland University of Technology
Auckland University of Technology
The Auckland University of Technology is a university in New Zealand. It was formed on 1 January 2000 when the Auckland Institute of Technology was granted university status. Its primary campus is on Wellesley Street in Auckland's Central business district...
began a relationship with the UpStage project, which has seen teams of final year software development students work on UpStage as a real-world software development project. This has provided invaluable ongoing maintenance and development for the software.
Also in 2006, UpStage received a second grant, this time from the Community Partnership Fund of the New Zealand government's Digital Strategy, which enabled the development of UpStage V2. Douglas Bagnall was once again the lead developer, working this time in conjunction with the AUT students. UpStage V2 was launched in June 2007, with a two-week exhibition at the New Zealand Film Archive
New Zealand Film Archive
The New Zealand Film Archive is a charitable trust dedicated to the collection, preservation and viewing of mainly New Zealand films and videos made between 1895 to the present day.- Background :...
and the first UpStage festival, 070707. The festival featured 13 performances by artists from around the world and took place over a 12 hour period on 7 July 2007.
A second festival was held on 080808 (8-9 August 2008), this time covering an 18 hour period and involving artists from at least 14 time zones. It was reviewed in the Australian Stage Online.
Features of UpStage
As a web-based server-sideServer-side
Server-side refers to operations that are performed by the server in a client–server relationship in computer networking.Typically, a server is a software program, such as a web server, that runs on a remote server, reachable from a user's local computer or workstation...
application, UpStage can be accessed by both performers and audiences from almost any internet connected computer, using any operating system and browser; computers behind firewalls
Firewall (computing)
A firewall is a device or set of devices designed to permit or deny network transmissions based upon a set of rules and is frequently used to protect networks from unauthorized access while permitting legitimate communications to pass....
may require specific ports to be open, and the browser must have the Flash player plug-in as this is used to serve the media to the browser.
"Players" (performers) log in to UpStage and have access to a "workshop" or backstage area where they can upload media (graphics and audio), create "stages", and assign media to stages. Once on the stage, a logged-in player has access to numerous tools which allow them to manipulate the media - place, move and speak aloud with graphical avatars (using text2speech), change backdrops, play audio files, draw directly on the stage in real time, add live web cam feeds, use text chat and perform other tasks in order to create and present a performance.
Audience members (also known as "chatters") do not log in - they simply follow a link from an email or another web page, and arrive at the stage which loads as a web page in their browser. They do not see any of the player tools, but they see and hear everything that the players are creating on the stage, and they can chat in the text chat along with the players. Audience chat appears grey and silent, while player chat is black and spoken aloud.
Newcomers (both players and audience) to UpStage can learn the basics very quickly, and the fact that no additional software download is required (unless the Flash player plug-in is not already installed) makes it very accessible. The chat interface encourages playful banter and audience members contribute to and embellish the performance via the chat.
The media used in UpStage performances is created outside of UpStage, using graphic or audio software. Once optimised for Upstage, it is then uploaded via the web interface known as the Workshop and becomes available to everyone who has a log in for that particular UpStage server.
UpStage is free and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
; it can be downloaded from the SourceForge
SourceForge
SourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself...
site and installed on a web server, giving control over who has log-in access. The interface can also be customised.
Artists using UpStage
- Avatar Body Collision
- ActiveLayers
- Plaintext Players (Antoinette LaFarge & company)
- Marlena Corcoran
- Miljana Peric & Digit Group
- Anaesthesia Associates
- Tara Rebele
- Pauline Bastard
- Nadia Oufrid
- Louise Phillips and Mali & Chad Duckitt
- Marcela Oteiza, Cathia Pagotto & Damla Hacaloglu
- Kristin Carlson & Sheila Page
- Katarina Djordjevic Urosevic & colleagues
- Ben Unterman, Daniel Silverman, Maya Jarvis & Inouk Touzin
- Rebekah Wild
- Helena Martin Franco
Further reading
- Su Ballard & Stella Brennan (eds), The Aotearoa Digital Arts Reader, Published by Aotearoa Digital Arts and Clouds, August 2008. ISBN: 978-0-9582789-9-7
- Bree Hadley, 080808 UpStage Festival|080808 UpStage Festival, The Australian Stage Online, 9 August 2008
- Helen Varley Jamieson, "UpStage: A Platform for Creating and Performing Online," IEEE MultiMedia, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 8-10, Jul-Sept, 2007
- Patricia Jung and Helen Varley Jamieson, "Online performances mit UpStage" - chapter in Video: Wiedergabe, Bearbeitung und Streaming unter Linux, ed. Nils Magnus and Torsten Spindler, published by Open Source Press, 2005. ISBN 978-3-937514-10-9
- Patricia Jung, "Performers Go Web", Linux Journal, April 2005;
External links
- UpStage web site
- Open UpStage for public performances and events
- UpStage on SourceForge - download the application