Summer Research

Picture from "The Stories of Shadowgraph"

Summer Research Powerpoint

Taiwanese Shadow Playing Show


Chinese Shadow Playing Show




Introduction
As a witness of the disappearance of the Taiwanese Shadowgraph, I would like to re-interpret the art by computer animation and trigger a narrative by re-positioning its role in the Taiwanese modern life with the idea of “Your Shadow Plays My Affinity.”

By following the history flow of the Taiwanese shadowgraph, the map itself vividly portrays that the shadowgraph not only entertains certain Taiwanese, but also plays the affinity inside of them. Along with the changes in the media environment, nowadays the Taiwanese young generation has their own affinity with the new media, such as network and movies. But the shadowgraph still plays its own narrative with different images in the young generation’s mind.

Because of the cultural difference caused by geographical distributions, old people living in northern areas of Taiwan lost the opportunity to enjoy the art. They even created a scary image of the leather puppets and believed that leather puppets will call back the spirits of the dead. As a young person from northern Taiwan, I was taught not to play the shadowgraph or touch the topic which relates to it. I felt it was a pity I lost the opportunity to enjoy the traditional art. Thus, I chose the Taiwanese shadowgraph as my thesis topic and the Taiwanese young generation as my target audience in order to regain our lost cultural affinity.

After researching secondary data, I found out that the art started declining in the mid fifties because the Taiwanese changed their media habits from traditional drama to television and movies. Today only five shadowgraph troupes exist in southern Taiwan and they all devote to shadowgraph education in cooperation with the Taiwanese government. The second reason for the decline is because people living in different regions of Taiwan have their own local culture and in the past they did not have the opportunity to know and enjoy it.

I started thinking that I can combine the traditional art and the computer technology as a new media resolution which could lead the young generation to experience it. My first prototype is a digital puppet made by Processing. The puppet has similar structure with the real shadow puppet. I set up the puppet’s movement to be controlled by the user’s Mouse-dragging or user’s key-pressing. I would like to create the interactive interface for young generation to experience the art with their intimate media.

After in-depth interviewing with two shadow playing masters, I got the idea for my second prototype, I would like to create a narrative and focus on presenting the culture difference between the young and old generations. In order to invite more young people to enjoy art, the goal of the animation is to let them know that playing shadowgraph in reality life can be as challenging and fun as playing computer games in the virtual world.

Conclusion
After testing my target audience and having the conversation with the shadow playing masters, I decide to go for the second prototype triggering a narrative. From my summer research and my interviewer’s suggestions, I felt to create a narrative by combining the traditional shadowgraph art with the computer technology, such as effects, sound, editing, which can deliver the essence of shadowgraph show better than only by interactive interface. People can sit in front of the new media and enjoy the traditional art which plays not only the masters’ affinity but also our technology’s affinity.