Proposal

Super Mario, Interactive Performance

Hey, man, did you remember the Famicon game Super Mario which you played when you were young? Have you ever imaged to become Mario and to begin your own adventure in the Mario’s virtual world? I promise that it would be a wonderful and fantastic trip.

I got my inspiration from the Famicon game and what I really want to perform is about the adventure of Mario’s world. As a whole, I will perform in a stage which only has the blue curtain as the background, and then I will use computer technology to add me to the game scene. The result I want to show is a vivid performance in front of the Mario’s world, and it will be projected on a screen beside my stage.

Specially, I would better divide the whole scene into three parts. The first part is a stage with a pure background where I perform; the second one is the screen that I use to display the integrated performance video, and this is the core part of my performance; the last part is an additional part which I use to please my audience by the interaction between my partner who is playing the FM game and me.

The procedure of my total performance seems like that my partner is playing FC game Super Mario under the stage, and I am performing as the Mario in his FC game, while I am just performing in a stage without the Mario’s background. However, the screen will show the real-time process scene which looks like the screen of my partner’s FC.

Next, I will talk about details what my audience will watch from the screen. After a careful consideration, I choose the first stage of the Super Mario, WORLD 1-1, to perform. I believe that the WORLD 1-1 is the most classical stage of Super Mario, and it must recall my audience’s memory about their childhoods. At the beginning of the game, generally, my partner will select the character in his game. There will be some choices for him, such as the red Mario, the green Mario and me. Naturally, he will select me as his character in the game. In order to increase the reality, I will add this part of video into my story. And then, I will be forced going on the stage and beginning my performance. First I will act as I am kicked into the scene to show my unsatisfied mood. At this time, I can start a talk with my partner about why he chose me. After that, I will begin my adventure in the Mario’s world.

During the procedure of the game, I will do a lot of funny, exaggerate and attractive movements to respond my partner’s control. For example, when I meet the green pipe, I will jump over and over again and I have to talk to my partner that he makes me tired and angry. With the progress of his game, I will meet brick above my head. What makes me crazy is that my partner asks me to knock the brick again and again. I try to keep calm but I have to stop him doing that. Besides, when I meet the goomba, I can easily stamp it. However, my partner doesn’t allow that, and he asks me to step it for many times and then it can be killed. In fact, I can add lots of special elements to satisfy my audience in the progress of the game.

At the end of the game, Mario always goes into a castle to celebrate his victory. Sometimes there will be salvos as encouragement to Mario. In my performance, my partner does not give salvos to me when I go to the castle. I argue with him but he insists his opinion. Finally, he succeeds provoking me to anger, and I take out my own confetti cannons to celebrate my victory. Meanwhile, the confetti in the sky also mean the walk-off of my total performance.

The highlight of my whole show is not only the interaction between the technology and my show, but also the communication between my partner and me. Therefore, the coordination among technology, my partner and me is the biggest challenge to me.

In order to complete my performance, first I will record a video of the game scene. And then, I will do the video processing to take Mario out of the scene through Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere which will be a large amount of work to me. When I begin to perform, I will use the real-time Chroma Key skill to separate me from the pure background and add me to the game scene which I processed before. Besides of Photo Booth, I try to find a new and accurate way to separate me from the background. If I cannot, I will continue using Photo Booth to make it come true. In terms of the setting of stage, I prefer two screens on the two sides of me. One is used to show my partner, while another is used to show my integrated performance video. I think the three separate parts of the scene will achieve an excellent result.

I believe that the real Super Mario will be an interesting, exciting and humorous show. It will bring an unusual feeling to my audience which not only reminds their best memories of their childhoods, but also gives them an visual feast.