From the earliest days of television broadcasting in the 1930s performers, programmers, and critics were enthusiastic about the potential for a creative approach to live mediated performance and its ability to facilitate an educated form of public dialogue. At the same time, the consistent challenges involved in ‘translating’ a live performance to the screen and the limitations imposed on multi-camera videography (rehearsal opportunities, lighting, camera placement) have demanded compromises and the establishment of practices that have been met with resistance and criticism. In Screening Live Performance we aim to unpack the past, present, and future of multi-camera production for the performing arts to understand how this shapes our appreciation of live performance.
To what extent, we ask, can multi-camera production replicate or capture the experience of live performance? Or is it naïve even to consider such notions of immediacy in the face of an elaborate intervention? Has our collective familiarity with the grammar of multi-camera production (in television sports, in sitcoms) allowed us to see ‘through’ its mediating effects? Or is there something still strange and alienating about witnessing live performances fragmented into multiple perspectives, subjected to zoom shots and close-ups? These are some of the questions the conference seeks to address.
Although scholarly literature has sporadically addressed some of the issues it raises, multi-camera production of live performance has generated surprisingly little research. Until quite recently, much of the published material appeared in trade journals, technical manuals and monographs targeted at professionals in the television industry. Thanks in part to a growing scholarly interest in screen cultures and their impact, researchers have begun to turn their attention to mediatised forms of live performance. This is a turn undoubtedly shaped by the emergence of new forms of transmission and modes of dissemination, not least live and on-demand streaming and live relays to cinemas (both of which have adopted models of multi-camera production honed in television). Yet this more recent research tends to focus on the mediatisation of a particular artform (theatre or opera, for example). We seek to draw on the knowledge generated by this research while adopting a broader perspective alert to the implications of production practices that often traverse the boundaries not only between individual artforms but between live performance and other events, such as civic occasions and spectator sports.
Proposals on any topic related to the study of multi-camera production and the performing arts will be considered, but we especially welcome submissions that explore one or more of the following themes:
- grammar and conventions of production (image and sound)
- impact of artforms on production practices (concerts, opera, theatre, dance)
- distribution/broadcast of multi-camera productions in national and transnational contexts
- “invisibility” of multi-camera capture (anonymity, industrial norms, signature directorial style)
- narrative and spatial continuity
- limitations of capture (camera placement, fear of intrusion into live event, extent of interaction with stage directors)
- impact on performers (performance authenticity and performer autonomy)
- impact on in-person attendance
- immersion, alienation, presence, absence
- distinction from, and overlaps with, other forms of live capture (civic events, sports) and other multi-camera television genres (sitcoms, soap operas)
- historical practices in multi-camera production
- performing arts capture as television programming
- streaming and its impact on production practices
- access and availability (television and streaming, free and subscription-based)
- historical record of multi-camera broadcasts/recordings (commercial videos, archives, digitization)
- evolving technologies of capture, editing, and transmission
- spectatorship of performing-arts capture (composition of audiences, types of viewing)
- audience experience and interaction
- virtual and hybrid experiences
- access, democratisation, representation, and inclusion
- questions of elitism of performing arts venues vs purported access/democracy of TV/digital
- funding/resourcing of performing arts capture (legacy as affordable television programming, future in the era of streaming)
- mediation of liveness (liveness and immediacy, temporal manipulation, audience perception of presence)
We welcome proposals for individual papers (20 minutes), organised panels (3 papers), and roundtables (minimum 4 speakers, maximum 6 speakers and a chair).
Submission Process
Abstracts will be judged according to:
- Relevance and Originality: Does the abstract address an innovative topic within the field? Does it present new ideas, research, or perspectives?
- Significance and Contribution: Does the abstract demonstrate the potential to contribute to the advancement of knowledge, practice, or understanding? Does it have broader implications for the field?
- Clarity and Coherence: Is the abstract clearly written and easy to understand? Are the key objectives effectively communicated with a logical structure and flow?
Abstracts of no more than 250 words must be submitted by 21st March 2025 using this form: SLP Abstracts
In addition to proposals for individual presentations, we also welcome proposals for organised panels, consisting of three presentations that are united by their exploration of a particular topic relating to the conference theme, and roundtables, where a group of experts discuss a particular issue in depth without the constraints of having to speak to a paper. The panel chair must submit no more than a 1000-word description/rationale in addition to the names of the presenters on the proposed panel and the content for each contribution, submitting by email.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 7th April 2025 at which point conference registration will open.
The Conference will take place on 3rd and 4th July 2025
Conference Committee
Miguel Mera (University of Southampton), Christopher Morris (Maynooth University), Gaia Varon (NYU, Florence), Carlo Cenciarelli (University of Cardiff), and Erin Sullivan (Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham).