The famous musical Rent, has been filmed while being performed live on a Broadway stage and released for audiences to view in the movie theatre. The live aspect of theatre involving possibility and risk has been captured into one performance on film. The experience of seeing the show live or on film is completely different. Although the production has been edited with shots taken from multiple angles, what has been lost is the entire picture of the show. Close ups of theatre performance show the actor projecting to a large audience, not the intimate frame they are forced into. If the theatre can be considered a space where intermediality can take place what happens when it is then put to film? How does one art form collaborate or fit with others? While watching this film many people may consider the performances to be over-acted, however, the same assumption would not be true in the large theatre. How is the experience altered in this new setting? Can one truly get the essence of a stage performance from a film? If the situation was reversed a film on stage would also have problematic areas. It is an interesting issue to be experimented with in our contemporary society.
Melissa Assalone
