Any live cinema performance can be analysed through five tool-independent essential elements

Rather than describing live cinema by its ever-changing software, Makela frames it through five elements present in every performance regardless of genre, style, or tools: space, time, projection, performance, and public (participation). The value of the framework is that it is stable while tools become obsolete — it gives a shared vocabulary for analysing, comparing, and planning performances. To use it, a practitioner asks of any set: how is each element handled? The framework’s own claim is that these five (not the equipment) are what actually constitute a live cinema work, which is why analysis should start there rather than with ‘which app did you use’.

Examples

Analysing a set: What is the projection surface and physical space? How is time managed (loops, duration)? What is the performer’s visible role? What is the audience’s role — passive or interactive?

Assessment

Map a live cinema performance you have seen or designed onto the five elements. Identify which element was least developed and propose one change to strengthen it.