Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience
Location
Rosen Classroom 111
Start Date
20-6-2024 10:00 AM
About the Presenters
Kincaid Rabb (b. 1993, they/them pronouns) is an award-winning composer and writer, working at the intersection of storytelling and new music. Kincaid is an artist-scholar whose research includes musical narratology and theme park phenomenology. Using narration, worldbuilding, and a strong sense of fun and play, Kincaid creates musical experiences that immerse audiences into intimate spaces and that reward waders, swimmers, and divers alike.
Currently residing in San Diego, California, Kincaid graduated with a Master of Music in Composition in 2021 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, where they held graduate assistantships in theory, composition, and musicology. They graduated from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Music in Composition in 2017. When not working, Kincaid can be found at Disneyland. For more information, visit www.kincaidrabb.com.
Description
Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience is a presentation on the theory that I have developed on adaptation of the concept of diegesis within the theme park story attraction. This presentation centers the adaptation of filmic diegesis to the theme park medium, extrapolating on how terminology must be adapted to work in experience design space. Using the writings of past scholars to demonstrate an evolution of the concept of diegesis (Plato, Nietzsche, Gorbman, Stilwell) and synthesizing those writings with the works of scholars on spectatorship and apparatus theory (Carroll, Châteauvert/Gaudreault, Gunning, Rabinovitz), this presentation will provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the roles and responsibilities of curated sound in themed story attraction environments. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the Disneyland/Walt Disney World attraction Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run as a case study on distinctions between identifying diegetic sound, extradiegetic sound, and non-diegetic sound, through which I will demonstrate the direct application of this unifying sound theory. As a reintroduction on the terminology of diegesis as it can be applied to the attractions of theme parks and other immersive experiences, Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience will create clarity of definition for story-based attractions, expand the field of scholarship, and build a better onramp for understanding theme park sound at large.
Recommended Citation
Rabb, Kincaid, "Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience" (2024). Theme Park Music and Sound. 3.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2024/thursday/3
Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience
Rosen Classroom 111
Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience is a presentation on the theory that I have developed on adaptation of the concept of diegesis within the theme park story attraction. This presentation centers the adaptation of filmic diegesis to the theme park medium, extrapolating on how terminology must be adapted to work in experience design space. Using the writings of past scholars to demonstrate an evolution of the concept of diegesis (Plato, Nietzsche, Gorbman, Stilwell) and synthesizing those writings with the works of scholars on spectatorship and apparatus theory (Carroll, Châteauvert/Gaudreault, Gunning, Rabinovitz), this presentation will provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the roles and responsibilities of curated sound in themed story attraction environments. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of the Disneyland/Walt Disney World attraction Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run as a case study on distinctions between identifying diegetic sound, extradiegetic sound, and non-diegetic sound, through which I will demonstrate the direct application of this unifying sound theory. As a reintroduction on the terminology of diegesis as it can be applied to the attractions of theme parks and other immersive experiences, Where Did That Sound Come From?: Diegesis and the Themed Experience will create clarity of definition for story-based attractions, expand the field of scholarship, and build a better onramp for understanding theme park sound at large.