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Location
Rosen Classroom 111
Start Date
20-6-2024 10:45 AM
Description
Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter immerses parkgoers in a soundscape enriched by music and sound effects. At the park, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley serve as recreations of fictional urban soundscapes (Eisenberg 2023) supplemented by “scripted spaces” (Waysdorf and Reijinders 2018) and BGM loops that evoke filmic memory (White 2021). This presentation focuses on the interactive “magic” wand as filmic recreation and paid access to a subset of sounds within the park’s dense soundscape. I propose an analytical framework that blends music theories on phrase structures (Rothstein 1989; Caplin 2013), ludomusicology on player-drivenness (Collins 2013; Kellman 2020), and transmedia concepts (Jenkins 2006; Ryan 2016) to categorize over thirty parkwide wand interactions, or “spells,” by their sonic markedness, actions, and functions.
My case studies classify spells as scripted, spontaneous, or synchronous to determine three levels of individualized interactivity between a parkgoer and magical sounds. Once activated, scripted spells like the troll ballet play autonomously from start to end. Spontaneous spells like Dervish and Banges’ music box offer moderate interaction where parkgoers can spontaneously start and stop a song in manners that may or may not complete a melodic phrase structure. The moving skeleton is a synchronous spell that mirrors parkgoers’ wand movements and dances at the wand’s command. Rigorous categorization of spell types provides data on how the wand prompts physical action and funnels attention to specific sonic events inside a soundscape. This user-centered interactivity is key to how parkgoers suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the wizarding experience. Always.
Recommended Citation
Nguyen, Clair, "Respelling Magic: Interactive Wands and Parkgoer-driven Soundscapes at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter" (2024). Theme Park Music and Sound. 4.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2024/thursday/4
Respelling Magic: Interactive Wands and Parkgoer-driven Soundscapes at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Rosen Classroom 111
Universal Orlando’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter immerses parkgoers in a soundscape enriched by music and sound effects. At the park, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley serve as recreations of fictional urban soundscapes (Eisenberg 2023) supplemented by “scripted spaces” (Waysdorf and Reijinders 2018) and BGM loops that evoke filmic memory (White 2021). This presentation focuses on the interactive “magic” wand as filmic recreation and paid access to a subset of sounds within the park’s dense soundscape. I propose an analytical framework that blends music theories on phrase structures (Rothstein 1989; Caplin 2013), ludomusicology on player-drivenness (Collins 2013; Kellman 2020), and transmedia concepts (Jenkins 2006; Ryan 2016) to categorize over thirty parkwide wand interactions, or “spells,” by their sonic markedness, actions, and functions.
My case studies classify spells as scripted, spontaneous, or synchronous to determine three levels of individualized interactivity between a parkgoer and magical sounds. Once activated, scripted spells like the troll ballet play autonomously from start to end. Spontaneous spells like Dervish and Banges’ music box offer moderate interaction where parkgoers can spontaneously start and stop a song in manners that may or may not complete a melodic phrase structure. The moving skeleton is a synchronous spell that mirrors parkgoers’ wand movements and dances at the wand’s command. Rigorous categorization of spell types provides data on how the wand prompts physical action and funnels attention to specific sonic events inside a soundscape. This user-centered interactivity is key to how parkgoers suspend disbelief and immerse themselves in the wizarding experience. Always.