Video annotation in the TKB project: Linguistics meets choreography meets technology

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article describes the TKB project (A Transmedia Knowledge-Base for the performing arts), an international research project running in Portugal since 2009 at the New University of Lisbon. While focusing on the development of a digital notebook for video annotation in real-time, designated as Creation-Tool,1 the authors will jointly explain the collaboration process between choreographers, linguists and software programmers during the iterative design and test phases of the annotation tool. By trying to converge methodologies from Cognitive Linguistics, New Media and performance studies, thus attempting to achieve a rich interdisciplinary dialogue, we show how video annotation practices, using both verbal language, and touch-pen drawings or customizable marks over the videos, can significantly contribute to analytical processes of performing arts creations and to their documentation and transmission. Moreover, the article discusses the use of the Creation-Tool in the context of choreography in interactive environments, focusing on the potential for annotation of complex rehearsals and performances, which consist of such diverse strands as the performative action, the programming, the multimedia events, the respective lighting and scenic set-up.