From Hyperreality to Digital Cinema: A Theoretical Overview

This chapter provides a philosophical background from which to describe the hyperorchestra, defined as a virtual ensemble that inhabits the hyperreal. It describes how Jean Baudrillard coined the concept of hyperreality, which was informed by McLuhan’s highly influential theory of media. While the theories of both authors are broad, this chapter highlights their ideas on conceptualizing Western cultural development as a process of increased virtualization, which will inform the rest of the book. From this viewpoint, it analyzes the aesthetic and philosophical foundations that emanated from the introduction of digital visual tools to cinema, with an emphasis on Prince’s theory of perceptual realism. In that realm, it explores how virtual reality, audiovisual narratives, digital cinema, performance, and hyperreality relate to each other.