The Tupac Experience 1

Naudia Loftis

Comm 140-52

William Weaver

October 1, 2017

Computers, television, video games, cell phones and movies are all ways we, experience

telepresence. It occurs in our lives more often than not and as technology advances it’s getting

harder to ignore especially in movies. Movie theatres have given us a place to experience films

and connect with one another through the screen. Although it’s not a virtual reality, we are still

able to experience telepresence on multiple levels while watching a film.

Telepresence is the the perceptual illusion of non mediation due to an interaction between

individuals, technology, content, etc. It can be experienced through mediated environments

which are all the examples listed above. It allows the ability to interact with other people over a

distance, in real time, with the feeling of being there (Solomon, Kim, & Carrell, 2015). A

mediated presence is communication facilitated by the presence of technology between the

message senders and receivers. Media are constructed and construct reality and receivers

negotiate meaning in media (Aufderheide, 1992). Along with this, telepresence has six

dimensions which are social presence, realism, transportation, immersion, social actor within a

medium, and medium as social actor.

Social presence is the degree to which a person is perceived as a ‘real person’ in mediated

communication (Gunawardena, 1997), or in other words feelings of togetherness between people

in a virtual/mediated space. Realism is when content appears true to life and we feel that it

reflects how things really are. Transportation is more a property of the individual, while

telepresence is a property of the individual and technology because it partly the technology that
The Tupac Experience 2

is helping the person achieve this level of heightened belief in being part of the story (Ackerman,

2009). Immersion is when our senses are being filled by the content. Social Actor within a

medium is a parasocial interaction which means, feeling like imagining relationships with

characters are genuine. Finally, medium as social actor is when communications media seem

alive, for example, Siri on an Apple device or talking computers. These dimensions have

developed over the years and will continue to develop as technology grows and changes.

Telepresence has been prominent in film since the beginning. Movie theatres and films

help us experience the six dimensions especially transportation. In the beginning, movies were

short and didn’t have much context. Yet, the audience could appeal to these short films and

experience transportation. Without leaving much for imagination and changing the way we

imagine our world and view our imaginations, these brief films were the arrival of a new dawn in

the arts: the cinema (Slade, 2012).

Today it seems as if movie theaters are not as popular because of substitutes like Netflix,

Hulu and even Fire Sticks. They help bring the movie to you for a cheaper price and you still

experience telepresence but there’s a difference when you’re actually in the theater and

surrounded by others who was just as engaged as you are. For example, you can’t really watch a

3D movie on a regular tv screen. 3D movies help us experience immersion which is an

experience that encloses the user into a synthetically generated world. Contemporary 3D displays

try to achieve this through elaborate schemes (Ozaktas 2007). It’s obviously different when

you’re watching something on a flat screen and when it’s actually popping out at you (or at least

seems like it’s popping out at you. Telepresence has come very far in film over time but still has

similar goes of what they want the audience to experience.

The Tupac Experience 3

Telepresence was the avowed goal of many early film innovators: social presence

has been a companion goal in many key cases.

(Bracken & Skalski, p.11)

Tupac Shakur is my idol so once I found out they were making a movie about his life I

knew couldn’t wait to watch it on my fire stick or Netflix I had to go see it in theaters and get

the full experience. Early on, there was much discussion of the motion picture’s ability to

preserve great performances (Bracken & Skalski, p.13) and overcome death by preserving our

loved ones forever. We see this a lot in media, biopics have become very big to honor the life

of well known people nowadays. For example, there are multiple biopics about Michael

Jackson, and they all cover the main parts of his life but when detail comes to play they differ

on certain parts. They try their best to appeal to certain audiences in order to make sure they

get the full experience.

Although Tupac is not related to me I adore him so the need to see the movie overtook

everything else I had going on. So my mom, my dad, and my boyfriend and I all went to see

the movie together. I was anxious and excited and as soon as the movie started I felt myself

completely indulge in that moment and nothing else mattered. Since I love Tupac and was

interested in the movie all of these factors affected the amount of the amount of telepresence I

experienced.

The light went off, the opening music started, talking stopped and I became fully engaged

in what was right in front of me. This is the transportation dimension of telepresence and one of

the most important ones.Most people go to the movies for enjoyment, the outing is used for

birthdays, friend trips, or just Saturday night fun. Transportation theory (Green & Brock, 2000,

2002) provides a lens for understanding the concept of media enjoyment. As individuals we
The Tupac Experience 4

experience transportation and it gives us the narrative of whatever story we’re indulged in.

Transportation exists at the heart of every mediated experience whether it’s virtual reality or

reading a book.

One of my favorite parts about going to the movies is the connection I feel with the other

audience members. Although we’re not talking to each other and are strangers we express similar

emotions throughout the film. When Tupac started rapping during the movie majority of the

audience sang along in unison, when he was shot you heard gasps from around the theater and

when a joke was said everybody laughed so hard you could almost feel the seats shake. This is

an example of social presence and immersion in telepresence. It made the film seem more real

and I forgot that I had any doubts about it, I forgot that some of the events that occurred probably

didn’t happen, and enjoyed the bubble I was in until I saw the closing credits. This was not the

first time I’ve noticed this in the movies but it was my favorite because I had been waiting for

this movie for years.

Picture a movie theater, packed for the opening night of a blockbuster film.

Hundreds of strangers sit next to each other, transfixed. They tend to blink at the

same time. Even their brain activity is, to a remarkable degree, synchronized.

(Miller, 2014)

Whenever I leave out a movie theater I can feel the disconnect with people as we all sort

of come back to reality. Once we become aware of telepresence it breaks the spell. I did not

move once throughout the movie, no bathroom breaks, and my phone was off. Describing it

sounds like a trance but telepresence is not an all or nothing experience. People experience at

different levels. Everyone was completely there for this recreation of what Tupac’s life was. For

people like my mom who were alive during the time he was, this was basically a blast from the
The Tupac Experience 5

past. I could see her and my dad singing the songs and tapping each other and remembering

certain events that I personally was not there for but it made me feel like I was. For example,

when I watch 90s movies like House Party my mom comes out of nowhere dancing with her

eyes closed and I can tell she’s in her own world and she’s completely indulged in her memory.

The movie did seem believable after watching it but from being a Tupac fan and knowing

certain events were not true, especially because people who were portrayed in the movie said

they were untrue, made me question the entire situation. The information was definitely

emotional because it was about something that I care deeply about. If I hadn’t done my research

after the movie I would have believed every second that occurred without question. Artists who

present as fact things that never happened, who refuse to allow the truth to interfere with a good

story, are betraying their art and history as well (Bernstein, 1989).

The movie was constructed so well and had me so in tune with every music scene and

dramatic moment I didn’t question anything. I personally do love biopic movies because I love

learning about people’s lives especially famous people. One trait that I’ve acquired after

watching so many is doing research afterwards and comparing it to what I saw in the movie. I

know specifically I wanted to know if Tupac had read Jada Pickett the poem he wrote for her like

in the movie. It turned out that is was false and she didn’t know he wrote a poem about her until

he had already passed. But from watching the movie and being in the theater the scene was set so

beautifully and it seemed so real as if I was actually right there while he read it. This is common

in films.

We accept these images as true. But increasingly it’s hard to tell the difference

between true telepresence or raw recordings on the one hand and invented virtual

reality on the other. We know when we are watching straight fiction, but when
The Tupac Experience 6

we are watching something that claims to be nonfictional we have no clue about

the level of verisimilitude of any particular sequence.

(Monaco, 200)

If this movie was in 3D I would have experienced different aspects of telepresence

including virtual reality. But as long as our senses are being filled and we are in that moment we

are giving ourselves to whatever type of mediated presence is there.

In the end, telepresence is still everywhere. I think there should be more research done on

how people experience it together in movies besides individually. As technology enhances and

virtual reality becomes more vital, telepresence will adapt with it. If an individual went into the

movie completely uninterested and stayed on their phone the entire time or kept leaving out, it

would have been harder for them to experience telepresence in the moment.

References

Ackerman, J., (2009, November 8). Transportation and Telepresence. Mind the
Entertainment. Retrieved September 29, 2017 from
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telepresence.html?m=0

Aufderheide, P. (1992, December 7-9). Aspen Media Literacy Conference Report-Part II.
Retrieved September 28, 2017, from http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/aspen-
media-literacy-conference-report-part-ii
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Bracken, C. C., & Skalski, P., (2009). Immersed in Media: Telepresence in Everyday
Life. New York, NY: Routledge

Bernstein, R., (1989, November 26). Can Movies Teach History?. The New York
Times. Retrieved September 29, 2017 from
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history.html?pagewanted=all&mcubz=0

Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of
public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 701–721.

Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2002). In the mind's eye: Transportation-imagery model
of narrative persuasion. In M. C.Green, J. J.Strange, & T. C.Brock, (Eds.), Narrative
impact: Social and cognitive foundations (pp. 315–341). Mahwah , NJ : Erlbaum.

Gunawardena, C. N., & Zittle, F. J. (1997). Social presence as a predictor of satisfaction

within a computer mediated conferencing environment. American Journal of Distance
Education, 11(3), 8-26.

Miller, G. (2014, August 28). How Movies Synchronize The Brains of an Audience.
Retrieved September 25, 2017, from
https://www.wired.com/2014/08/cinema-science-mind-meld/

Monaco, J., (2000). How to Read a Film: Movies, Media, and Beyond. New York, NY:
Oxford University Press

Ozaktas, H., (2007). Three-Dimensional Television: Capture, Transmission, Display.

Bilkent, Ankara Turkey: Springer
Slade, C., (2012, October 19). The Lumière Brothers: celebrating the first light in the
motion picture industry. The Telegraph. Retrieved September 29, 2017 from
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/9618679/The-Lumiere-Brothers-
celebrating-the-first-light-in-the-motion-picture-industry.html

Solomon, M. G., Kim D., Carrell, J. L., (2015). Fundamentals of Communications and
Networking. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning