Digital Performance Lab at UC Gains Early Industry Attention for Cutting-Edge Digital Performance Work with Acting Students
CINCINNATI, OH, December 03, 2025 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The University of Cincinnati's Digital Performance Lab is making waves with its groundbreaking state-of-the-art creative hub where performance, filmmaking, and emerging technologies collide. Under the leadership of Director D'Arcy Smith, the Lab is gaining interest to become a destination for studios, entertainment media, and storytelling innovators eager to explore the future of performance.
What sets the Lab apart? Its bold focus on Verticals and micro-dramas—short-form, actor-driven narrative pieces designed specifically for mobile platforms, social entertainment ecosystems, and next-generation digital consumption. These compact, emotionally charged stories, captured using cinematic motion capture, advanced voice/performance techniques, and virtual production tools, are already drawing early attention.
One entertainment journalist recently noted that these pieces "feel like fully realized moments from streaming-era prestige drama—compressed, electric, and impossible to scroll past."
A New Frontier: Verticals & Micro-Dramas
Under Smith's direction, students develop micro-dramas that run anywhere from 90 seconds to 2 minutes—tight, character-centric narratives designed for high emotional impact and instant shareability. These aren't simple clips; they are fully sculpted dramatic moments.
The results are gaining traction:
• Vertical scenes created by The Digital Performance Lab have begun circulating among entertainment insiders.
• Industry observers have noted that the format resembles "bite-sized prestige drama" designed expressly for the modern viewing landscape.
• Students are getting experience in digital mediums normally not delivered in BFA Acting programs including film and vertical series, voice over, video games, and motion capture.
Smith says "Verticals are the new medium for the digital era—performances that can instantly connect with an audience and allows every phone to become a studio, every actor a storyteller. We were one of the first to create a Digital Showcase for our actors to gain exposure and launch them into the industry, this is the next logical step." His approach—equal parts rigorous acting technique, technological fluency, and creative experimentation—is helping UC emerge as a standout incubator for future-ready talent.
About the Digital Performance Lab
The Digital Performance Lab at the University of Cincinnati's Digital Futures Institute is devoted to training, research, collaboration, and content creation at the intersection of performance and technology. Directed by D'Arcy Smith, the Lab integrates motion capture, virtual production, immersive media, mobile storytelling, and emerging entertainment formats. Students perform in motion capture, 360VR, and virtual production, create dynamic short-form verticals and micro-dramas and act in voice over performance training for animation, commercial, and videogames.
Links:
https://ucdigitalfutures.com/digital-performance-lab/
https://www.youtube.com/@DigitalPerformanceUC/shorts
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