Logan Park High School teacher Jennifer Ashby said 18 pupils, between year 9 and year 12, would become "screen zombies'' for a performance at the Dunedin Midwinter Carnival in the Octagon.
"It's a dystopian future where everyone is not looking at each other, they are looking at their screens,'' Mrs Ashby said.
At the carnival the horde would synchronise their movements, including taking selfies.
Year 11 pupil Rosa Miles-Seeley (15) said the performance was about people being controlled and unified by devices.
"We are all together as one when we are staring at our devices.''
Festival artistic director Juliet Novena Sorrel said more than 130 volunteers helped organise the festival.
"We are looking forward to sharing the fantastic work and the beautiful creations and costumes we have made,'' Ms Novena Sorrel said.
The event would feature more than 14 giant lanterns, 400 lanterns made by families, 150 performers, more than 1000 people in the procession and 18 food stalls.
The carnival starts in the Octagon at 5.30pm and the procession begins at 6pm.
