on "interactivity"
1. In "What is New Media?" Lev Manovich proposes 5 principles of new media: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. Choose an example that you consider to be "new media", and describe it in terms of these principles. What implications do these principles have for narrative and play within interactive media?
my example is the internet. i consider the internet as "new media" because it is a novel form of information representation. and it has impact on the world's view on what media is, affecting and changing the lifestyles of many people with its introduction. i will thus discuss how the internet fits lev manovich's definition of a "new media".
a. numerical representation
ultimately, computers and memory devices are made of transistors. and transistors are devices that act as a switch, storing only single bit values, ie "1" or "0". these bits form the basis of the functioning of programmes, codes and memory devices. even as you unveil the programming code of this blog, break it down to machine language and so on, you will discover that it is inevitably a huge string of binary numbers. thus, website can be described "mathematically" and is "subjected to algorithmic manipulation".
b. modularity
modularity is described as the "ability to be assembled into larger-scale objects" without losing the "identities of their separate components". the internet achieved this as each website consists of different elements of modules such as pictures, texts, videos, links and backgrounds. modularity is good in new media because it enables the changing of certain parts of the website independently of the other modules. mistakes and errors can be easily pinpointed and procedures to correct them thus become efficient. on a larger scale, computers, servers and databases that classify websites can be also viewed as modules, and any particular website can be quickly retrieved when we know what internet domain to search under.
c. automation
both low-level and high-level automation are seen on the internet. from the template used to create this blog to online games that involve artificial intelligence (ai), automation makes the life of the internet user easier and more interesting.
d. variability
a good example of variability is this website. as described by lev manovich, "variability will not be possible without modularity". the programming code of this blog is written in a few modules such as "background", "main" (text column), "sidebar", "header", etc. and variability is achieved by modifying any one of these components. thus, even as many other bloggers use the same template for their blogs, no two blogs are the same, in content or display.
e. transcoding
this brings us to the final point on transcoding, which from what i understand, is that media is made up of layers. and for new media, it consists of the "cultural layer" and the "computer layer". undoubtly, every website we see has a chunk of programming language, and through modification of this codes we get our "cultural layer" which is the content and layout of the website. however, limitations in the programming code may prevent one from exhibiting fully his desired blog design or content format (such as font type). this is why i believe lev manovich says that "the computer layer will affect the cultural layer".
these principles provide a basis for describing "new media". and narrative and play presented in the "new media" will have to subscribe to these rules. personally i feel that these are good rules; they seek to make the narrative or play better. for instance, with variability, games become more interesting when the user gets different scenarious each time he plays the game. however, some may contend that "new media" spoils the experience of those who enjoy the "old media", like some people may prefer reading an adventure book rather than playing a game made from the plot of the book. this brings to my point that people often have different tendancies to find certain few of the above princples more important than others. from the same example, a person who favours automation would prefer to go through the plot in a game rather than reading a book, while someone who dislikes automation may want to "do the work" of flipping the pages of the book to get from one scenario to another. thus, although the 5 principles are good guidelines for narrative and play in new interactive media, people may still have different preferences on what kind of media better illustrates the narrative or game.
2. Manovich questions the usefulness of the term interactivity, suggesting that "once an object is represented in a computer, it automatically becomes interactive. Therefore, to call computer media ‘interactive’ is meaningless - it simply means stating the most basic fact about computers." In contrast, in "What exactly is Interactivity?" Chris Crawford proposes a much stricter definition of interactivity. Compare these differing views, with reference to your own experience of interactive media systems.
manovich gives a basic definition of "interactivity" as described in the question. crawford, however, describes "interactivity" as "a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think and speak". he also says that "interactivity" has a "scale". i prefer crawford's definition. for instance, the blue hedgehog in my blog does only 5 things. he jumps, jumps higher, rolls into a ball, follow the mouse, and eats strawberries. he does "listen, think and speak" when he responds to the click of your mouse, but crawford will probably call this "reaction" rather than "interaction".
i believe the maximum interaction occurs only when two conscious humans "listen, think and speak", with an added conditions that in "speaking" the answer cannot be easily predicted, must make logical sense and must depend on the person's personal encounters and emotions. an ai program may simulate close enough to this kind of interaction, but if one tries asking the program something enough number of times, its answer may be reused, while you may get a good scolding if you're talking to a real person. on the other hand, something that has low interactivity will be the blue hedgehog or crawford's refrigerator light. one will probably get bored after playing with them for a while.
i also feel that the quest for interactivity in media systems comes from the innate need of humans to communicate. we love it when things respond to us in different ways. it also makes us excited to "test" things on ai programs because they give us a response that is close to what we'll probably get in real life. however, interactivity via the computer may lack the social aspect that one gets from real life interaction. and thus i feel that new media, or in the future the newer media, can never take over real life interaction.
3. Narrative, interactivity and play - how does Run Lola Run reflect these concerns? How does this relate to Manovich’s concept of transcoding?
run lola run is a movie based on a mission, which is for lola gather 100000 franks and pass them to her boyfriend, mammi, in 20 mins. the movie starts off with a background story that explains how mammi lost the money. he has to get that sum back in 20 mins or he will risk getting killed. this part of the movie is a narrative that has a fixed plot, but subsequent events that happen will depend on lola's actions.
the movie is "played" three times. at each time lola does different things and the series of actions will result in different conclusions. in a sense, the movie is created in a way that makes the audience imagine that they are playing a rpg game. the common components of games, like the mission, points/money, time and random events/encounters have been incorporated into the movie. but more importantly, the idea of being able to "replay" the mission a few times, because lola refuses to accept the ending of a failed mission (death of herself or her boyfriend), makes the movie game-like. moreover, each time, lola will start off from her house, make her way to the bank so that she can ask for money from her father and finally end up in the vicinity of the supermarket which her boyfriend intends to rob if she didn't arrive at 12noon. this reflects how games usually work, with a fixed starting point, a constraint on the possible courses of action and a replay of games until the player finally accomplishes the mission.
the narrative component of this part of the story comes in three different plots, derived from the consequences of lola's timing and actions. each plot tells a story with different encounters, endings and even character backgrounds. although the plots work under the constraints of people and objects that lola met, each plot still concluded with vastly different endings.
how "interactivity" is incorporated into the movie is a tricky issue. the audience is in no sense participating in the movie, but having lola's mission played three times gives the illusion that one has control over the missions' events. the movie seems to provide the audience with "options", like jumping over the neighbour's dog or being tripped by the neighbour have made a difference to the rest of the subsequent events and ending. in addition, at each ending, the movie seems to let the audience "ask" if he is satisfied with the conclusion and lets him "choose" if he wants to replay. knowing the humanly pursuit of perfection, the mission is replayed on bad endings and movie finally ends with a successful mission. this arrangment appeals to the audience and they will probably do likewise if given the choice. thus, when we watch the movie, we will feel "involved" in it.
manovich's concept of transcoding is integrated in the movie via a game-like aspect. it translates a narrative in the movie to something game-like, thus combining two layers of plot representation into one.
my example is the internet. i consider the internet as "new media" because it is a novel form of information representation. and it has impact on the world's view on what media is, affecting and changing the lifestyles of many people with its introduction. i will thus discuss how the internet fits lev manovich's definition of a "new media".
a. numerical representation
ultimately, computers and memory devices are made of transistors. and transistors are devices that act as a switch, storing only single bit values, ie "1" or "0". these bits form the basis of the functioning of programmes, codes and memory devices. even as you unveil the programming code of this blog, break it down to machine language and so on, you will discover that it is inevitably a huge string of binary numbers. thus, website can be described "mathematically" and is "subjected to algorithmic manipulation".
b. modularity
modularity is described as the "ability to be assembled into larger-scale objects" without losing the "identities of their separate components". the internet achieved this as each website consists of different elements of modules such as pictures, texts, videos, links and backgrounds. modularity is good in new media because it enables the changing of certain parts of the website independently of the other modules. mistakes and errors can be easily pinpointed and procedures to correct them thus become efficient. on a larger scale, computers, servers and databases that classify websites can be also viewed as modules, and any particular website can be quickly retrieved when we know what internet domain to search under.
c. automation
both low-level and high-level automation are seen on the internet. from the template used to create this blog to online games that involve artificial intelligence (ai), automation makes the life of the internet user easier and more interesting.
d. variability
a good example of variability is this website. as described by lev manovich, "variability will not be possible without modularity". the programming code of this blog is written in a few modules such as "background", "main" (text column), "sidebar", "header", etc. and variability is achieved by modifying any one of these components. thus, even as many other bloggers use the same template for their blogs, no two blogs are the same, in content or display.
e. transcoding
this brings us to the final point on transcoding, which from what i understand, is that media is made up of layers. and for new media, it consists of the "cultural layer" and the "computer layer". undoubtly, every website we see has a chunk of programming language, and through modification of this codes we get our "cultural layer" which is the content and layout of the website. however, limitations in the programming code may prevent one from exhibiting fully his desired blog design or content format (such as font type). this is why i believe lev manovich says that "the computer layer will affect the cultural layer".
these principles provide a basis for describing "new media". and narrative and play presented in the "new media" will have to subscribe to these rules. personally i feel that these are good rules; they seek to make the narrative or play better. for instance, with variability, games become more interesting when the user gets different scenarious each time he plays the game. however, some may contend that "new media" spoils the experience of those who enjoy the "old media", like some people may prefer reading an adventure book rather than playing a game made from the plot of the book. this brings to my point that people often have different tendancies to find certain few of the above princples more important than others. from the same example, a person who favours automation would prefer to go through the plot in a game rather than reading a book, while someone who dislikes automation may want to "do the work" of flipping the pages of the book to get from one scenario to another. thus, although the 5 principles are good guidelines for narrative and play in new interactive media, people may still have different preferences on what kind of media better illustrates the narrative or game.
2. Manovich questions the usefulness of the term interactivity, suggesting that "once an object is represented in a computer, it automatically becomes interactive. Therefore, to call computer media ‘interactive’ is meaningless - it simply means stating the most basic fact about computers." In contrast, in "What exactly is Interactivity?" Chris Crawford proposes a much stricter definition of interactivity. Compare these differing views, with reference to your own experience of interactive media systems.
manovich gives a basic definition of "interactivity" as described in the question. crawford, however, describes "interactivity" as "a cyclic process in which two actors alternately listen, think and speak". he also says that "interactivity" has a "scale". i prefer crawford's definition. for instance, the blue hedgehog in my blog does only 5 things. he jumps, jumps higher, rolls into a ball, follow the mouse, and eats strawberries. he does "listen, think and speak" when he responds to the click of your mouse, but crawford will probably call this "reaction" rather than "interaction".
i believe the maximum interaction occurs only when two conscious humans "listen, think and speak", with an added conditions that in "speaking" the answer cannot be easily predicted, must make logical sense and must depend on the person's personal encounters and emotions. an ai program may simulate close enough to this kind of interaction, but if one tries asking the program something enough number of times, its answer may be reused, while you may get a good scolding if you're talking to a real person. on the other hand, something that has low interactivity will be the blue hedgehog or crawford's refrigerator light. one will probably get bored after playing with them for a while.
i also feel that the quest for interactivity in media systems comes from the innate need of humans to communicate. we love it when things respond to us in different ways. it also makes us excited to "test" things on ai programs because they give us a response that is close to what we'll probably get in real life. however, interactivity via the computer may lack the social aspect that one gets from real life interaction. and thus i feel that new media, or in the future the newer media, can never take over real life interaction.
3. Narrative, interactivity and play - how does Run Lola Run reflect these concerns? How does this relate to Manovich’s concept of transcoding?
run lola run is a movie based on a mission, which is for lola gather 100000 franks and pass them to her boyfriend, mammi, in 20 mins. the movie starts off with a background story that explains how mammi lost the money. he has to get that sum back in 20 mins or he will risk getting killed. this part of the movie is a narrative that has a fixed plot, but subsequent events that happen will depend on lola's actions.
the movie is "played" three times. at each time lola does different things and the series of actions will result in different conclusions. in a sense, the movie is created in a way that makes the audience imagine that they are playing a rpg game. the common components of games, like the mission, points/money, time and random events/encounters have been incorporated into the movie. but more importantly, the idea of being able to "replay" the mission a few times, because lola refuses to accept the ending of a failed mission (death of herself or her boyfriend), makes the movie game-like. moreover, each time, lola will start off from her house, make her way to the bank so that she can ask for money from her father and finally end up in the vicinity of the supermarket which her boyfriend intends to rob if she didn't arrive at 12noon. this reflects how games usually work, with a fixed starting point, a constraint on the possible courses of action and a replay of games until the player finally accomplishes the mission.
the narrative component of this part of the story comes in three different plots, derived from the consequences of lola's timing and actions. each plot tells a story with different encounters, endings and even character backgrounds. although the plots work under the constraints of people and objects that lola met, each plot still concluded with vastly different endings.
how "interactivity" is incorporated into the movie is a tricky issue. the audience is in no sense participating in the movie, but having lola's mission played three times gives the illusion that one has control over the missions' events. the movie seems to provide the audience with "options", like jumping over the neighbour's dog or being tripped by the neighbour have made a difference to the rest of the subsequent events and ending. in addition, at each ending, the movie seems to let the audience "ask" if he is satisfied with the conclusion and lets him "choose" if he wants to replay. knowing the humanly pursuit of perfection, the mission is replayed on bad endings and movie finally ends with a successful mission. this arrangment appeals to the audience and they will probably do likewise if given the choice. thus, when we watch the movie, we will feel "involved" in it.
manovich's concept of transcoding is integrated in the movie via a game-like aspect. it translates a narrative in the movie to something game-like, thus combining two layers of plot representation into one.
posted by päwz2zprίηt at 4:20 PM
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