Response to comment on Wk 1, Q2

Actually, in response to the comment, I am thinking that state of arousal would be a good indicator of interactivity and by that I mean the feeling of engagement (the 'wow, this is so cool' feeling) by whatever media one is dealing with. This, I feel, is mediated by the expectation that one holds with regards to the media that he or she is interacting with. For example, when you are viewing a web page for example, and the avatar starts responding to your mouse clicks, you would find it very interactive because you would not expect it to react at all since most things on the internet do not respond in that fashion.

Wk 2, Q1: The effects of transposition on narrative...

One example I can think of is that of Super Mario Bros which started out as a video console game and was later made into a movie. All I can remember about the transposition from game to movie was that the story was changed quite drastically where the game was brought into a city context and the characters were given personalities and the plot became much more complex than the jumping over the little old men or spike-shelled turtle-ducks who would come towards Mario in a very predictable fashion. I guess this goes on to show how the notion of interactivity alone is sufficient to sustain attention over what seemed like a somewhat simple story (the aim in the game is, after all, just to kill enemies and jump over gaps to get to the last stage to fight the ‘king’ and save the princess). In a broad sense, the story in the movie follows that of the game, where the ultimate essential event (can we call that a kernel), is to save the princess in distress. However, in the movie itself, many more intermediate events are included in order to sustain audience interest throughout the movie. What this goes to show is how interactivity can actually allow one to focus less on the story of the narrative but still manage to sustain the attention of the ‘reader’ through the narrative.

Wk2, Q3: The peculiar nature of interactive media

I feel the unique aspect of interactive media when used in a narrative is the possibility of establishing a multitude of relationships. Take, for example, in the game Command & Conquer Generals, different units in the various armies have different characteristics i.e. tank hunters are good against tanks, but their long range capacities make them effective against GLA foot soldiers as well. In different situations, different combinations of fighting units will allow for more effective completion of the mission, thus forwarding the narrative.

In non-interactive media, the relationships presented are never as dynamic in nature as interactive media because it neither allows for the presenting of multiple relationships (i.e. ‘When A brings flowers for B, it only makes her happy. Conversely, when A brings a diamond ring for B, he succeeds in winning her hand. Alternatively, when A brings B flowers and goes on his knees in front of the whole stadium, it also wins him her hand, although at a much lower cost) or the option to explore multiple options (in non-interactive mediums, there is no option). The provision of immediate feedback within interactive mediums encourages ‘readers’ to continuously explore different options within certain boundaries (in other words, play) and arrive at different solutions for the same problems.

Wk2, Q2: The implications of control on self-regulation

The author can take his or her time in providing links between existents in non-interactive media (think a detective thriller where the author begins by describing a character that’s totally irrelevant to the plot, only to reveal that the character is actually the real murderer). However, in interactive media, the control that ‘readers’ have over the sequence in viewing the existents might result in them overlooking the crucial moment when existents are linked together and thus causing them to term the existents as being ill-formed.

In terms of designing interactive media, it is thus important to ensure that ‘readers’ all have to go through the various ‘checkpoints’ in order to ensure the all critical existents are linked together. That’s why when we play games transposed from books or movies, there are always the bits of video sequences where you do not get any control over except for tapping on the ‘esc’ key (which would be your own fault if you do not find that the existents linked together).

Wk 1 Q2: Some interaction is more interactive than others

Basically, I feel the 2 of them are a bit extreme in their definitions, although I do find Crawford’s definitions easier to use because it is very clear in what it is looking out for. I feel that a better definition of interactivity should be something in between the 2 such that there is greater room for flexibility yet it is clear enough what is interactivity. For one, I feel that although interaction is a 2-way process, there might not be a need for a thinking process in one of the agents in the interaction. For example, if we go to the fountain at Bugis Junction and played with the fountain, we get lots of fun from the interaction with the pre-programmed arrangement of the jets of water and might even think of that as an interaction because the jets of water might appear to be responsive to our actions.

Wk 1 Q3: Narrative, Play and Interaction in Run Lola Run (RLR)

Like a computer game, RLR constraints the range of our responses in its attempt to establish interactivity by pretending to listen, think and speak. Because of the pointedness of the plot, it makes it hard for us to think in other ways and inevitably, after seeing the first version, we would feel sad for the couple and wish that the ending had been slightly different. Then the movie pretentiously “listens” to our desires, “thinks” of a new plot and “speaks” to us through the second version of the plot. It is only after the third version where there is a happy ending, the movie “senses” a catharsis within us and decides that it is the best state to leave us in and concludes the story.

What I feel is that in this case, there is a great play on the narrative since the producers toyed with the discourse of Lola’s story within the limits of audience understanding through its very unique concept of mimicking a video game.

w.r.t. the concept of transcoding, RLR is a perfect example coz the structure of the movie (cultural layer) has been influenced by structure computer games (computer layer). Instead of the normal head to tail format of a movie, RLR presents us with 3 possibilities of the same situation, with only one having a happy ending. Just like in computer games (where we don’t stop playing until we get to a desired ending), the movie seems to attempt to achieve a perfect ending, which it eventually gets after failing twice.

Wk 1 Q1: What is New Media

I’m running a great risk in not choosing any of the traditional forms of new media (how can something new be traditional?) in my response to the question but I figured that with 36 of us in class, chances of an overlap are pretty high.

So I decided that I would talk a little more about search engines (more specifically, Google) as a form of new media. And here’s a breakdown of Google’s vital stats according to Manovich’s principles:

numerical representation: well, I’m not much of a programmer myself, but I guess being able to be published on the internet, Google has to be represented numerically in some way.

modularity: if you look at the structure of the search frame, you will see different modules assembled to form Google’s interface. There is, of course, the multi-coloured logo, the search entry box and various hyperlinks to other members of the Google empire like Google Video, Froogle, as well as the buttons that let you choose whether you want to do a Google Search or to proclaim I’m Feeling Lucky (just a thought here: maybe they should just randomly generate a 4D number when you next click on that button. That’d probably help Google break into the uncles and aunties market in Singapore and get them instantly interested in the Internet à translates into more computer sales too à that means more jobs à maybe it can become a new growth point for $ingapore). Google has since gone on to create personalized home pages for individuals by allowing you to select content that you want to view (my favourites are Bushisms and Sudoku). These are highly flexible modules that you can add and remove on demand and it even allows you to arrange these modules in any way that you like!

automation: ok, this example is quite similar to the one in Manovich’s book but then again, noboday said nothing about copying his examples. Well, Google is automated in that it can generate a web page displaying the links to your hits in a hierarchical order that is ranked according to the closeness of the hit to your search item. Furthermore, Google can also check the seplling of your search items and goes on to suggest a corrected version of your search

variability: now, variability is really one thing that Google is big about. Firstly, when you receive your list of hits, you can choose to view it in its original form, or you can view it in its cached form (where your search keywords are highlighted on the webpage itself). And apart from searching web pages, Google also searches for pdfs, ppts, docs and even image files for you, moving one step away from traditional search engines. The best thing is that with the pdfs, ppts, docs, you can have the choice of viewing them in html formatif you don’t feel like downloading the files (who knows if they are infected by deadly viruses that’s gonna cause your computer to spontaneously combust? Wait, only batteries are capable of that right? Oh well, whatever, just be carefulw aht you do with your computer, it’s not as safe as it seems). Just let me add one more point about Google’s variability can? Can someonehow tell me how many ways a Google search bar be accessed on your comp? Well, Mozilla has an in-built Google toolbar, you can also download the Google Desktop, or you can go to nus.edu.sg and click on the toolbar on top, or you can just type google.com on your browser, or you can access within Gmail. Well, that’s at least 5 ways. Talk about variability. I’m tempted to talk about the thousand and one other G-applications that Google has so graciously provided (I think they are trying to take over the world, so buyer beware!!) but think I’ll leave that for a next posting.

transcoding: now, this is the principle that I had a hard time understanding. Even googling it didn’t help much. On one level, I feel very tempted to say that the fact that a name for a web page managed to find its way into being an adjective that we have come to accept as appropriate in everyday language i.e. “Cannot find is it? Go google it lah” would be the epitome of transcoding but I’m afraid that the definition does not hold water. So I will supplement it by pointing to the fact that when you “what is 42km in inches?” in the search bar and Google can tell you that “42 kilometers = 1 653 543.31 inches”, it shows how our human form of communications has been seamlessly integrated with the computational prowess of the digital machine. (back to the point about variability: Google is not just a search engine, it is a calculator and a dictionary too!!!)
One thing about search engines though, is that there is no underlying message or propagation of ideas common of other forms of new media like blogs, podcasts, vodcasts (what exactly is the difference between a podcast and a vodcast anyway?) IM-ing. So does new media have to communicate certain ideas to the people that view it? Or is being solely a service provider enough to suffice? Well, according to Manovich’s framework, it seems suitably qualified, but who’s there to say that Manovich is right anyway?

In a tribute to how Google has revolutionarized the way we use the Internet, I have also created a little digital art that in itself, also epitomizes Manovich’s principles of new media. In my bid to make this blog interactive, I will leave it to you, my good reader to figure out how to apply the principles ;)

To view the graphic, please click here.

Still image to help.

w.r.t. how it relates to narrative and play in interactive media, these principles will probably act as guidelines and points to consider when designing interactive media. Of course, this is made under the assumption that the interactive media that we are talking about is equated with new media (b/c there can be other forms of interactive media that do not fall into the category of new media).

The picture that never ends...

Guys, check this application out! Was reminded of this by the movie we watched today when they zoomed in on the people at the beginning of the movie.

http://zoomquilt.nikkki.net/

Think it epitomizes our module because it is a narrative in that it takes you from one state to another (and back again). In terms of perception, it is playing with rules of our perception, providing perceptual cues which convey a sense of motion to us. Plus it's also interactive in that you get to control how fast you want to cycle through the world.

It somehow relates to the quotation shown at the beginning that goes something like "The game before the game is the game" (someone please provide me with the right one)

Will post more when I think of more stuff to say about it!

Why the name?

Because if you take the first letter each word and form an acronym with it, it reads P.L.A.Y.

And it goes beyond the description of only the description of the 'play' element in this module.

The phrase itself might evoke a response in some of you in that you might be wondering why in the world would I want you to look at yourself (thus inspiring you to read on further to find out). In a way (however limited it is), this phrase is interactive in nature and thus tackles the 'interactive' element of our course.

'Narrative' entails going through a process of transition from 1 state to another, which is what you have just experienced starting from not knowing why the name of the blog was chosen to realizing how hard I try to make the blog name seem relevant to the module (whilst enroute reading my little explanation for why I chose the name).

Hope this little explanation holds water sufficiently for you.


And by the way, welcome to my blog.