Although throughout my research, most of the examples and analysis that I've done had been primary focus on the many ways that spatial montage is being presented/adapted in cinema industry; nevertheless, at the end of the day we are studying 'Networking' not 'Cinema.' Beside from the fact that the extract we are examining is titled 'The new age of CINEMA' I believe that it is easier for me to grasp the idea of the extract through the lenses of a 'cinema perspective' which I'm most comfortable with. Overall, as I write more about cinema, I began to really see and acknowledge the interwoven connection between cinema and networking in terms of the concept of spatial montage!
In my hypertext essay, I aim to create a hypertext essay that's both aesthetically engaging and interactive! Instead of a text-filled html webpage, I wish to use images and videos to signify the conceptual ideas that Lev Manovich talked about in his book. Stay tune to my future works
Manovich’s basic idea of spatial montage is that “In general, spatial montage would involve a number of images, potentially of different sizes and proportions, appearing on the screen at the same time.” (Manovich 2002)
However, as he continues, "This by itself of course does not result in montage; it up to the filmmaker to construct a logic which drives which images appear together, when they appear and what kind of relationships they enter with each other," it gets a bit more complicated. There are several types of spatial montage that I'll aim to clarify in this summery blog post.
Manovich's definition of Spatial Montage: "spatial montage means meaningful juxtaposition of more than one image stream within a single screen."
Split Screen: "Is usually used as a synonym of multiple-image or multi-frame compositions." (Branco 2008) David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson also state in a wider aspect, “In this process, two or more different images, each with its own frame dimensions and shape, appear within the larger frame” (2007, 187)
Suspense (1913 - one of the earliest example of using split screens as a way to draw narrative)
3 Words (An interesting integration of digital editing and split screen)
Mosaic-screen is also similar technique that presents fragments on screen to produce similar effect to the split screen. "The mosaic-screen arranges diverse images normally with distinct aesthetic properties: colour, scale, framing, and especially shape and size, which are somehow independent from the encompassing dimensions of the screen that are divided by the split screen." (Branco 2008)
The notion of 'interactive narrative' mentioned in Manovich's 'The New Language of Cinema' is an interesting concept that the film industry has long been experiment with. In this post, I aim to look through some of the examples dated back in the 60s and compare them to the examples that we have today.
One of the element of New Media is explained by Manovich is that is it interactive.
" New media is interactive. In contrast to traditional media where the order of presentation was fixed, the user can now interact with a media object. In the process of interaction the user can choose which elements to display or which paths to follow, thus generating a unique work. Thus the user becomes the co-author of the work." (Manovich, 2001)
An early example of an 'Interactive' Cinema can be traced back in 1967, 'Kinoautomat' directed by Raduz Cincera (Czech director)isthe first interactive film that is filmed and screened in a cinema. The film aimed to break the linear-narrative structure of a traditional film by stopping the film at 9 particular points to let the audiences decide between two options that would lead to a different storyline, hence, non-linear narrative. However, this supposedly 'interactive' cinema is flawed in a way that it breaks the fundamental rule of cinema outlined by film theorist, David Bordwell.
" The stability of syuzhet processes and stylistic configurations should not make us treat the spectator as passive material for a totalling machine." (David Bordwell 1986)
As a result, the sudden interruptions alienates its spectators instead of evolving them.
In my opinion, the concept of New Media introduced by Manovich has a lot of potential OUTSIDE the margin of traditional single stream cinema due to the fact that single stream cinema is still one of the biggest film industry that had proven its dominance by constantly producing blockbuster hits like Avatar, Harry Potter..etc. It is still the most popular type of film. Personally, I myself enjoys one large single streamed cinema more because it allows us to focus on the simplicity of the linear narrative. Instead of constantly being interrupted and coerced to make choices just so the film can row on; I much prefer when everything is laid out thoroughly by the director himself who has total control over the flow of the narrative.
Although, the concept of 'interactive' cinema doesn't favour traditional cinema, its lights shine on other forms of media, providing a richer and more abundant experience to the spectators.
"Most discussions of cinema in the computer age have focused on the possibilities of interactive narrative. It is not hard to understand why: since the majority of viewers and critics equate cinema with storytelling, computer media is understood as something which will let cinema tell its stories in a new way." Lev Manovich (1996) 'The New Language of Cinema - What is Digital Cinema?'
An current example can be drawn from world's largest video-sharing website YOUTUBE where interactive narrative is presented in short video stories. Instead of making decisions while watching intense full length movies, we can now enjoy a more casual and engaging way of entertaining by watching short videos on youtube with ability to have some control over the narration on our computer or technology devices.
Bare in mind that the use of this type of 'interactive narration' may potentially decontextualise the character of 'interactive video' making it more like a 'game' rather than a 'video'. By giving us the golden key to have the opportunities to participate in the narrative, we as speculator became the participant in the story that helps to drive the narrative. Consequently, we no longer are 'watching' a video but 'participating' on the hero's quest to achieve a particular goal in the narrative. Thus, the boundary that separate between a typical RPG games and an interactive video clip become increasingly ambiguous. However, both are good form of entertainment that 'interact' and 'engage' us.
Zombie Interactive Video Zombie RPG
Perhaps a hybrid of both interactive film and gaming in the future will be EPIC!!!
Reference:
Manovich, L, 2001, The Language of New Media, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, America
Bordwell, D, 1986, Narrational Principles and Procedures in Narrative, Apparatus, Ideology: A Film Theory Reader.
Manovich, L, 1996, 'What is Digital Cinema?' Massachusetts Institute of Technology, America
To examine the limitation of Manovich's book, it's best to break down his argument in a chronological way.
Manovich built the premises of his argument by this statement:
'We are surrounded by highly dense information surface' and hence, 'it's appropriate to expect from cinema a similar logic.'
In my opinion, his first claim is undeniably valid and current even thought the text was written 10 years ago. With the rapid development of network technology, our life as I mentioned numerous times before is unquestionably 'FLOODED BY OVEREXPOSED INFORMATIONS' that we become submerged in this 'SOAKED-UP WORLD'. Manovich reads this phenomenon as a positive progression of the cyberculture in which he projects an hypothesise that 'we are used to switching our attention rapidly from one to another' and as a result, 'we may find multiple streams of audio-visual information (split screens) more satisfying'. I believe the main issue here is not the 'if/then' hypothesise he theorised but the assumption that we will find more 'SATISFACTION' through the complexed 'multiple streams of audio-visual presented simultaneously' in NEW cinema than the much more linear and simplistic traditional cinema.
From my perspective, it's not all that good to be constantly immersed in this highly dense society. Although, we can arguably absorb information at a faster rate, but at the same time, it also burdens our mind. As a result, we often become overwhelmed by all these heavy processing of informations and 'constant switching of attentions'. I believe that the limitation of Manovich's theory lies in the confined of our emotive suspense. Before we fully agree to Manovich's vision of future cinema, we should ask ourself whether more is always Better or Not... Sometimes, after an intense session of researching, evaluating and typing an Academic essay on my computer while constantly checking facebook and texts; I would find myself be extremely exhausted and tiring. The best way that works for me is to go out for a walk in the park and listen to some simple and relaxing music, perhaps even watch a movie!
“We don’t know, this is one of the problems of technology- and that is that the pictures advance the facts.”
CBS Eyewitness News anchor reporting live on the September 11th terrorist attacks, commenting on the immediacy of modern media and its dangerous ability to broadcast and disseminate images before they can be analyzed and contextualized.
This is a chronological time-graph montage of the news reports during the 911 week around the world:
Turns out that this is yet another GOOGLE CHROME EXPERIMENT! tht's 2 in a row! so cool!! I should sent this link to Manovich, maybe he'll then accept me as a frined
As I mentioned before, Lev Manovich's most renowned book 'The New Language of Cinema' delves in the theme of 'Technologic evolution: New Cinema verses Traditional Cinema' which is extremely applicable to us - studying Media. Especially for those like me who majors in Cinema Studies, Spatial Montage should be the most apparent choice. Due to the fast evolving digital media, Manovich argues that presumably, we find a single stream of linear narrative cinema less satisfying, hence, a new form of cinema needs to take place to exceed the full potential of our viewing experience. Manovich's argument aim to examine the interwoven relationship between our modern way of living in relation to the rapid development of media. On the quest of searching for a more suitable form of media technology that can maximums our everyday experiences, the premises of the extract is thus broadened and evolves around the potential remodelling of social networking, advertising, web design, product design and digital cinema, adopting spatial montage as the new phase of interactive communication technology - A product of the emergent culture interface for the 21st century.
" This new cinematic aesthetics of density seems to be highly appropriate for our age. If we are surrounded by highly dense information surfaces, from city streets to Web pages, it is appropriate to expect from cinema a similar logic. In similar fashion, we may think of spatial montage as reflecting another contemporary daily experience – working with a number of different applications on a stream of traditional cinema."
After reading this, it's very clear that the best way to demonstrate its concept and "IDEA" is to draw a GRAPH!!
Basically, Manovich's argument aims to suggest a new form of cinema that is 'appropriate for our age,' an age where we are constantly exposed to 'highly dense' and techno-savvy contents. Instead of concentrating on doing one particular task at a time, we find it more gratifying by 'MULTITASKING': switching our attention from the TV screen in front of us to a computer screen, to another computer window, to the multiple-tabs within the window, to music, to our phone, texting, facebooking, web surfing, video chatting...ALL AT THE SAME TIME! Manovich relates our 'contemporary daily experience' and suggests that perhaps a new revolution of cinema should take place to 'adapt' and become more up-to-date with the society. He believes that the single stream and linear narrative cinema form is too outdated; in order to advance the experience of the audience, we should present them with multiple-streams of audio-visual information simultaneously. (Because we are capable of processing multifaceted simultaneous contents in our everyday life.... the new interactive cinema is a better option and more satisfying than the traditional one.)
" Spatial montage represents an alternative to traditional cinematic temporal montage, replacing its traditional sequential mode with a spatial one"
Let the battle between 'Traditional Cinema' and 'New Cinema' Begin!!
Cinema, Entertainment, Web design, Product development, Advertising....Technology Evolution!
