Everyday is lalala...

Re: So what exactly is this "interactivity" thing, anyway?

Let's KISS*!

1. The Toyota website for the new 2007 Yaris is one e.g. I consider to be "new media"; specifically, the Yaris virtual test drive. Firstly, this form of media exists on the WWW, which naturally means it is numerically represented. Interestingly, the site is a combination of media objects created from scratch on computers (e.g. the interactivity option) and that converted from analog media sources (e.g. the video clip). Secondly, the Yaris virtual test drive is able to be personalized according to the user's inputs because of its modularity. That is, a user can choose what kind of tires they want their Yaris to have and which part of the world they want their Yaris to travel in because this new media is made up of independent units, which can be easily substituted using computer programming. This results in variability - your Yaris can be created and customized on the fly. Thirdly, this site involves "low-level" automation. It doesn't require cognitive interpretation on the part of the computer when we choose what tires we want because it works within simple algorithms i.e. the four types of tires are programmed already. This is contrary to "high-level automation as examplified by A.L.I.C.E (have fun!) Finally, the Yaris virtual test drive (computer layer) reconceptualizes the idea of test driving (culture layer), by computerizing it; hence transcoding a real test drive to a virtual test drive.

I think these principles re-define the boundaries for narrative and play within interactive media. In the past, the story told was the same; only the telling of the story differed e.g. movie, novel. However with the onslaught of interactivity, new media objects are now modular and digitized. They can be permutated and combined to give rise to various stories. For play, the boundaries have been pushed further, giving more room for user to choose or control the outcome that they want.

2. As mentioned by Manovich, the idea of interactivity basically means computerization; whereas for Crawford, the idea of interactivity must encompass two actors actively listening, thinking and speaking in an iterative process. Recently, I came across a TVC for a new drama serial, Cinta Q, on Suria. It proclaims that Cinta Q is the first interactive drama; it allows the audience to decide the ending they want. Based on Manovich's view, this would have been truly interactive because computer programming is used such that different scenes are made independent and variations are possible based on the audience's input. However, this choice doesn't result in much thinking on the part of the producers; but rather a mix and match of already filmed scenes. Hence, based on Crawford's idea, Cinta Q is not strictly interactive. Furthermore, this "interactivity" is not iterative. Basically, audiences can only decide the outcome but not the means to the outcome.

3. I think that Run Lola Run makes use of narrative, interactivity and play, albeit within the movie with Lola, rather than with the viewers. I think the whole movie was shot to emulate game playing; Lola has to make decisions and complete her tasks within the time limit, the outcome is not pre-determined, and she gets a chance to "restart" should it be "game over". It also reflects interactivity because the consequences differed depending on the choices Lola made. For example, in the last round, Lola decided to jump over the man with his leg sticking out and his dog, resulting in a different story being told altogether. Hence, the narrative element changes with respect to play and interactivity. Significantly, the interactivity concept was also demonstrated with Lola learning from her mistakes and getting smarter with each round played (the dog e.g.).

The above relates to Manovich's concept of transcoding (cultural layers being substituted by those derived from the computer layers) in the sense that the story and plot is no longer fixed; but incorporates computer programming (including game playing).

I hope I got the gist of the questions in my answers. Honestly speaking, these concepts are still abit abstract to me.

*keep it short and simple

sung by lalala @ 3:51 PM