Blog Four: Digital Photography

            During this week’s Interarts class, we learned about photography. Two photography professors gave us a presentation about the history of photography and why photography is important for showing many aspects that may go unnoticed in life. They also discussed the importance of visuals in presentations and/or in web building. Both teachers talked fondly of both film photography and digital photography and informed us the differences between each.

            Yet after doing a reading for class, I learned that some people do not consider digital art to be a valid art medium for multiple reasons including the fact that there is no film and therefore is not “physical”. Mary Ann Doane, author of Indexicality and the Concept of Medium Specificity from The Meaning of Photography, is a big supporter of this view. She thinks this because; “the digital seems to move beyond previous media by incorporating them all and by proffering the vision (or nightmare) of a medium without materiality, of pure abstraction incarnated as a series of zeroes and ones, sheer presence and absence, the code.” (Doane, 9) So according to Doane, because the photos may be digitalized at some point or another, they cannot be considered a “real” medium. Even though the digital photos still capture a moment in time and may hold emotional meaning, Doane still does not consider it an art medium. Doane says that because you cannot touch a digital photograph means it isn’t a real medium, "the index makes that claim by virtue of its privileging of contact, of touch, of a physical connection." (Doane, 9) and because you “cannot touch” digital photography means, "the digital can make no such claim and, in fact, is defined as its negation." (Doane, 9) But just because a digital photograph may be just numbers at some point make it an invalid art medium?

            When it boils down to it, the argument that Mary Ann Doane makes is completely misconstrued. Just because digital photography may be code in some point does not mean they cannot be a real art medium. Digital photos actually do take up space. They use bytes and are stored in a memory stick or on the computer. One can hold a memory stick in your hand and therefore could hold the data in your hand. Digital photos can also be printed off of a computer and can make a “physical connection”.  One could argue that even an artists creation at some point or another is just a thought. So, in the end, Doane’s argument is both illogical and pointless because she ignores multiple factors in what makes art, art.

Run Lola Run

Recently in our Interarts class, we have been doing many readings from Timothy Garrand’s book Writing for Multimedia and the Web, which touches on the many elements writers should focus on while writing for interactive multimedia narratives. The focal points, according to Garrand, are, “the role of the player development, character development, structure, exposition, plot points, scenes, pace and time, and dialogue and other sound” (281). Many video game creators, including those of Mass Effect and Heavy Rain, effectively apply these ideas in the plot line, characters and story construction. When an author is able to effectively use and combine all of these elements while creating an interactive story, their narrative will be much more successful.

The movie, Run Lola Run, is a great example of a film that displays an effective interactive narrative rather than the traditional “linear” plot line. Even though the viewer cannot choose what Lola does in the movie, the director makes cinematic choices that allow the film to mimic an interactive narrative. In the movie, Lola goes through three different “runs.” Each interaction she has with different characters throughout the film effects the outcome of each run. For example, when the punk’s dog bites Lola during her second run, she cannot run as fast. This causes her boyfriend, Manni, to be struck down by an ambulance in the end of the run. In each run, Lola learns which decisions have the better outcome from her prior mistakes, just like a person playing a video game. Even the beginning of the movie sets viewers up for an atmosphere similar to that of a video game, including how the characters are introduced and the animated sequence. 

In an excerpt from Writing for Multimedia and the Web, Lena Maria Pousette, a writer for Voyeur, indentifies three key questions a writer must answer while creating characters for their narrative, “What is the [game’s] objective? Who is the player? And what does the player get to do” (282). Run Lola Run successfully answers all of these in a clear manner. Lola is the player of the “game,” and her objective is to obtain money for Manni to pay debts to his boss, while keeping them both alive. This is why she has three different runs, Lola is not able to achieve her end objective in her first two attempts, so she kept “playing” until she reached her end goal. Also, just like an interactive narrative, each interaction Lola has with another character results in a new path.  This is best illustrated in the quick flash-forwards of the characters’ futures following interaction like the biker, or the woman with the child’s lives. If it was drawn out, the structure of the movie would most likely resemble one of the flow charts Garrand uses as an example in his book.

While Run Lola Run technically is not by definition an interactive narrative, it is a very good example of how a movie could closely achieve this type of narrative. 

Interarts Blog Two: Citizen Kane

            Citizen Kane is often considered one of the renowned movies of all time. At first I was quite skeptical of this claim. I had never seen the movie, but I had heard a lot about it from many people. When I read the synopsis of the movie, I was not impressed. It honestly seemed very dry and boring, which is not the type of movie that should be revered amongst other films. At first when I watched the movie, it seemed like my expectations of Citizen Kane were coming true, just as I had predicated. The movie was long, and I found the plot boring rather quickly. It wasn’t until our class discussion that I realized the movie’s merit; Citizen Kane is actually amazingly well done. The more we discussed the details of the narrative development, the more the film drew me in. Together, my classmates and I brought up multiple interesting plot points, camera angles, metaphors, scene set ups/dynamics and engaging character roles that brought to light Orson Wells’ cinematic creativity.

Wells has mastered many cinematic tools, which is reflected throughout Citizen Kane. He effectively uses a journalistic approach to tellthe story of Charles Kane. Wells also is able to convey many symbols and metaphors subtly throughout the film that can be easily overlooked by many viewers. Citizen Kane effectively conveys many of the points that Timothy Garrand (author of Writing for Multimedia and the Web) claims are important for a successful script for a movie. Garrand says a scriptwriter should focus on about seven points, “Showing, not telling…Structure…Interactivity and chunking…Setup…Characterization…Conflict…and Cost” (35-36). Wells most effectively uses the “showing, not telling” technique in Citizen Kane. There are two scenes in particular that effectively use these elements; each helps make the film deeper.     

            The first scene was the one that occurred in the snow during Kane’s childhood. In this scene, Mr. Thatcher and Kane’s parents discuss Kane’s future while he plays in the snow. There are many cinematic elements that are being used in this scene to give the viewer a deeper insight into Kane’s childhood and foreshadow later events in his life. This scene in particular follows Garrands’ movie script tips. One cinematic element used is the body positioning of the characters. The fact that Kane’s mother is depicted standing in front of the father shows that she is the more authoritative figure the family in that time. Also, by depicting young Kane playing in the snow not only shows Kane’s innocence before he is thrown into the adult world but also the loneliness he will sufferer through for the rest of his life. Kane is literally framed in the window as he plays in the snow, which represents the life that he will soon be trapped within. This idea of being trapped is a theme that follows Charles throughout the rest of his time in the film.

The second important scene was where Kane speaks his last words. This scene was one of the most important scenes for the symbolic portion of the film. There is only one word uttered throughout the whole scene, “Rosebud”. Kane is holding a snow globe that has a miniature snow-covered house within the glass orb. You find out later in the film, “Rosebud” was actually a sled. Both Rosebud and the snow globe relate back to the scene mentioned above when Kane was child playing in the snow. Charles was remembering a time before his life became a lonely and cold place.

The traits of a good movie (as told by Timothy Garrand) are obviously used and very effective in Citizen Kane. If Orson Wells had decided not to use and of these cinematic techniques, the film may not have popular or renowned as it is in today’s society.