Constructing Reality
Early in chapter 3 Manovich discusses Roland Barthes concept of the death of the author in relation to new media. Much of this idea is articulated throughout the remainder of the chapter in relation to the new logic of the computer culture. He begins the discussion with the assertion that “in computer culture, authentic creation has been replaced by selection from a menu” (124) so that as we choose from the menu, we as viewers are made to think we are part of the creation process, or authorship. Although, it is the professional that is really controlling the operations, we begin to think that what we choose from preferences and menus are still our original ideas, when they are not. Connecting to Barthes ideology, he claims that the content of the author is really “a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centers of culture” so that just as someone may think that a new media production, say a photostory, was their idea, really all the user’s options were constructed to be choices that were predetermined for them. Therefore, instead of the user creating a new concept within their project, they are merely choosing from an intentionally constructed viewpoint.
Moreover, Manovich provides the modern DJ as an illustration of “selection and combination of preexistent elements” (134). Later he continues to explain “the DJ’s art is measured by his ability to go from one track to another seamlessly…He is able to create a perfect temporal transition from very different musical layers” (144). This idea caught my attention and helped me understand how the DJ (as an author) creates art from using a form that is preexistent (created by another author) to create a new art form “in rich and sophisticated ways” that blends various artists’ songs into a seamless mix. In the same way, we as viewers benefit from his art, but also take part in the experience of his construction.
The second illustration that caught my eye was his link between social construction and cinematography. Manovich discusses Soviet life and his real life experience with socially constructed reality. He cites the example of Catherine the Great to illustrate how the Soviet rulers adopted the idea of fake reality from the eighteen century in order to create an illusion of prosperity. Just like the DJ pieces various different songs together to create a seamless experience, so does fictional cinema. The camera then lies to the viewer by making it look like a real event is taking place and they are a part of it. But, “what exists are a few fragments carefully constructed in a studio. Out of these disjointed fragments, a film synthesizes the illusion of coherent space” (146). Although each element was pieced together from a variety of elements, we see the end product as close to, or an imitation of reality.
By using these illustrations Manovich is careful to weave together the social implications of new media on culture. Both affect the other in how reality is defined. For, just as fiction= lying, so cinema= illusion. The “author” or DJ, to create the feeling of a real experience, then manipulates these elements. However, all of it is constructed so that the viewer is barely able to recognize that she is being tricked. What comes to mind for me is how well certain movies can move me to emotionally react to certain characters or stories. If the movie is well made—or persuasive— I am easily drawn into the experience of the narrative in a way that I believe it to be reality. Although I am in a theatre watching the actors on a screen, I become a participant in their story, and therefore, “experience the story from their point of view” (147) becoming emotionally sympathetic or empathetic to their situation as if I knew them personally. However, if the acting, cinematography, or script is too loose and I am not convinced, the media fails by getting in the way of persuading me and I am unable to see the movie as reality. Instead I begin to recognize that it is a deliberate construction of media and therefore fails to convince me. Manovich says one way that cinema failed in the past was in the creation of the rear screen projection shots. I thought of several movies that tried to incorporate this into the film—and some that used it as satire. Without fail the viewer was made aware of the “man behind the curtain” so that maintaining the “psychological distance from the cinematic narrative” (146) broke down and the illusion failed along with it. Manovich seems to be arguing that creating recognition of social constructs in media helps to reveal how these concepts bleed into, and affect us as a society. Although new media is participatory by nature, we should be aware of (and informed of) how the experience is uniquely crafted to affect us as viewers. Manovich points out that our participation in the process as viewer’s works to persuade us. The manner in which the author constructs the digital rhetoric is a part of the marketing of his ideas to us as buyers. The author then, if he is persuasive enough, can trick us into believing the illusion.
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