Manovich 4

In the beginning of section four, Manovich makes an important distinction that drives his argument throughout. He says, “the ability of the viewer to interact with a representation may be as important in contributing to the overall reality effect as the images themselves” (177). The main tension, it seems, in this chapter is the move from viewer to user. In terms of illusionism, the computer has moved people from the role of spectator to the role of participant. Regardless of which of the theorists (Bazin, comalli, or Bordwell and Staiger) you side with, the evolution of illusionism is important in positing where we will go from here; although Manovich seems to be positing that the origins of this type of technology are precisely where illusionism is best achieved presently.
I wanted to look specifically at an example and show how the increasing ability in photorealistic illusionism is changing the way we see things. Let's go with Tron, since it serves as a perfect example of the early attempts at integrating 3-D computer animation into cinema. As Manovich points out, the original version of Tron uses what would be seen to a modern film viewer as rudimentary. In comparison to the sequel of the movie due out in December of this year, the original is quite lacking in illusionism. What interested me more than the visual aesthetic of the two versions of the film was the plotline of the original.
In the movie, a computer software designer named Kevin Flynn is digitized into a security program created by a co-worker to fight what is called the Master Control Program (MCP) of the video game company he worked for, in order to prove that the new CEO had stolen his ideas. In the most literal sense, the character is doing exactly what Manovich talks about in the latter half of the chapter. He is existing in an illusion of a world created by the computer while simultaneously interacting with it. In this world, the inhabitants are referred to as “Programs.” These Programs are basically avatars of human counterparts that can be “de-rezzed” out of existence. The protagonist is referred to as a “User” and as he learns more about this digital world he is existing in and interacting with, he “gradually discovers that as a User he possesses god-like powers within the computer dimension, enabling him to manipulate its ‘physical’ laws at will” (Wikipedia). This story line about the relationship between humans and computers has been re-created in many other films, like The Matrix and Eagle Eye. I think this movie brings up many of the same issues Manovich talks about in terms of the human-computer interface and the role we assume as users. With the advent of more user-friendly programming, we all have to some extent god-like abilities to manipulate the programs we use.
If we look at the Tron story line as part of an evolution of that interface, then the new version of Tron (Tron Legacy) is the next stop on the journey. In the new movie, Kevin Flynn has developed an even more realistic world than the one he entered in the first movie. Now his son, Sam, is brought into the world Kevin created only to fight the same battle his father did years before.
I think this speaks to the relationship we have with computers, and hearkens back to what Manovich said at the beginning of the chapter. It may be equally important to consider how a person will interact with a representation as it is to consider the overall effect the representation itself has on the viewer/user. Though the seamlessness of these computer animation programs has gotten more sophisticated, there is still the matter of how we as viewers/users interact with them. Is it better for us to feel completely engulfed in the reality that is created, or to recognize our role as the user within it? Kevin Flynn, though a fictional character in a movie written decades before Manovich’s book came out, in some sense, wrestled with the same question.