The questions, links, and information listed here are intended to help you prepare for our discussions of Lev Manovich's The Language of New Media.
A note on the text: unlike textbooks written for more general audiences, Manovich's text is aimed primarily at theorists and scholars in the field of media studies. As a result, its concepts, vocabulary, and arguments are more dense and complex than is typical. In short: take some time with this one. It can't be skimmed.
Chapter 1: What is New Media?
How does Manovich's definition of new media differ from other definitions (e.g. Curtis's)? Manovich offers five principles, or fundamental characteristics, of new media.
- Numerical Representation
- How Stuff Works offers a useful summary of the differences between older, analog sound recording technologies and the CD.
- Modular
- Photoshop layers are a good example of this principle, as are web pages. The Lego David is modular. Michelangelo's David is not.
- Automated
- The video game AI that is used to make enemies smarter and more autonomous is a good example of this principle. Photoshop filters--which automate the process of making dramatic changes to images--are another good example.
- Variable
- Consider the difference between a theatrical film and a DVD. While the theatrical release is (or should be) always the same, the DVD offers alternate scenes, formats, audio tracks and commentaries, etc. In other words, the DVD invites us to move through its material in variable ways.
- Transcoding
- Manovich uses this term both in its narrow, technical sense and as a broader metaphor. Technically, to transcode a computer file means to convert it from one format to another. For example, Apple iTunes can convert the music files on a CD, which are encoded in CDDA format, into the MP3 format. This reduces both the file size and the sound quality.
Metaphorically, Manovich uses the same term to refer to new media's influence on the broader culture. He calls this "the most substantial consequence of the computerization of media" (45):
The ways in which the computer models the world, represents data, and allows us to operate on it; the key operations behind all computer programs...influence the cultural layer of new media, its organization, its emerging genres, its contents (46).
A simple example: the film Lola Rennt (IMBD) demonstrates this influence, since its narrative structure resembles a video game as much as it does that of a traditional Hollywood film.
