I have read online comics before, but this is ridiculously sensational.
‘Nawlz is an experiment in interactive story telling.’ But it is also beautiful, innovative, moving, and the artwork is phenomenal, somewhere between hewlett and Mr Jago with just a dash of DC. I’m hooked, so stunning it is. And while reading it, it is difficult not to comprehend that this is what story telling will become in the future, an astonishing composition of sounds, words, pictures, movement, one that grows and breathes with you.
Props are due to creator/illustrator/writer and programmer Sutu, Wayne Harris of Phosphor Studios and all the sound magicians who devise the phenomenal soundtrack. Tap it. You won’t be disappointed.
oh, the perils, the pain, the pure pleasures of group work. Now that we are closing on the semester, I shall reflect upon my final group assignment for this subject, for my entire degree in fact, and hopefully can provide some insight into the experience and what I have taken away from it.
Group work is such a delicate flower. Nurture it, and it will grow. Ignore it, and it will quickly fade. Burn the ground where it is planted, and it is unlikely to ever grow again. I have had a difficult last couple of weeks, as, unluckily for me, three of four of my subjects have had extensive group projects as final assignments. Trying to negotiate the numerous meetings, productions, reworkings and finalisations of assignments has been exhausting to say the least, and some have left a bitter taste in my mouth, inevitably having an influence on others. It is not that I dislike group work – I have had some amazing collaborative experiences – but it takes only one where you are left to do the work of an entire group to leave you less inclined to give yourself over to the next.
Group work in Integrated Media has been tricky. The project has been challenging, and has had different levels of engagement from all parties. Two members of the group, including myself, are here by choice – this is not a compulsory subject, while it is for media students. The same two of us are also graduating, and for me that has meant trying to do my absolute best to get the best marks I can on my way out of university. But other members of the group have other priorities, and Integrated Media and machinima isn’t necessarily one of them. Attempting to hold together other groups in subjects where their enthusiasm is more focussed can distract and deter, not to mention the numerous external influences that we all have to manage while trying to coordinate around each other as we try to master new skills and produce a polished finished piece that we are all happy with.
We are often told that group work is thrust upon us as students as rehearsal for ‘what goes on in the real world’. Of course, in the real world you are not trying to negotiate your time between three other subjects simultaneously, and in the real world most people you work with will be there because they want to be, not because they have to. At the same time, in the real world it is inevitable that you will also work with colleagues who will prioritise differently to you, who will care more or less, who will have different work ethics. You will, at some stage, work with people who are (as one tutor so eloquently put it) ‘downright lazy bastards’, and so the trick is not to focus on the negative, but how you can learn to navigate even the most challenging of these situations.
Group work in Integrated Media has taught me many things this semester. It is an excellent exercise in diplomacy, in sharing of ideas and concerns – learning to speak up – and it can be a hell of a lot of fun. The rewarding sensation of having the synergy to create something better than you yourself could do on your own is fabulous. At the same time, it has taught me to let go of my somewhat rigid ideals, to learn to compromise, and to just relax. It is not the end of the world if it doesn’t go my way, although I like to stamp my foot and frown as if it is.
It is such a delicate balance between compromise and tenacity, between compliancy and being adamant, persistent in your ideas. Give and take. Involving yourself in such collaboration can teach you eons about what is important to you – and more vitally, what really matters. I want so bad to control my space, to control the outcome of everything, to CONTROL THE WORLD, yet I learn also that I am sometimes too diplomatic, too quiet, too afraid of confrontation and compromise.
I am learning, through group work, that alternatives are possible, and that everything doesn’t need to be perfect. That nothing can ever be perfect, no matter how much of a perfectionist you are. I am learning to let go. If I love my values, my ideas, I must set them free.
Yes, I am a slow learner, but an attentive one. I look forward to my next collaboration. This time in the real world.
When we talk about new media, we talk a lot about collaboration, about sharing and building together. It’s a new creative space, one that lends itself to remix culture. It is democratisation of the media, creating a whole new world offering the opportunity to improve upon, change, integrate, or otherwise remix the work of others. With new media, the increasing ubiquity of the network, the chance to share, to rework and to collaborate ideas and visions is no longer limited by cost, space and time.
Online creations can be shared immediately, instantaneously, and their digital format allows such data to be presented, copied, modified and transmitted with just the click of a mouse button. The network capabilities of the internet allow for vast accessibility, leading to vast involvement and, if we were to be idealistic, vast synergy – an environment where the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts. With such a resource at our fingertips, such a complex relationship developing between previously unknown parties, it seems inevitable that at best synergy will occur, and at the least we will see an emergence of the finest media. It is like the whole world is having a conversation, and not only are you having a say in it, but you can choose which bits you think are most deserving of your attention.
The very nature of the internet, its conversational qualities and huge web of networks, lends itself beautifully to an environment of collaboration – of sharing, copying, remixxing, reworking. While this creates a nightmare for copyrighters, it also signifies a new era for media production. We are no longer just consumers of media, we are prosumers – consumers who also produce media – and we are demanding to be heard. And we are not the rich, the elite, the trained and the qualified. We are the public, the average, the unskilled but the passionate, and we are creating the media of tomorrow.
Second Life is one example of our attempts at collaboration – the idea of a world created and modified by all those who exist within it. ‘Existing’ in Second Life has offered us the opportunity to explore some of the benefits, and the disadvantages, that online collaboration offers. Together we have built far more than any of us could have on our own, and in addition we have learnt from each others work and have been inspired by others’ creations. The space (as I have mentioned before) is a safe one, one in which we can explore the possibilities of collaborating in an online environment, with the freedom to do it in our own time, in our own space, from anywhere. But it can also be threatening….surrendering your Second Life-long work to the mercy of others can leave you feeling slightly vulnerable.
Using the web to collaborate can work in a variety of different ways, but its power is undeniable. You might want to arrange a public event or spectacle, and can use the power of the internet to organise, orchestrate and then record and distribute, such as these outstanding flash mobs. More technically, you can use the combined power of your resources. Projects that utilise distributed computing, such as Folding@home, use the network to access the collective computing power of thousands of computers all over the world, which they can then use to calculate anything from a cure to Alzheimer’s disease to the whereabouts of extra terrestrial beings. Then there is online media collaboration, which can range from collaborative blogs and wikis, such as lolcats or wikipedia, through to the more serious and sophisticated productions, such as open source programing and new and revolutionary collaborative media productions, such as swarm of angels, an outstanding exercise in remixing cinema.
Now this is where it starts getting interesting… where we start to see media created, used and shared in ways we have never seen before. The amount of information out there is vast and ever-increasing, and as a result, from online collaboration so too has spawned an environment of emergence. With so many parties involved in creating, selecting, sharing and choosing the media available, we begin to see an emergent media culture arise – one in which the best quality productions, those with the most currency, the most influence, will emerge on top. The organic spread of viral videos and the continuing ability of wikipedia to remain astoundingly accurate are both examples of emergent media – the ability for the highest quality media to rise to the top of the heap.
There are many tributes to this, to the amazing changes the net has brought about in collaborating. This video puts it quite nicely…
Now, in this new creative space, it’s time to start seriously considering copyleft, a new concept in sharing, developing and producing our ideas.
People [and their productions] can have many different goals and values; fame, profit, love, survival, fun, and freedom, are just some of the goals that a good person might have. When the goal is to help others as well as oneself, we call that idealism.
Think about it. It’s an exciting time to start sharing. And this is what’s so exciting about new media, and the collaboration it brings.
I’ve already posted about Ignis Solus, a machinima that inherently changed the way I considered the genre. Yesterday guest lecturer Leo Berkeley came and discussed machinima with us further. As he spoke about why he liked it, why it intrigued him, I felt more and more excited by the possibilities it presented…
It’s fascinating how machinima evolved – from gamers wanting to be able to record their gaming accomplishments to people using the engines in amazingly innovative ways to produce sophisticated cinematic experiences.
Anyone can do it. Use the capabilities (or powers, as I like to call them) of these games to fulfill your wildest fantasies… Your characters can be anywhere, do anything. Shape environments and situations to cater to your every whim. For you are the most powerful person in the world. And that, my friend, is exciting.
After analysing the physical spatial issues in my own street compared to my Second Life street, I am also beginning to think about the concept of space more laterally – particularly in reference to narrative.
Following a discussion on computer ‘games’, I discovered there are various formats (think turn-based, multiplayer online games etc) which apply to each game. While each type of game has a narrative of sorts, some are far more controlled than others. For instance, we are all familiar with a game where you must complete a range of tasks before advancing to the next level (think traditional mario bros and other arcade games). These games maintain a linear narrative – there is not much opportunity to stray from the dictated plotline that has been assigned to you.
On the other hand, and increasing in popularity, are spatial narratives, games such as WoW, many RPGs, and, essentially, Second Life. A game featuring a spatial narrative can essentially be multi-linear, with the capacity to branch off in any direction at any time depending on your decisions. It comprises endless different variations (think of a tree branching out) and will be different each time you play it. Second Life has taken this one step further by emulating real life to such an extent that narrative becomes almost non-existent – unless you create it. You can wander around endlessly with no real plot or structure, other than that which you devise. This has strong links to the theories of hypertext and the concept of ‘choose your own adventure’ that hypertext provides, and also tends to develop in a more organic fashion, as opposed to the structured development of linear narratives.
A spatial narrative can be taken even more literally though. We can also derive narrative based on the spaces we inhabit, as pointed out in this University of Nebraska article. By simply inhabiting a space, ‘almost anything one does…”takes place” and becomes a “spatial practice” that shapes, and is shaped by, the social, economic, political, or cultural space of the [location]‘. The space that Second Life provides is a perfect example of this.
This is just another element I am considering while putting together our script (the actual narrative, in a conventional sense) and while inhabiting a spatial narrative such as Second Life.
Here is what a (very simplistic) spatial narrative structure looks like, just in case you were wondering (also called a tree narrative):
Courtesy of the very interesting Digital Worlds, a blog on interactive media and game design.
After examining my real life street a little more carefully, I have been considering the differences and similarities between my real life and Second Life environments. As I mentioned in my previous post, both are constructed spaces (i.e not wild nature), and both show the relationship between space and power, the defining of public and private space and the increasing relevance of geopolitics. As Dalby points out in his paper, Environmental Geopolitics – Nature, Culture, Urbanity, by understanding the cultural categories which are defined by geopolitics, we can then garner more understanding about the culture and politics of an area. Definition, shaping and usage of space can give vital clues into understanding other cultural aspects of a community.
In real life we have worked hard to subdivide, control and shape the wildness of nature into spaces we can maintain, access and utilise for our own purposes. This in turn has aided the division between nature and our own artificially created spaces, and this application of orderliness has been applied consistently by humans to their real life environment over history. As Dalby notes, ‘the urban aesthetic of orderliness and the necessity to civilise wilderness have had…powerful manifestations in recent history’, even at the cost of the natural environment. As humans, we seem intent on recreating our environment to adhere to our cultural and spatial desires.
Nowhere better to do this, then, than in a virtual world. But with the ability to terraform, shape and build, potentially without the limitations imposed by real life such as cost, building permits, time and expertise, geopolitics in Second Life seems to evolve in a completely different way – almost backwards. Every individual has the opportunity to shape and define their space to their liking, starting from scratch. Hence we have a whole lot of incredibly messy, unrefined, unplanned (dare I say) environments, but also some outstanding ones, possible only in a virtual world free from the contstraints listed above.
One might consider the effects of globalisation in real life, the merging of spaces and spatial identities, as a reflection of the happenings of Second Life. Second Life creates an environment devoid of ‘the obvious distinctions between local and distant, large and small, us and them’ (Dalby, pg 501). The conventional physical and economical spatial boundaries we are accustomed to dissapear in a virtual world where land is essentially limitless and its value is not determined by the resources it houses or how developed it is. Globalisation points towards the idea of a global village, and this exactly the concept we are witnessing in SL.
So if space equates to power in Real Life, what does space mean in Second Life? As culture and nature become more matters of geopolitics and spatiality, Second Life provides the perfect place to play out a kind of spatial democracy. While in Real Life the powerful – i.e. those that make the political and economic decisions – are effectively redesigning the planet, Second Life allows us all to.
So… what does this mean for my laneway? It can be whatever I want, hold whatever I want and be shaped in the space exactly as I see fit. I can control virtually any aspect of it, including who can enter it, what time of day it is and what might be lying around. It allows me to reflect on the urban culture of my street and redefine it, increasingly understanding the environment and space as I go. And, as again noted by Dalby in reference to science fiction, this make-believe environment is extremely effective in facilitating a ‘critique of the ontological categories of modern culture, and in the process raises questions of how to rethink environmental geopolitics’.
I am starting to realise just how isolated our lives, contained within these constructed spaces, really are.
Photo: Lonely street, courtesy of Bondidwhat on Flickr.
This entry is a bit belated, as I wanted to attempt these ‘tests’ before our set was completed. Still, more ideas may be applicable, and it also gives a little background on the concept behind my set – how I saw it in my head.
The light was extremely bright, and I also ran out of batteries almost immediately (being the prepared media practitioner I am) so I haven’t captured possible angles yet, but this is a good idea of space and shape of my street, and also of how it might appear on small screen.
I am trying to explore the space, find a definition for it. Is it urban? Suburban? Industrial? It represents to me an interesting separation between nature and our modern lives. While the lane is composed of concrete and tar, and is mostly devoid of life, it also represents the intersection between our private lives and the common social space of the neighbourhood, as small elements of people’s lives spill out of the back of their homes onto the laneway.
This careful construction of closely aligned spaces was what inspired me to build an inner city laneway as my Second Life set. The construction of space as seen in cities represents an urban culture which, as Dalby points out in Environmental Geopolitics – Nature, Culture, Urbanity,
‘usually specifies itself as separate from wild, untamed nature…[and] is one that has a long colonial history of drawing boundaries and dividing nature into spaces which can be administered and altered to make them orderly.’
This urban culture, that inevitably shapes social and cultural spaces, has interesting ties to our real life identities and relationships with public and private spaces. Echoes of the construction of space is obvious in a space like Second Life – land is controlled, terraformed, built – but what this means for the identities of the inhabitants of a virtual space is much more complex. But as Dalby notes in his discussion of geopolitcs, the themes of space and power and the relationship between the two is recurring. Just as the cultural spaces are shaped and constructed in real life, they will provide an important understanding into social construction in virtual worlds.
And a short film, exploring this space yet again. (I needed practice please).
Where oh where does the wiki end? Is it defined more by the creative process, rather than the interpretation of it (as my blog might be)?
It’s interesting. I have this strange feeling that I must just keep going and going with the wiki. Every entry I create gives rise to more and more options, more and more potential directions, and so the beast grows. A whole new element to this attitude arises when I realise I am not the only one in control of this creature – others also decide and define its direction.
When reading other wikis, I am sometimes perplexed by particular ‘branches’ – what seems relevant to one may be irrelevant to another. I am learning that this is the beauty of the wiki and what makes it unique – anyone can create it, personalise it somewhat, and it never stops evolving. The importance and relevance shifts with each read, and further, with each edit. Imagine applying those editing abilities to your blog. More than just commenting, one could alter, re-compose. I guess then it would be a wiki, huh.
How do I stop? Where is the end? What is important and what is not? How many links do I need? Am I applying links because they add to the content, or purely because I can, because the nature of the wiki allows it? And does this indicate a slight contempt for my audience? Why don’t I allow them to contribute, rather than defining every direction (which I can’t, I realise)?
The magic of the wiki is I can’t possibly do it all myself. I have to learn to stop somewhere. This learning curve is steep.
These things have a name, did you know. They’re called internet memes.
These ‘internet memes’ are fascinating for the momentum they pick up – again demonstrating the internets astounding ability to disseminate information at lightening speeds – and their spread, which is organic, completely voluntary, and often utilises social network (your funwall on facebook) or p2p communication capabilities.
A meme may stay the same, but often they evolve through addition, editing, collaboration etc that the web allows. In this way they contribute to the development of a read/write or remix culture. Collaboration on the web, while not always that meaningful, can be extraordinarily entertaining.
In this talk there is a strong focus on copyright, and in all our media productions we are required to only use material that we have copyright for, or alternatively access material that is available under creative commons.
60×60 is a project compiled by online community subvertcentral. It is an hour long piece, comprising 60 tracks that are 60 seconds in length, produced by both well-known artists and unknown. It has some gems in it, and just happens to fit to the (thus far) weekly constraint of 60 secs, so you can expect to hear a bit of it in my media productions.
Excellent stuff, and a shout out to subvert central crew for sharing great things for the good of mankind.
I hope there will be more of this. Seeing as cds are dead, it is surely the way of the future.
