Mar 10, 2008
Interactive quicktime movie….hmmm.
Pondering the final project: an ‘interactive quicktime movie’. hmmm. I should know what this is so why can’t I summon up a definition?
Interactive:
1: mutually or reciprocally active
2: involving the actions or input of a user; especially : of, relating to, or being a two-way electronic communication system (as a telephone, cable television, or a computer) that involves a user’s orders (as for information or merchandise) or responses (as to a poll)
Video:
1: television; also : the visual portion of television
2: videotape: as a: a recording of a motion picture or television program for playing through a television set b: a videotaped performance of a song often featuring an interpretation of the lyrics through visual images
3: a recording similar to a videotape but stored in digital form (as on an optical disk or a computer’s hard drive)
There are a thousand resources telling me how to make an interactive video (using programs such as GoLive, Flash, dreamweacer) but none that actually define what an interactive movie is. So, with my desperate need to categorise things in a futile attempt to understand them, here is my own comprehension of the term…
An interactive movie is a video file (in this case quicktime) that contains links and ‘buttons’ within the file that allows you to navigate through the piece – for instance, rollover buttons, numerous frames and perhaps simultaneous videos.
I guess it is just a video that you can, well, interact with (by controlling the direction, navigation etc), and this could be as complex and detailed as you please – something like this (an interactive video of sparta, greece), for instance – or a piece that is relatively simple and one dimensional, such as this.
More examples and clarification as it comes to hand. And please excuse my dire need to define, discuss and pigeonhole things. I’m trying to be more active, less reflective/ponderous, but it is a work in progress.
[...] Caroline is trying to second guess and to solve a problem before it is even a problem. Slow down. You aren’t expected to know what an interactive movie is yet (though if you look carefully at mog you’ll notice something that should help you see some examples). I admire the effort to define, and to find out more, but remember this semester is going to be about defining, doing, making and thinking. So we won’t settle on a definition. [...]