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I found “After Affects or Velvet Revolution” by Lev Manovich to be very enlightening. Prior to reading this piece I had no knowledge of the huge change in technology that contributed to this “revolution.” I had no idea that such a monumental transformation took place in the world of graphic design after the invention of the After Affects software. Since I have such little knowledge of this subject I can’t comment on whether or not what Manovich says is factual but I can say that this article made a very compelling argument for how the After Affects software lead to the “Velvet revolution” If one were to say that the introduction of a new computer language isn’t revolutionary, I would strongly disagree after reading this piece. The new hybrid visual language is used in almost every piece of video media that we see today. Whether it’s a movie, T.V. show, commercial, or any other type of video, have some aspect of the new hybrid language. This abundance of animation however was only seen after the introduction of After Affects. It made certain project, which would have once taken extreme knowledge of graphic design and very expensive machinery, much easier and possible for a small business or even an individual. This was the beginning of a new age within the global culture. Manovich stated that anywhere in the world TV stations will constantly have programs and commercials with some sort of animation. Since After Affects completely changed the way people went about creating animation I would definitely support Manovich in saying that it was revolutionary. One piece of this article that I found exceptionally interesting was the section of media remixability. Media remixability was so important because when this new hybrid computer language was being invented not only did the aesthetics of the different medias have to be changed but also the techniques and languages of these medias. These different medias within graphic design had never interacted before. Manovich compares media remixability to a petri dish, where all of these different medias began to interact with one another. I found this analogy to be very interesting and I thought it made Manovich’s argument much clearer. I had never thought about how these different medias operated in such different ways and it took very complicated programing to have them come together. Overall I found this article to be very informative and I especially like it because it touches on an aspect of our world that many people over look even though it is present in many of our lives on a daily basis. The “Velvet revolution” will have a long lasting effect on our global culture.


 * 1) 1. Was it justifiable of Manovich to compare the invention of After Affects to the “Velvet revolution that took place during the Cold War in the Soviet Union?
 * 2) 2. How has the “Velvet revolution” affected our own lives?
 * 3) 3. Have there been any changes in programing recently that may lead to another computer revolution?

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Response to Lev Manovich- The Poetics of Augmented Space Lev Manovich’s piece gives an interesting insight onto the growing phenomena of augmented reality. He discusses how this growing trend affects our society’s everyday life. Manovich views augmented reality through an interesting lens, he sees it as an “idea and cultural aesthetic” rather than a new technology. This gives the reader a very different perception of augmented reality since many only view it as a technological advancement rather that a significant change in ideas and the spread of information in our everyday culture. In the email to Manovich, I believe the magazine writer asks important and interesting questions. Its seems that Manovich only views augmented reality to exist in a defined space. Whether this is a computer screen or a large monitor, the author never discusses how augmented reality can exist in other mediums. The interviewer gives interesting examples of how this occurrence can be seen in other ways and challenges Manovich to either agree or dispute her claims. I believe the interviewer poses a valid question because I agree that augmented reality isn’t limited to just electronic screens I believe that as this idea grows we will see it in many different forms. The magazine writer also questions how augmented reality will play a role in realism in computer graphics. Manovich notes in his article that the current computer graphics used in special effects seen in everyday life will always be surpassed by greater technology in the future. But the interviewer questions how much of an effected augmented reality will have in this field. She points out that it could lead special affects down a whole new path and be groundbreaking in the industry. I would be interested to see Manovich’s response to this. I don’t know a lot about special effects but I can understand how augmented reality could greatly boost the field forward and bring visual depictions of fiction closer to the goal of realism. Overall I found Manovich’s piece very enlightening. It gave a lot of good information about a field that I have little knowledge of. It gave me a different perspective of our world and allows me t notice this new idea and technology in my everyday life. I also really enjoyed the interview questions that were posed for Manovich. I believe it brought up a lot of pertinent points and even shed light on a view gaps in Manovich’s argument.