Jessica+Freedman's+Page

Jessica Freedman Journalism and Mass Communication major I have a lot of experience with iMovie and video editing in general. I am not the most artistically gifted person, as I have always had a hard time painting and drawing. However, I found that I can effectively share my voice through digital art and media. I have made movies for a few nonprifit organizations including a local one called Project Create. I also made a few movies for projects and classes in high school.

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**Lev Manovich Article Response **
====Lev Manovich’s article “After Effects or the Velvet Revolition” talks mostly about how the creation of the After Effects software “led to the emergence of numerous new visual aesthetics that did not exist before.” However, I learned mostly about the evolution of editing and imaging software over time, and its effect on the content we see in the media. ====

====When I watch television, commercials, music videos, movies, etc., I know they have all been edited to look a certain way. I am familiar with the software and techniques they use, but for some reason I never made the connection that some sort of software must have existed before all of the advanced programs we see today. In my mind, I associate editing software with the 21st century because it seems so advanced. When Manovich talks about the different techniques used in the 20th century, I was shocked that such methods existed. ====

====One particularly interesting example was when he talks about the music video that Jeff Stein produced for the band The Cars. From Manovich’s description I could not get a proper grasp on what Stein did that made the video such a landmark production. I looked it up and was instantly blown away that this video ha ==== ====d been made in 1985. It begins with a real women surround by a surreal world utilizing 3D graphics. The 3D objects then float in to space for a dramatic effect. Throughout the whole thing the band is playing on different surfaces and being distorted into large figures or small figures. Stein even puts the lead singers head on a fly at one point. For today’s standards, this music video may look sloppily done, but desktop computers were only introduced ten years before this video was created. Additionally, the first commercial non-linear editing system, Harry, was not introduced until 1986. This gives us insight on how much time and money went into creating this three-minute video. ====

====Manovich also introduced a concept he calls “Media Remixability.” This is essentially combining many different forms of media into one complete composition. Rather than having a 3D graphic, followed by typography, followed by an animation all of these medias can be layered to create one complete picture. This started to happen in the mid 1990’s. In The Cars’ music video, however, you can see the “remixability” that Manovich speaks of even though it is nearly a decade before the concept really took off. ====

====Manovich ultimately calls the spur of "Media Remixabilty" that came from the program After Effects the Velvet Revolution because, like Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, this advancement caused no harm only gradual, and positive transformation. I agree with Manovich that this is an appropriate term to describe the emergence of editing technology. The evolution of these computer software have contributed to society today in every possible way, as it directly affects what the public is seeing. ====

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Answer to article:

What is special about Augmented Reality compared to other forms of Augmented Space?

The difference between augmented reality and augmented space is not totally clear. According to Manovich, augmented space is “overlaying the physical space with the dynamic data.” Augmented reality is a method of utilizing augmented space. However, there is also virtual reality, which is very different than augmented reality. Virtual reality is when you are completely immersed in a setting that is essentially not real. One example of this is video games. When some people play video games, particularly ones where they are taking on a new identity in the game and communicating with other players, they are in a virtual reality. Their life is in this mystical land for the amount of time they are playing, and they are not aware of their real physical surrounding. An augmented reality, however, would be more like playing Candy Crush on your phone. You are aware you are in class and that there are other people around you, but you are nonetheless still focused on crushing candies.

I suppose the true difference between augmented space and augmented reality is that augmented space is targeted to one area (for example a wall) whereas augmented reality is more of a mental augmentation.

Manovich references an artist, Janet Cardiff, who was made famous for conducting audio walks. These made me think of a new phenomenon called silent raves. These silent raves could be a form of augmented reality. They are when everyone is given a set of headphones and told to turn to the same channel. There are lights and everything, but the music is not playing out loud – only through the headphones. A normal onlooker would be very confused if they saw a silent rave occurring because everyone is dancing but no music is playing. The music is telling the people to dance, similar to how Cardiff was giving people instructions. And even though the people listening to the music are aware that it is only coming through their headphones, they are still so enthralled in it.

A more generic example of augmented space could be projections on the side of a building. In Montreal, for example, the theatre district is full of projections on the sides of buildings every night. These range from advertisements to pieces of art. All of these projections make the viewer think twice about what they are looking at: a building, a television, an advertisement, or an art installation?

The concepts of augmented reality and augmented space are very confusing and I would argue do not have a clear-cut definition. However, it seems that the primary purpose of “augmentation” in general is making people think about what they are looking at or where they are. Whether it be a wall or a rave, a white cube or a walk, anything can be augmented to appear to be something else.