"What really fascinates me in the latest digi-filled movies is the fact
that not only are they imagined and designed to ....should I
say...photorealistic perfection, but they are also sold to the audience
as some sort of alternative to the real world, some sort of imagined
worlds that the spectator could potentially inhabit, as a more
"natural," "sleek-er" "stunning" world. apparently, this is something
successfully achieved by the environment depicted in Avatar."
Concerning the quotes of visitors of Avatar as described on the CNN link, it is indeed impressive how the movie has psychologically affected them. But could you elaborate more about how you think the technology in the movie Avatar has contributed to this? What exactly is different from emotions experienced by movies made with other technologies and methods. Movies made with puppets, models, etc. Whay has this movie had such an emotional impact? Is it different from other movies? If yes, why?
I ask because, in the transference of emotion by film, according to film theory, it is the
narrative itself that is crucial. Poor narrative leads to poor emotional transfer. Narrative is created by several
techniques, one of which the movie was successful in is indeed the
intricate taxonomies embedded as back ground in the storylines.. Other techniques are music, camera action between first person and third person perspectives. Is it the 3D hyperreality layer on top of these taxonomies that enriches the narrative with enhanced first person and third person play?
Many people find that these hyper real 3D movies, lose a visceral aspect, leading to an emptiness. As real as they seem there is a lack of life in them. Many people I know have critiqued the movie as beautiful in the make, but full of Blue Slush, full of Navi Disney Smurfs, as the
storyline was full of cliches. Granted the critiques were by
people who work with these technologies on a daily basis so,
perhaps caused by high expectations.
I can't help but wonder if there is something crucial in the subject of the narrative, the aspect of being able to 'upload' into nature, that could explain the severity of the depressions described? It seems an archetype, a human need, that the human body is just a vessel that carries an essence that is connected on a higher level.
Or do we feel the loss of being in an in-between state, that our technology is not yet advanced enough to move forward in evolution? Are we on a course of development of technologies and stories that will allow us to eventually upload our brains to virtual realities? And are movies like the Matrix, Surrogates and Avatar cultural artefacts that are used as tools of 'extended mind' (Clark and Chalmers). In way that prepare us for future evolution. Simulation of simulations that as a tool, speed up the creations of our imaginations, allowing us to fulfil our desire to for instance colonise Mars? Colonizing it not with our bodies but with our Avatars? Preparing it for future physical colonization?
jennifer
________________________________
From: r buiani <rbuiani@gmail.com>
To: YASMIN DISCUSSIONS <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
Sent: Fri, January 22, 2010 12:54:46 AM
Subject: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Around Simulation-simulation and everyday life
On Jan 21, 2010, at 10:44 AM, wafa bourkhis wrote:
>
> By creation of
> MMORPG, players can experiments their reflex and their muse and intelligence to
> see how they can react in worse situation, and it let him know all his ability
> to manage his battlefield for example. As Pierre LEV said about the role of
> simulations is to:" Decline phenomena or situations according to all the
> conceivable variations, to envisage all the consequences and the implications
> of a hypothesis, to know better objects or complex systems of the fictitious
> universes on a playful mode"
...and to control the object examined or the environment by which it is surrounded.
I keep going back to Kevin Robins when I see the connection between "imagining" and "knowing" . however, knowing is also a way of controlling, of anticipating an outcome so that we can avoid the risks arising from dealing with the real thing.
when I see virtual worlds, MMORPG and artificial environments, I get some confirmation from Robins. following his thought, these environments constitute a rationalized and better ordered version of our "dirty" "real world" ( as Wafa describes well, phenomena are declined "according to all the conceivable variations, to envisage all the consequences and the implications of a hypothesis"). They also (almost always) constitute a better version of the "real world".. In fact, I don't think I have ever seen any artificial environment or virtual world that shows an uglier version of the world. even in first shooters games, where scenes of destruction unfold before the participant's eyes, said participant is reassured by his/her infallible aim. he/she is reassured by the idea that the victim is not really dying.
What really fascinates me in the latest digi-filled movies is the fact that not only are they imagined and designed to ....should I say...photorealistic perfection, but they are also sold to the audience as some sort of alternative to the real world, some sort of imagined worlds that the spectator could potentially inhabit, as a more "natural," "sleek-er" "stunning" world. apparently, this is something successfully achieved by the environment depicted in Avatar. I was reading some forums and I came across the following comments from some audience.
"I had the experience of watching Avatar the movie in 3D this past weekend. It was AWESOME!! I suddenly have a strong urge to want to grow a tail and run around barefoot. Become one with nature...oooolllllmmmmmm." http://www.experienceproject.com/groups/Watched-Avatar-Movie/295502
and the (a bit sensationalistics, but hey, it's the CNN!) article here
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
rb
> --- En date de : Jeu 21.1.10, Pier Luigi Capucci <plcapucci@gmail.com> a écrit :
>
> De: Pier Luigi Capucci <plcapucci@gmail..com>
> Objet: Re: [Yasmin_discussions] Around Simulation-simulation and everyday life
> À: "YASMIN DISCUSSIONS" <yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Date: Jeudi 21 Janvier 2010, 13h32
>
> Beautiful examples, indeed!
>
> We could add, remaining in theme, the renaissance perspective, which set up the "order" of the representation (behind the painted surface) and the "order" of the space where the viewer is (the space before the surface, that in general we call the "real" space). Indeed, in order to see a scene at its best we have to view it from a precise viewpoint or a limited area, and moving away from this position we loose information.
>
> Today we are immersed in simulations through many media which use perspective: from photography to cinema, to video, to computer animations, virtual reality, until the 3D videogames and the metaverses. Perspective, which is a mathematical, cultural, historical... issue, became a "natural" part of our way of representing, and especially of viewing, the world.
>
> Pier Luigi
>
> Il giorno 21/gen/2010, alle ore 05.30, r buiani ha scritto:
>
>> ...continued
>>
>> I can't help but noticing how simulation reflects sociocultural and technological tendencies that we can observe in almost all human transactions today. this, I find, happens in a very subtle, imperceptible way.
>>
>> here are some examples to get us thinking about simulation in everyday life:
>>
>> 1) the process of choosing a piece of technology: we are drawn to a Mac or a Ipod or a Iphone, not a computer, a portable music device, or a cellular phone. aspects concerning the design, the aesthetics, or the coolness that these tools symbolize usually take the front seat.
>>
>> 2) thinking about sound, I am drawn to the idea behind the MP3 format: substantially, it is a simulation of the original sound, compressed, re-packaged and brought to us according to psychoacustic principles that eliminate "useless" noise, or frequency that our ear can't normally perceive. (see the work of Jonathan Sterne on Media Culture and Society - 2006- on MP3 for a more comprehensive discussion. I can send the specific article to those who are interested)
>>
>> 3) the fantastic worlds we see in blockbusters movies such as the very recent Avatar exhibits an imagery that is simultaneously photorealistic (that is, it shows some "serial" resemblance to objects and landscapes that we can find in the real world) and hyperreal (all objects exhibit literally some "extra" elements that make them more real than real and yet imagined). In particular, I have to thanks Pier Luigi for directing my attention to the Pandorapedia (http://networkedblogs.com/p23720729)I was surprised to see how the whole ecosystem articulated in the movie has been imagined and constructed according to ethological/anthropological/botanical principles, carefully classified and taxonomized in a "Linnaean" style, and in its smallest details. In this regard, I would be interested in knowing some commentaries: is this a way to legitimize this hyperreal world?
>>
>>
>>
>> rb
>>
>>
>>
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>
> --
> Pier Luigi Capucci
> e-mail: plc@noemalab.org
> web: http://www.noemalab.org/plc/plc.html
> skype: plcapucci
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