Summary
Lev Manovich offers the first systematic theory of new media, arguing it originates in and relies upon conventions of old media, particularly cinema. He analyzes how new media employ historical visual and media culture elements like the rectangular frame and mobile camera to create illusions of reality, engage viewers, and represent space. The book examines both the continuities between old and new media forms and the unique categories and structures of new media, such as interfaces and databases. Manovich's theory draws from film theory, art history, literary theory, and computer science, developing new theoretical constructs to understand digital culture.
The book investigates the parallels between the histories of cinema and new media, including digital cinema, screen, and montage. It explores the historical connections between avant-garde film and new media. Readers will gain a rigorous theoretical understanding of new media's place within broader media histories and its relationship to established visual and cinematic languages, as well as unique digital forms.
Key concepts
- Cultural interface — A theoretical construct describing the interface between humans and digital culture.
- Spatial montage — A theoretical construct analyzing how space is represented and constructed in new media.
- Cinegratography — A theoretical construct exploring the intersection of cinema and new media.
- Database — A category unique to new media that Manovich analyzes for its structural and cultural implications.
- Interface — A category unique to new media that Manovich analyzes for its structural and cultural implications.
From the book
Description: A stimulating, eclectic accountof new media that finds its origins in old media, particularly the cinema. In this book Lev Manovich offers the first systematic and rigorous theory of new media. He places new media within the histories of visual and media cultures of the last few centuries. He discusses new media's reliance on conventions of old media, such as the rectangular frame and mobile camera, and shows how new media works create the illusion of reality, address the viewer, and represent space. He also analyzes categories and forms unique to new media, such as interface and database. Manovich uses concepts from film theory, art history, literary theory, and computer science and also develops new theoretical constructs, such as cultural interface, spatial montage, and…
Snippet: A stimulating, eclectic accountof new media that finds its origins in old media, particularly the cinema. In this book Lev Manovich offers the first systematic and rigorous theory of new media.
Popular questions readers ask
- If you had to explain Manovich's core argument about new media's origins in old media to someone completely unfamiliar with the concept, how would you simplify it using an example not explicitly mentioned in the text?
- Manovich places new media within "histories of visual and media cultures" while also analyzing "categories and forms unique to new media." How do these two perspectives—historical continuity versus unique innovation—interact and potentially create tension within his overall theory?
- The text states Manovich discusses new media's reliance on conventions like the "rectangular frame and mobile camera." How might applying the concept of a "rectangular frame" from cinema to a modern social media interface (e.g., an Instagram feed) reveal both continuity and a fundamental shift in how we understand space and viewing?
- Manovich draws from diverse fields like film theory, art history, literary theory, and computer science. Choose one of his new theoretical constructs mentioned, such as "cultural interface" or "spatial montage," and explain how it necessitates this interdisciplinary approach to fully grasp its meaning and significance.
- Given cinema's "particularly important role" and its parallels with new media, how might understanding the "historical ties between avant-garde film and new media" provide a different or more nuanced perspective than simply looking at mainstream cinema's influence?