"And this is why Vertov's film has aparticular relevance to new media. It proves that it is possible to turn 'effects' into a meaningful artistic language. Why is it that in Witney's computer films and music video effects are just effects, whereas in the hands of Vertov they acquire meaning? Because in Vertov's film they are motivated by a particular argument, which is that the new techniques of obtaining images and manipulating them, summed up by Vertov in his term 'kino-eye', can be used to decode the world. As the film progresses, straight footage gives way to manipulated footage; newer techniques appear one after another, reaching a roller-coaster intensity by the film's end - a true orgy of cinematography. It is as though Vetov restages his dsicovery of the kino-eye for us, and along with him, we gradually realize the full range of possibilities offered by the camera. Vertov's goal is to seduce us into his way of seeing and thinking, to make us share his excitementm, as he discovers a new language for film. This gradual process of discovery is films main narrative, and it is told through a catalog of discoveries, Thus, in the hands of Vertov, the database, this normally static and 'objective' form, becomes dynamic and subhective. nmore important, Vertov is able to achieve something that new media designers and artist still have to learn - how to merge database and narrative into a new form." p. 243
Manovich, Lev. The Language of New Media (Leonardo Books). The MIT Press, 2002.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
This might be a possibly a solution, or proposed method, of examining the conflict between device and individual artwork created by my modular camera. What Vertov achieved was the perfect symposium between the form and the content. In my opinion, this is a tremendous undertaking that would answer to whether my research in the multimodal camera is successful.
Post a Comment