Ok, so this was just before we thought Manovich had the key.

Then, Darcy debriefed me. Then, he suggested a few ideas.

Attempting to interrogate the multifaceted nature of the web (our then chosen follow up characteristic), he suggested that we build a website. A website that could be embedded with a 4×4 panel of videos (possibly embedded via YouTube, that each play at the same time. These videos would all have been of the same object / event / subject, possibly static, possibly moving. Before Manovich gave us the idea of modularity (media elements – images, sounds, etc. – are made up of smaller parts – pixels, voxels, etc. – and can be arranged/assembled in larger parts without compromising their independence), we had already dabbled in it.

After missing last week’s class from which most of this development arose, I was left to my own devices to find inspiration. When Darcy mentioned these 4×4 videos, my mind ticked back to a short someone I followed on Letterboxd had made a few years previous.

gas_n_go032416 from Aaron Salazar on Vimeo.

Ok mate, privacy settings this (just click the link above).

Darcy drafted a few 4×4 videos in Premiere, and they looked great (and may be useful later in the semester). What if we gave the viewer the opportunity to pause? What if, with a click, you could scroll through different angles? Narrative or non-fiction: could we blur the lines? But this idea proved too difficult with our basic software development skills (Web Design in Year 9: good; Software Development in Year 12: kinda bad) that we would need to confront Assignment 2. gas_n_go kinda made us realise that our idea could just as easily be done as a film (even though fiction is hell) and that although clicking stuff can only be found in this online screen media type world, it’s not as engaging as it could be. Plus, we needed to respond to more than just one characteristic, and the idea of interactivity that so many of us had already been drawn in by began to rear its ugly head. What could we possibly create? We were stumped, and there was downtime, and brainstorming, and denial.

Ok, back to Manovich.