New Media Communication @ Tunxis CC - Spring 2007

Relationships (parallels)

• Same vs. Different
• Compare + Contrast

Criteria - the things we use to judge something

• For example, size, texture, color, or surface are criteria we use to judge something.
• These criteria mean different things when we use them to judge virtual versions versus dead-tree versions (ex. USA TODAY)
• Surface in the print version is something to put ink on, and surface in the online version is something to put graphics on.

In order to find the relationships between old and new media–and to describe them–we need to define the criteria.

Aesthetics are a collection of criteria.

Use the terms that we’ve defined in class. Is the newspaper linear? Is the online version transactional? The five principles of new media. Static. Narrative.

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When writing for the class start with the subject, say, USA TODAY. Then say “I think this is a linear communication model. Then define the term, linear communication model and then see if it matches. If so, explain why.

• What do you think?
• What do you know?
• Does it match?
• Why?

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Perception Discussion
Perception - The act of achieving understanding. It’s the gap between “what is” and what we know.

“We don’t see things as they are
We see things as we are.”
–Anais Nin

We perceive the world through our five senses (plus intuition?).

The Perception Process

1. Selection

First stage in the perception process in which some data are chosen to attend to and other are ignored.

2. Organization

Stage in the perception process that involves arranging data in a meaningful way.

3. Interpretation

Process of attaching meaning to make sense of data.

Context affects our perception. The letter “i” in Tim is pronounced differently than the letter “i” in time Or “Take a bow.” versus “The bow of the ship.” versus “This is a bow and arrow.”

Influences on Perception

1. Physiological

The senses, age, health, fatigue, hunger, and biological cycles.

2. Social

Roles of gender, roles of occupation, our self-concept, and shared narratives.

3. Cultural

Every culture has its own way of looking at the world.

Something to think about…
When looking at optical illusions, how important are relationships to those optical illusions (effects)?

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The Window Exercise
We observed a photograph of the hallway as projected onto the classroom screen. We were encouraged to do so from many angles and as many perspectives as possible.
In the photograph, I was able to observe quite a few hallway objects such as filing cabinets, soda machines, an open door, a recycling bin, a bulletin board, four ceiling lights, the corner in the hall, the guiding arrows on the wall, the black on the back of the screen, the 200 building, the courtyard through the door, the handicap ramp, and a chair hidden behind the trash bin.

Then we observed the view through the narrow vertical window on the classroom door, again from as many perspectives as possible.
I saw the ramp (from a different perspective of the photo), the door across the hallway, another bulletin board, the floor outside the door, the wall across from the room, and some student who walked by.

Lastly, the doors were opened and we were told to go out and explore. So I walked around. I saw all the classrooms in the 200 building, some unused furniture stacked in the hallway, saw that it was cold outside, some artwork display cases without any artwork, the men’s and women’s bathrooms, and the water fountain.

All of my observations above were very superficial.

In part one, we were limited by what the camera recorded for the photo. When we got close to the picture, we were not able to see more detail necessarily (after a certain point).

In part two, the size of the window was quite limiting, but as we moved what we saw moved with us. We were looking through a frame so as our vantage point changed what we could see changed.

In part three, we could see whatever we wanted. Having free reign over the hallways allowed us to observe everything. We were immersed into the environment. Once we got outside of the room, we had removed the frames that served as editors of the world.

The window frame “edits” the world that we see, as does the photo that we look at.

Take a look at these 360 degree VR images from Times Square, versus the 2-D static image that we looked at in class.

For next week:

• Write a summary of the experience of The Window Exercise.
• Read Watchman ch. 1, 2, and 5
• Read McCloud chapters on syllabus