FIT3084: Introduction to Multimedia

In the previous lecture:

There was no previous lecture (semester has just begun - remember?)

In this lecture:

• What is a medium?
• What is a message?
• What is meant by multimedia and what is it good for?

What is a medium?

A medium is a substance (air/water) through which something (light/sound) is conveyed med-, middle, that which stands between What do these terms mean: medial; medieval; mediocre; mediate? What about some other examples?

Poetry and sculpture are media through which people may interact...

by communicating ideas		or encouraging thought,
inducing emotions		...by conveying a message!

Never lose sight of the concept of a

message

(and your production will shine)

What is a message?

A message is the concept/emotion/need/information (or anything else) which it is the intention of the sender to pass to the receiver.

A response triggered in a receiver is the only sign that a message has been received.

The response of a receiver depends on:

• that which is received (the stimulus)
  
  
• the state of the receiver (beliefs / knowledge / needs / situation / mood etc.)
  

Example: if you were to give $20 (stimulus) to:

• your friend to cover the cost of a movie ticket for you,
  they should: smile and say "Thank you" (response).
  
  
  
• a parking inspector to bribe them into not giving you a parking ticket,
  they should: frown and say "Get lost" (response).
  
  

So you see, the stimulus was the same in each case, but the message and response were different.
Can you think when giving $20 to your friend would result in a different response to that above?

Back to multimedia then...

• The response of a person to a work is determined by their own beliefs/knowledge/needs/situation/mood etc. not by the work/stimulus
  
  
• The work acts only as a trigger to stimulate certain responses in the viewer.
  
  
• Messages may be conveyed explicitly, implicitly or a combination of both.

What are some messages?

• I want to pay you with this twenty dollars for my movie ticket.
• I want to bribe you with this twenty dollars into not giving me a parking ticket.
  
  
• I love you (This is how I feel)
• The world is a horrible place. (This is how I see the world)
  
  
• Buy this product.
• You are stupid.
  
  
• This is a love story.
• This document is informative and helpful.
  
• This film is fun.

  ...anything can be a message!

Can you interpret smoke signals or Morse code? Do you speak French or Italian? Can you receive a message sent in these ways?

Some viewers...

• may be incapable of decoding a stimulus
  Eg. I can't interpret smoke signals
  
  
• may be incapable of receiving a stimulus
  Eg. Children can't detect irony or sarcasm
  
  
• may be incapable of responding in certain ways.
  Eg. Inhibited adults may not show enthusiasm

People, being people, will respond to some stimulii in very similar ways.
Just ask Shakespeare... his plays retain their relevance across (many) cultures and times

However, background details may vary between people resulting in different perceived messages.
Ask any Shakespearean scholar... opinions on Shakespeare's plays vary widely

Can you think of some further examples?

Traditional media for conveying messages

A theatre production with slides projected as a backdrop, music played through a sound system and singing, dancing actors is a multi-media production! (Multimedia is not a new concept)

Interactive multimedia ...allows user-response to alter the way the presentation proceeds.

The desktop computer is currently a popular vehicle for interactive multimedia presentation.
It is not the be-all and end-all of multimedia.

Digital media for conveying messages

• Text (type, poetry, prose...)
  
  
• Image (icon, photograph, animation, video...)
  
  
• Sound (speech, music, sound effect...)

Techniques of digital multimedia development are directly applicable to:

Techniques learned for traditional media...

...may be modified to be of relevance to digital multimedia production

Which traditional techniques are least relevant to digital multimedia?

*Hint: Consider the lack of tactile interaction with computer-based multimedia.
(With modern hardware, such barriers will eventually be broken)

Strong points of digital multimedia presentation.

• Individual user control (or group control) of presentation
  
  
• Proceed at user's own pace
  
  
• Investigate user's own interests
  
  
• Presentation at convenient time & place
  
  
• Multiple users may interact as individuals, each with their own input (eg. network games)
  
  
• Convenient equipment requirements
  
  Don't need: movie projector; slide projector; VCR; TV; Hi-Fi; books...
  'Just' need: computer; monitor; speakers; DVD drive, RAM... who are we kidding?)

Weak points of digital multimedia presentation

Compare the following...

• Lack of automated response complexity:
  
  
  • Conversation with ELIZA (online version) - do a little research and find out how this works.
  • Conversation with your lecturer
    
    
• Limits on media fidelity / reproduction:
  
  
  • IMAX presentation
  • 320 x 240 pixel Quicktime movie
    
    
  • Orchestral concert performance, guitar band concert, jazz gig, dance party
  • Playback of MP3 music files through computer sound card
    
    
• Lack of tactile interaction:
  
  
  • Putting your hand in mud
  • Putting the cursor over an image of mud

Common flaws in desktop computer-based multimedia/web productions.

1. Lack of emotional triggering

Have you ever seen a truly...

...exciting, awesome, fascinating, beautiful, poignant, ironic, sorrowful, joyful, lovely, hateful, angry, bitter, harsh, stark, warm, peaceful, empty, lonely, chilly, stifling or terrifying...

...computer based, desktop multimedia piece?

Most works seem to stop at being 'engaging'. Try to find a computer-screen based multimedia piece that claims to make a user feel. Then see if you can't easily find a non-computer-screen based piece that conveys or induces the same emotion with substantially more success! (Eg. I bet you have less trouble finding a film which induces any/all of the above emotional responses!)

2. Ineffective presentation of information

Have you ever been to a web site looking for information and felt...

...confused, frustrated, lost, bewildered, disappointed, annoyed, puzzled, overcome, impatient, sick in the stomach?

The effective presentation of information online is often considered to be of secondary importance to the attractiveness of the site and how many fancy bells and whistles can be added: an error which causes the user to suffer.

Why these difficulties with computer-based interactive multimedia?

Lack of audio / visual / tactile impact (see above).

• a problem with the medium itself

Lack of a well-established language.

• a problem which is being solved over time

Lack of understanding concerning the technology's use / misuse.

• a problem with senior personnel imposing ridiculous policies on employees without proper consultation
• a problem with designers trained in traditional media not considering the special qualities of interactive media
  
  (The latter problem has largely been rectified since the web "boom", the former might be worsening.)

When should multimedia be employed?

Munch did not need to add sound to his most famous painting, "The Scream" (1893) - even the title is redundant   "I was out walking with two friends - the sun began to set - suddenly the sky turned blood-red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on a fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city - my friends walked on, and there I still stood, trembling with fear - and I sensed an endless scream passing through Nature." (Munch, diary 1892)

Whenever an idea cannot be conveyed more effectively with a single medium (and in no other instance) ought multimedia be used!

• Multimedia is no substitute for skillful manipulation of a single medium.
  
  
• Skillful manipulation of a medium is of no use without a message.
  
  
• The combination of multiple media requires not only a thorough understanding of each of them, but also experience in their combination, and an understanding of their relationship with the message being conveyed...

....and that is what the remainder of this course is all about!

• A medium is a material through which something else may be conveyed
• A message refers to a response triggered in a recipient by a stimulus
• Multimedia refers to the combination of multiple media to effectively convey a message

Courseware | Lecture notes

©Copyright Alan Dorin 2008