Breaking Barriers

As I study immediacy, I find myself compelled to read further into its influence over us throughout history.  From one time to another we have grown to expect immediacy in almost everything we involve ourselves in.  Paintings to photography, film, computer animation and games, we have broken down the barrier of limited perspective in an art form.  With photography and film there is a limitation automatically set by the photographer/director so that our perspective is solely focused on what they want us to see.  It was considered by many including Bazin that, “photography and cinema…are discoveries that satisfy, once and for all and in its very essence, our obsession with realism.” (Bazin, 2004) 

It’s apparent this ideology couldn’t be farther from the truth as now we crave for greater and greater levels of immediacy to satisfy our thirst-quenching need for more.  Once computer animation and gaming reached new heights we find ourselves going through the virtual window and able to accomplish what we couldn’t before, getting a full 360 degree turn of our surroundings and breaking down any fourth wall previously set by the producer of the content.  Even with computer gaming a simple use of a mouse and keyboard gives us the ability to accomplish incredible feats otherwise impossible in reality.  Ever more interesting is that it won’t stop here, as content manufacturers improve upon elements within their games by providing various items and clothing to increase our feeling of individuality and keep us involved in a ‘second life’.  Ironically these is in fact an open world game online with the very same title that takes these very same methods to take people away from reality and use real money to fund their ‘fake’ life.

We are surrounded by various technologies, “that millions of viewers today find compelling,” but with each passing day we have a growing desire for more immersive experiences. It is because of this I can’t help but question whether we have come too far to take a U-turn and learn to live without our need for immediacy or if we are doomed to never be truly satisfied.

Bibliography

Bazin, Andre. 2004) The Ontology of the Photographic Image (Oxford, Oxford University Press) Cited in Bolter, J.D. (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media (pg 26)

Bolter, J.D. (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media (Cambridge, Mass; London: MIT Press)