I, like many of you, do not profess to be a whiz at technology. I will be the first to admit that I fear the disapproving glare of my techie father if I were to ever admit that I don’t know what coding is or that I only this year discovered the networking map on my laptop. However, I do believe in research and make more effort to understand technical terms than how to put equipment to practical use. So, I’ll start my blog entry with a breakdown of the ‘techie bits’.
The term ‘multimedia’ is used loosely in this module title as a blanket for all forms of medial performance. In actuality we can re-define various combinations of technical arrangements into three groups: multimediality, transmediality and intermediality. I realise they don’t sound like real words so I substitute these for: multiple, transformation and interaction. This makes it a lot easier for simpletons like myself to understand.
In layman’s terms, multimediality is an experience involving a combination of multiple mediums, for example an actor and background music (something I’m sure we’re all familiar with). The medium can be any form of delivery system, television, actor, book, radio, projection, etc, the key is the word multi: more than one. Easy.
Transmediality I daresay is even simpler. It is the transformation of the message or form from one medium to another such as a book into a movie (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, 50 Shades of Grey, take your pick).
Intermediality may sound a little more complex but this too can be simplified. It concerns the co-dependence (or interaction) of two mediums which, combined, create a third hybrid experience. Think of it as a + b = c. The two mediums can exist separately, but combined they create a new performance. Most simply, think of an actor being filmed live and seeing the projection on a separate wall. The projection is its own medium as is the actor but when combined we see a new image that cannot be created without this combination.
Of course we could argue all day about various sub-categories and combinations of multimedial and intermedial, but we’ll save that for another entry. Instead, enjoy a photograph of our first intermedial experiment.
