Theoretical concepts and structural features of interactive animation (in relation to the audience - the audience) - the practical title of making an interactive animation film based on the combined technique

Academic Dissertation in Master Degree in Moving Image

Abstract:

This research examines the theoretical concepts and structural features of interactive moving images and intends to analyze the origin, consequences and effects of digital technology in the creation of these works in addition to defining the concept of interaction in animations presented in the context of modern media. The research method is descriptive and analytical, and relying on the opinions of theorists of media science, psychology and experimental cinema, an attempt has been made to redefine this new concept in the animation industry. Another goal is to know the reasons and motivations of the author in creating an interactive work. This research tries to examine the position of the artist and the audience as the authors of the interactive work and evaluate the real freedom of the audience in this process. In the study of the structure of interactive animations, concepts such as virtual reality, interactive narrative model, the position of the informed audience and comparison with classic works of animation have been discussed. Achieving a specific definition of the narrative with parallel paths, the audience's sense of agency and the psychological effects caused by his encounter with limited predetermined possibilities, is one of the main issues in conducting this study, and basically the goal of redefining these concepts is to identify the real position of the audience and analyze his situation in facing the new concept of the moving image.

Key words: interactive animation, media, audience, audience, agency.

Introduction

The impact of modern media on contemporary human life is undeniable. To the extent that the most fields of communication between people are established in the context of these media, it grows and changes. What directs the growth of new media is the demand for development and the tendency to use these media from the world community. Two views have always been in conflict in the field of media culture. One is the perspective that challenges the effects of modern media on contemporary human agency and considers media culture as the result of planning and large investments, and the other is the perspective that attributes the cultural progress of contemporary society to media technology. In this struggle, what is fixed and clear is the influence of these media in the life and culture of contemporary man. Contemporary man will find another identity in his media life, which is most different from before in the concept of relationship that the media defines for him, and this is the concept of interaction. Visual and performing arts have played a special role in shaping the media culture. What makes the concept of interaction in these media comprehensible to the audience is the possibilities that arise from the connection of technology and visual arts. The ability to make changes from the audience is one of the principles of interacting with visual effects. The audience of media arts is looking for new images with the possibility of change. What provides him with the background of this search is the artist's access to possibilities in the field of digital technology. Animation as a cinematic art is derived from technology and provides the possibility of creating new and changeable images in the field of interaction. The audience and the scope of his expectations fuel the provision of these facilities and products of this kind. He consciously and by his own choice spends his time interacting with visual works on the media. Interactive animations as a new means of expression in websites, computer games, media advertisements and in the form of meaning orientation in short films under the network, bring the audience community to a new concept of moving image. In the first chapter of the research, we will examine the place of the concept of interaction in the history of modern art, and we will examine the Internet as a suitable platform for presenting interactive moving images. In the second chapter, we discuss technology-based features in interactive works, including the topic of virtual reality and interfaces.

But what can be proposed as the main issue is the level of understanding that the artist as the author and the audience as the user have of the concept of interaction. Achieving the correct concept of the interaction between the author, the work and the audience requires a specific definition of these three, and to find these definitions, we need to know the position of the author and the audience in this type of works, which we will discuss in the second chapter. One of the sub-questions is to reach results in the field of audience agency and the amount of destructive effects caused by the limitation of possibilities in interactive works.To what extent is the promotion of the audience's position the main concern of the author artist and what arrangements does the author think and what goals does he pursue in this field, is one of the issues that we are looking for in this research.  In the second chapter, following the topic dedicated to the characteristics of interactive animations, we will examine concepts such as interactive narration and the position of the audience in these works. Engineering and basic sciences, psychology, social sciences and philosophy have played a role in the emergence of the concept of interaction in works of art. Therefore, in examining the concept of interaction in animation works, we are also faced with conceptual complications due to the novelty and interdisciplinary nature of the subject. It should be noted that the method of this research is descriptive and analytical. New interactive works in the animation industry were born in the West and have a short history. As a result, this research has an interpretative nature, and in it, the opinions of thinkers in the field of interactive media have been used as a guide for follow-up and orientation, and the main effort of the author has been to preserve and transmit these opinions with the aim of introducing this new concept in the animation industry. Interactive media, moving images take on a new world. In this research, interactive media includes those works of art in which "interactive narrative is nothing but the facilities of a database that exists in the text of a work, and the audience determines the presentation of the narrative through interfaces, elements or paths, and thus a unique work is created. In this way, the audience becomes a co-author." "In an interactive environment, the purpose of narration is not merely to compose and explain, but to provide the context and environment in which the narration is discovered and constructed by the audience. Apart from the world of computer games, there are many compositions and works that are called interactive animation. In interactive art, animation is the creation of an imaginary and virtual world with the primary characteristics that the artist attributes to it, and on the other hand, it controls the process of events and determines its scope. This control is done by computer. But it is the user who uses these characters and the environment and decides how the story will go" (Manovich, 2017, p. 18).

So the main difference is in the type of narration. "In interactive animation, the narrative includes the presentation of characters and actions in which the audience can choose the general plan, influence it and change it. Therefore, the use of narrative patterns of experimental cinema is noticeable and effective in the structure of interactive animations" (Logris, 1384, p. 150).

In this research, the origin and history of the emergence of interactive moving images as a kind of media art will be investigated. This art is examined in terms of narrative structure and virtual reality. The distinction between the two concepts of user and audience, the issue of audience agency and the psychological impact caused by limited possibilities on the audience is analyzed and researched in the context of the obstacles to audience agency.

1-2 Research background

Interactive animation cannot be considered as a separate category from experimental, documentary, digital cinema and all works that are included in the category of new media arts. As a result, all the researches that have dealt with the concept of informed audience in the world of new media will be valuable and useful in advancing this study. Due to the fact that in the late 1980s, the new media found its real form, there has not been much room for the creation of theoretical discussions and the presentation of theories in Iran. Tandis magazine has published a collection of articles by Azadeh Dehghani under the title "New Media; From Borges to HTML" in translation and "Collection of Articles on New Art and New Media" authored in 2007, in numbers 122 to 133. In these articles, animation is introduced as a type of interactive art and its characteristics are examined. Taha Hossein Ahmadi Moghadam in 2013, in the first part of his master's thesis entitled "Review of interactive website design methods", examines interactive communication and effective factors in creating communication and better transfer of concepts to the audience. Also, in 2013, Pegah Izadian has devoted a part of his master's thesis entitled "New ways of expression in experimental animation" to the study of the position of the audience in the face of experimental animation and new cinema, which will be useful for us to study the position of the audience in new media. are placed