Architectures of Illusion: From Motion Pictures to Navigable Interactive Environments

The buzzword of the 1990s in moving-image-based media was ‘convergence’. By the turn of the millennium, with faster and faster, more and more accessible computing and networks constantly speeding up the rate of development, convergence had come to pass. Communications technology (mobile devices, networks, telecoms) and creative media technology (computer graphics, computer-aided design and animation, realtime three-dimensional virtual environments (RT3D) and games design, digital broadcasting and movie-making, e- and d- cinema and digital versatile discs (DVD)) were flourishing in symbiosis in the environment of computer-enabled interactivity. What does this mean for the relationship between traditional design processes, presentation formats, delivery platforms and media production? Crucially, we need to recognise and understand the diverse components which constitute convergence, and integrate them effectively into an inclusive – but not arbitrary – approach. Part of this process is the clear identification of the strengths of traditional media in the context of emerging digital practices, and the creation of an informed awareness of the transformations which need to take place if worthwhile new work is to be produced.

Nyckelord: Illusion, movies, cinema. 3D