Lev Manovich After Effects, or Velvet Revolution [spring 2006] During the heyday of post-modern debates, at least one

critic in America noticed the connection between post-modern pastiche and computerization !n his boo" After the Great Divide #$%&6', Andreas (uyssen writes) *All modern and a+antgardist techni,ues, forms and images are now stored for instant recall in the computerized memory ban"s of our culture -ut the same memory also stores all of premodernist art as well as the genres, codes, and image worlds of popular cultures and modern mass culture . $ (is analysis is accurate / e0cept that these *computerized memory ban"s. did not really became commonplace for another fifteen years 1nly when the 2eb absorbed enough of the media archi+es it became this uni+ersal cultural memory ban" accessible to all cultural producers -ut e+en for the professionals, the ability to easily integrate multiple media sources within the same pro3ect / multiple layers of +ideo, scanned still images, animation, graphics, and typography / only came towards the end of the $%%0s !n $%&4 when (uyssen boo" was in preparation for publication ! was wor"ing for one of the few computer animation companies in the world called Digital Effects 2 5ach computer animator had his own interacti+e graphics terminal that could show 6D models but only in wireframe and in monochrome7 to see them fully rendered in color, we had to ta"e turns as the company had only one color raster display which we all shared 8he data was stored on bul"y magnetic tapes about a feet in diameter7 to find the data from an old 3ob was a
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Andreas (uyssen, *9apping the :ostmodern,. in After the Great Divide #-loomington and !ndianapolis) !ndiana ;ni+ersity :ress, $%&6', $%6 2 <ee 2ayne =arlson, A Critical History of Computer Graphics and Animations. Section 2: The Emergence of Computer Graphics Technology > http)??accad osu edu?@A5waynec?history?lesson2 htmlB

cumbersome process which in+ol+ed locating the right tape in tape library, putting it on a tape dri+e and then searching for the right part of the tape 2e did not had a color scanner, so getting *all modern and a+antgardist techni,ues, forms and images. into the computer was far from tri+ial And e+en if we had one, there was no way to store, recall and modify these images 8he machine that could do that / Cuantel :ainbo0 / cost o+er ;<D $60,000, which we could not afford And when in $%&6 Cuantel introduced (arry, the first commercial non-linear editing system which allowed for digital compositing of multiple layers of +ideo and special effects, its cost similarly made it prohibiti+e for e+erybody e0pect networ" tele+ision stations and a few production houses (arry could record only eighty seconds of broadcast ,uality +ideo !n the realm of still images, things were not much better) for instance, digital still store :icturebo0 released by Cuantel in $%%0 could hold only 400 broadcast ,uality images and it cost was similarly +ery high !n short, in the middle of the $%&0s neither we nor other production companies had anything approachable *computerized memory ban"s. imagined by (uyssen And of course, the same was true for the +isual artists that were when associated with post-modernism and the ideas of pastiche, collage and appropriation !n $%&6 --= produced documentary ainting !ith "ight for which half a dozen well-"nown painters including Dichard (amilton and Da+id (oc"ney were in+ited to wor" with Cuantel :aintbo0 8he resulting images were not so different from the normal paintings that these artists were producing without a computer And while some artists were ma"ing references to *modern and a+antgardist techni,ues, forms and images,. these references were painted rather than being directly loaded from *computerized memory ban"s . 1nly in the middle of the $%%0s, when relati+ely ine0pensi+e graphics wor"stations and personal computers running image editing, animation, compositing and illustration software became commonplace and affordable for freelance graphic designers, illustrators, and small post-production and animation studious, the situation described by (uyssen started to become a reality 8he results were dramatic 2ithin about fi+e years, modern +isual culture was fundamentally transformed :re+iously separate media li+e action cinematography, graphics, still photography, animation, 6D

computer animation, and typography / started to be combined in numerous ways -y the end of the decade, the *pure. mo+ing image media became an e0ception and hybrid media became the norm (owe+er, in contrast to other computer re+olutions such as the rise of 2orld 2ide 2eb around the same time, this re+olution was not ac"nowledged by popular media or by cultural critics 2hat recei+ed attention were the de+elopments that affected narrati+e filmma"ing / the use of computer-produced special effects in (ollywood feature films or the ine0pensi+e digital +ideo and editing tools outside of it -ut another process which happened on a larger scale - the transformation of the +isual language used by all forms of mo+ing images outside of narrati+e films / has not been critically analyzed !n fact, while the results of these transformations ha+e become fully +isible by about $%%&, at the time of this writing #early 2006' ! am not aware of a single theoretical article discussing them 1ne of the reasons is that in this re+olution no new media per se were created Eust as ten years ago, the designers were ma"ing still images and mo+ing images -ut the aesthetics of these images was now +ery different !n fact, it was so new that, in retrospect, the postmodern imagery of 3ust ten years ago that at the time loo"ed stri"ingly different now appears as a barely noticeable blip on the radar of cultural history Visual Hybridity 8his article is a first part of the series de+oted to the analysis of the new hybrid +isual language of mo+ing images that emerged during the period of $%%6-$%%& 8oday this language dominates our +isual culture 2hile narrati+e features mostly stic" to li+e cinematography and +ideo shot by ordinary people with consumer +ideo cameras and cell phones is similarly usually left as is, e+erything else / commercials, music +ideos, motion graphics, 8F graphics, and other types of short non-narrati+e films and mo+ing image se,uences being produced around the world by the media professionals including companies, indi+idual designers and artists, and students / are hybrid

1f course, ! could ha+e pic"ed the different dates, for instance starting a few years earlier - but since After 5ffects software which will play the "ey role in my account was released in $%%6, ! decided to pic" this year as my first date And while my second date also could ha+e been different, ! belie+e that by $%%& the broad changes in the aesthetics of mo+ing image became +isible !f you want to ,uic"ly see this for yourself, simply compare demo reels from the same +isual effects companies made in early $%%0s and late $%%0s #a number of them are a+ailable online / loo" for instance at the wor" of :acific Data !mages 6' !n the wor" from the beginning of the decade, computer imagery in most cases appears by itself / that is, we see whole commercials and promotional +ideos done in 6D computer animation, and the no+elty of this new media is foregrounded -y the end of the $%%0s, computer animation becomes 3ust one element integrated in the media mi0 that also includes li+e action, typography, and design Although these transformations happened only recently, the ubi,uity of the new hybrid +isual language today #2006' is such that it ta"es an effort to recall how different things loo"ed before <imilarly, the changes in production processes and e,uipment that made this language possible also ,uic"ly fade from both the public and professional memory As a way to ,uic" e+o"e these changes as seen from the professional perspecti+e, ! am going to ,uote from 200G inter+iew with 9indi Hipschultz who has wor"ed as an editor, producer and director in Hos Angeles since $%A%) !f you wanted to be more creati+e [in the $%&0s], you couldnIt 3ust add more software to your system Jou had to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and buy a paintbo0 !f you wanted to do something graphic / an open to a 8F show with a lot of layers / you had to go to an editing house and spend o+er a thousand dollars an hour to do the e0act same thing you do now by buying an ine0pensi+e computer and se+eral software programs Kow with Adobe After 5ffects and :hotoshop, you can do e+erything in one sweep Jou can edit, design, animate

http)??accad osu edu?Lwaynec?history?lesson6 html

Jou can do 6D or 2D all on your des"top computer at home or in a small office G !n the $%&% former <o+iet satellites of =entral and 5astern 5urope ha+e peacefully liberated themsel+es from the <o+iet ;nion !n the case of =zechoslo+a"ia, this e+ent came to be referred as Fel+et De+olution / to contrast it to typical re+olutions in modern history that were always accompanied by bloodshed 8o emphasize the gradual, almost in+isible pace of the transformations which occurred in mo+ing image aesthetics between appro0imately $%%6 and $%%&, ! am going to appropriate the term Fel+et De+olution to refer to this transformations 8herefore, this series of articles is subtitled #elvet $evolution in moving image culture. Although it may seem presumptuous to compare political and aesthetics transformations simply because they share the same non-+iolent ,uality, as we will see in the later article, the two re+olutions are actually related -ut we can only ma"e this connection after we analyses in detail how the aesthetics and the +ery logic of mo+ing images changed during this period Although the Fel+et De+olution ! will be discussing in+ol+ed many technological and social de+elopments / hardware, software, production practices, new 3ob titles and new professional fields / it is appropriate to highlight one software pac"age as being in the center of the e+ents 8his software is After 5ffects !ntroduced in $%%6, After 5ffects was the first software designed to do animation, compositing, and special effects on the personal computer 4 !ts broad effect on mo+ing image production can be compared to the effects of :hotoshop and !llustrator on photography, illustration, and graphic
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9indi Hipschultz, inter+iewed by 8he =ompulsi+e =reati+e, 9ay 200G > http)??www compulsi+ecreati+e com?inter+iew phpMintidN$2B 4 Actually, 8he Kew8ec" Fideo 8oaster released in $%%0 was the first := based +ideo production system that included a +ideo switcher, character generation, image manipulation, and animation -ecause of their low costs, Fideo 8oaster systems were e0tremely popular in the $%%0s (owe+er, in the conte0t of my article, After 5ffects is more important because, as ! will e0plain below, it introduced a new paradigm for mo+ing image design that was different from the familiar +ideo editing paradigm supported by systems such as 8oaster

design Although today #2006' media design and post-production companies continue to rely on more e0pensi+e *high-end. software such as Olame, !nferno or :aintbo0 that run on specialized graphics wor"stations from <P!, because of its affordability and length of time on the mar"et After 5ffects is the most popular and well-"nown application in this area =onse,uently, After 5ffects will be gi+en a pri+ileged role in this te0t as both the symbol and the "ey material foundation which made Fel+et De+olution in mo+ing image culture possible / e+en though today other programs in the similar price category such as AppleIs 9otion, Autodes"Is =ombustion, and AdobeIs Olash ha+e challenged After 5ffects dominance Oinally, before proceeding ! should e0plain the use of e0amples in this article 8he +isual language ! am analyzing is all around us today #this may e0plain why academics ha+e remained blind to it' After globalization, this langauge spo"en by all communication professionals around the world Jou can see for yourself all the e0amples of +arious aesthetics ! will be mentioning below by simply watching tele+ision in practically any country and paying attention to graphics, or going to a club to see a FE performance, or +isiting the web sites of motion graphics designers and +isual effects companies, or opening any boo" on contemporary design Kethertheless, ! ha+e included references to particular pro3ects ibelow so the reader can see e0actly what ! am referring to 6 -ut since my goal is to describe the new cultural language which by now has become practically uni+ersal, ! want to emphasize that each of these e0amples can be substituted numerous others
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! ha+e drawn these e0amples from three published sources so they are easy to trace 8he first is a DFD % "ove &usic #ideos that contains a selection of forty music +ideos for well-"nown bands from the $%%0s and early 2000s, published in 2002 8he second is an onedot'ero(select D#D, a selection of si0teen independent short films, commercial wor" and a Hi+e =inema performance presented by onedotzero festi+al in Hondon and published in 2006 8he third is Oall 2004 sample wor" DFD from !maginary Oorces, which is among most well "nown motion graphics production houses today 8he DFD includes titles and teasers for feature films, and the 8F shows titles, stations !Ds and graphics pac"ages for cable channels 9ost of the +ideos ! am referring to can be also found on the net

Examples 8he use of After 5ffects is closely identified with a particular type of mo+ing images which became commonplace to a large part because of this software / *motion graphics . =oncisely defined by 9att Orantz in his 9aster 8hesis as *designed non-narrati+e, non-figurati+e based +isuals that change o+er time,.A motion graphics today include film and tele+ision titles, 8F graphics, dynamic menus, the graphics for mobile media content, and other animated se,uences 8ypically motion graphics appear as parts of longer pieces) commercials, music +ideos, training +ideos, narrati+e and documentary films, interacti+e pro3ects 2hile motion graphics definitely e0emplify the changes that too" place during Fel+et De+olution, these changes are more broad <imply put, the result of Fel+et De+olution is a ne! hy)rid visual language of moving images in general 8his language is not confined to particular media forms And while today it manifests itself most clearly in non-narrati+e forms, it is also often present in narrati+e and figurati+e se,uences and films Oor e0ample, a music +ideo may use life action while also employing typography and a +ariety of transitions done with computer graphics #e0ample) +ideo for Go by =ommon, directed by =on+ert ? 9Q$2 ? Qanye 2est, 2004' 1r it may imbed the singer within the animated painterly space #+ideo for <heryl =rowI Good %s Good, directed by :syop, 2004 ' A short film may mi0 typography, stylized 6D graphics, mo+ing design elements, and +ideo #%tsu for :laid, directed by :lei0 collecti+e, 2002&' !n some cases, the 3u0taposition of different media is clearly +isible #e0amples) music +ideo for Don*t anic by =oldplay7 main title for
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9att Orantz #2006', *=hanging 1+er 8ime) 8he Outure of 9otion Praphics. > http)??www mattfrantz com?thesisandresearch?motiongraphics htmlB & !ncluded on onedot'ero(select D#D + 1nline +ersion at > http)??www plei0 net?films htmlB

The %nside by !maginary Oorces, 2004' !n other cases, a se,uence may mo+e between different media so ,uic"ly that the shifts are barely noticeable #P9= Denali *(oles. commercial by !maginary Oorces, 2004' Jet in other cases, a commercial or a mo+ie title may feature continuous action shot on +ideo or film, with the image being periodically changing from a more natural to a highly stylized loo" 2hile the particular aesthetic solutions +ary from one piece to the ne0t and from one designer to another, they all share the same logic) the appearance of multiple media simultaneously in the same frame 2hether these media are openly 3u0taposed or almost seamlessly blended together is less important than the fact of this co-presence itself 8oday such hybrid +isual language is also common to a large proportion of short *e0perimental. #i e non-commercial' films being produced for media festi+als, the web, mobile media de+ices, and other distribution platforms % 8he large percentage of the +isuals created by FEs and Hi+e =inema artists are also hybrid, combining +ideo, layers of 2D imagery, animation, and abstract imagery generated in real time #Oor e0amples, consult The #, )oo-, #,: "ive Cinema .nraveled, or web sites such as www +3central com and www li+e-cinema org $0' !n the case of feature narrati+e films and 8F
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!n December 2004 ! attended !mpact media festi+al in ;trecht and ! as"ed the festi+al director what percentage of submissions they recei+ed this year featured hybrid +isual language as opposed to *strait. +ideo or film (is estimate was about one half !n Eanuary 2006 ! was part of the re+iew team that 3udged graduating pro3ects of students in <=!-AD=, a well-"nown research-oriented architecture school in Hos Angeles According to my informal estimate, appro0imately half pro3ects featured comple0 cur+ed geometry made possible by 9aya that is modeling software now commonly used by architects Pi+en that both After 5ffects and 9aysIs predecessor Alias were introduced the same year / $%%6 / ! thin" that this ,uantitati+e similarity in the proportion of pro3ects that use new languages made possible by these software is ,uite telling
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Paul Spinrad, ed.,The VJ Book: Inspirations and Practical Advice for Live Visuals Performance (Feral House, 2005); Timothy Jaeger, VJ: Live Cinema Unraveled (available from www.vj-book.com).

programs, while they are still rarely mi0 different graphical styles within the same frame, many now feature highly stylized aesthetics which would pre+iously be identified with illustration rather than filmma"ing / for instance, 8F series CS%, Peorge HucasIs latest Star /ars films, or Dobert DodriguezIs Sin City Media Remixability 2hat is the logic of this new hybrid +isual languageM This logic is one of remi0a)ility: not only of the content of different media or simply their aesthetics1 )ut their fundamental techni2ues1 !or-ing methods1 and assumptions. ;nited within the common software en+ironment, cinematography, animation, computer animation, special effects, graphic design, and typography ha+e come to form a new metamedium A wor" produced in this new metamedium can use all techni,ues which were pre+iously uni,ue to these different media, or any subset of these techni,ues !f we use the concept of *remediation. to describe this new situation, we will misrepresent this logic / or the logic of media computing in general $$ 8he computer does not *remediate. particular media !nstead, it simulates all media And what it simulates are not surface appearances of different media but all the techni,ues used for their production and all the methods of +iewing and interaction with the wor"s in these media 1nce all types of media met within the same digital en+ironment / and this was accomplished by the middle of the $%%0s - they started interacting in the ways that could ne+er be predicted nor e+en imagined pre+iously Oor instance, while particular media techni,ues continue to be used in relation to their original media, they can also be applied to other media #8his is possible because the techni,ues are turned into algorithms, all media is turned into digital data stored in compatible file formats, and software is designed to read and write files produced by other programs ' (ere are a few e0amples) motion blur is applied to 6D computer graphics, computer generated fields of
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Eay Da+id -olter and Dichard Prusin, $emediation: .nderstanding 3e! &edia #8he 9!8 :ress, $%%% '

particles are blended with li+e action footage to gi+e it enhanced loo", a +irtual camera is made to mo+e around the +irtual space filled with 2D drawings, flat typography is animated as though it is made from a li,uid li"e material #the li,uid simulation coming from computer graphics field', and so on And while this *cross-o+er. use by itself constitutes a fundamental shift in media history, today a typical short film or a se,uence may combine many such pairings within the same frame 8he result is a hybrid, intricate, comple0, and rich +isual language / or rather, numerous languages that share the basic logic of remi0abilty ! belie+e that *media remi0ability. which begins around middle of the $%%0s constitutes a new fundamental stage in the history of media !t manifests itself in different areas of culture and not only mo+ing images / although the later does offer a particularly stri"ing e0ample of this new logic at wor" (ere software such as After 5ffects became a :etri dish where computer animation, li+e cinematography, graphic design, 2D animation and typography started to interact together, creating new hybrids And as the e0amples mentioned abo+e demonstrate, the result of this process of remi0ability are new aesthetics and new media species which cannot be reduced to the sum of media that went into them :ut differently, the interactions of different media in the same software en+ironment are cultural species 9edia remi0ability does not necessary lead to a collage-li"e aesthetics which foregrounds the 3u0tapositions of different media and different media techni,ues As a +ery different e0ample of what media remi0ability can result in, consider a more subtle aesthetics well captured by the name of the software under discussion / After 5ffects !f in the $%%0s computers were used to create highly spectacular special effects or *in+isible effects,.$2 by the end of this decade we see something else emerging) a new +isual aesthetics
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An in+isible effect is the standard industry term Oor instance, in $%%A the film =ontact directed by Dobert Remec" was nominated for $%%A FOS (C Awards in the following categories) -est Fisual 5ffects, -est <e,uence #8he Dide', -est <hot #:owers of 8en', -est !n+isible 5ffects #Dish Destoration' and -est =ompositing > www +f0h, com?$%%A?contact htmlB

which goes *beyond effects . !n this aesthetics, the whole pro3ect / music +ideo, commercial, short film, or a large part of a feature film / displays a hyper-real loo" where the enhancement of li+e action material is not completely in+isible but at the same time it does not call attention to itself the way special effects usually did #e0amples) Deebo" !-:imp 4lac- 4as-et)all commercial, The "egend of 5orro main title, both by !maginary Oorces, 2004 ' 8his new hyper-real aesthetics is yet another e0ample of how in the hands of designers the :etri dish of software containing all media creation and manipulation techni,ues created during human history is now produces new hybrids !n fact, it produces only hybrids Layers, Transparency, Compositin Het us now loo" at the details of new +isual language of mo+ing images which emerged from the Fel+et De+olution and the material and social conditions / software, user interface, design wor"flow which ma"e remi0abilty possible :robably the most dramatic among the changes that too" place during $%%6-$%%& was the new ability to combine together multiple levels of imagery !ith varying degree of transparency via digital compositing !f you compare a typical music +ideo or a 8F ad+ertising spot circa $%&6 with their counterparts circa $%%6, the differences are stri"ing #8he same holds for still images ' As ! already noted, in $%&6 *computerized memory ban"s. were +ery limited in their storage capacity and prohibiti+ely e0pensi+e, and therefore designers could not ,uic"ly and easily cut and paste multiple image sources -ut e+en when they would assemble multiple +isual references, a designer only could place them ne0t to, or on top of each other <he could not modulate these 3u0tapositions by precisely ad3usting transparency le+els of different images !nstead, she had to resort to the same photocollage techni,ues popularized in the $%20s !n other words, the lac" of transparency restricted the number of different images sources that can be integrated within a single composition without it starting to loo" li"e many photomontages of Eohn (eartfield, (annah (och, or Dobert

Dauschenberg / a mosaic of fragments without any strong dominant !" =ompositing also made tri+ial another operation which was +ery cumbersome pre+iously ;ntil the $%%0s, different media types such as hand-drawn animation, lens-based recordings, i e film and +ideo, and typography practically ne+er appeared within the same frame !nstead, animated commercials, publicity shorts, industrial films, and some feature and e0perimental films that did include multiple media usually placed them in separate shots A few directors ha+e managed to build whole aesthetic systems out of such temporal 3u0tapositions / most notably, Eean-Huc Podard !n his $%60s films such as /eeEnd #$%6A' Podard cut bold typographic compositions in between li+e action creating what can be called *media montages . !n the same $%60s pioneering motion graphics designer :ablo Oerro who has appropriately called his company Orame !magery created promotional shorts and 8F graphics that played on 3u0tapositions of different media replacing each other in a rapid succession $G !n a number of OerroIs spots, static images of different letterforms, line drawings, original hand painted artwor", photographs, +ery short clips from newsreels, and other +isuals would come after another with machine gun speed 2ithin cinema, the superimposition of different media within the same frame were usually limited to the two media placed on top of each other in a standardized manner / i e , static letters appearing on top of still or mo+ing lens-based images in feature film titles -oth Oerro and another motion graphics pioneer <aul -ass ha+e created a few title se,uences where +isual elements of diffirent origin were systematically o+erlaid together / such as the opening for (itchcoc"Is #ertigo designed by -ass #$%4&' -ut ! thin" it is fare to say that such comple0 3u0tapositions of media within the same frame
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!n the case of +ideo, one of the main reasons which made combining multiple +isuals difficult was the rapid degradation of the +ideo signal when an analog +ideo tape was copied more than a couple of times <uch a copy would no longer meet broadcasting standards $G Eeff -ellantfoni and 9att 2oolman, Type in &otion #Dizzoli, $%%%', 22-2%

#rather than in edited se,uence' were rare e0ceptions in the o+erwise *unimedia. uni+erse where filmed images appeared in feature films and hand drawn images appeared in animated films 8he only twentieth century feature film director ! "now of who has build his uni,ue aesthetics by systematically combining different media within the same shot is =zech Qarel Reman A typical shot by Reman may contain filmed human figures, an old engra+ing used for bac"ground, and a miniature model $4 8he achie+ements of these directors and designers are particularly remar"able gi+en the difficulty of combing different media within the same frame during film era 8o do this re,uired utilizing the ser+ices of a special effects departments or separate companies which used optical printers 8he techni,ues that were cheap and more accessible such as double e0posure were limited in their precision <o while a designer of static images could at least cut and paste multiple elements within the same composition to create a photomontage, to create the e,ui+alent effect with mo+ing images was far from tri+ial 8o put this in general terms, we can say that before computerization of the $%%0s, the designerIs capacities to access, manipulate, remi0, and filter +isual information, whether still of mo+ing, were ,uite restricted !n fact, they were practically the same as hundred years earlier - regardless of whether filmma"ers and designers used incamera effects, optical printing, or +ideo "eying !n retrospect, we can see they were at odds with the fle0ibility, speed, and precision of data manipulation already a+ailable to most other professional fields which by that time were computerized / sciences, engineering, accounting, management, etc 8herefore it was only a matter of time before all image media would be turned into digital data and illustrators, graphic designers, animators, film editors, +ideo editors, and motion graphics designers start manipulating them +ia software instead of their traditional tools -ut this is only ob+ious today / after Fel+et De+olution has ta"en place
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2hile of course special effects in feature films often combined different media, they were used together to create a single illusionistic space, rather than 3u0taposed for the aesthetic effect such as in films and titles by Podard, Reman, Oerro and -ass

!n $%&4 Eeff <tein directed a music +ideo for the new wa+e band Cars 8his +ideo had a big attempt in the design world, and 98F ga+e it the first prize in its first annual music awards $6 <tein managed to create a surreal world in which a +ideo cutout of the singing head of the band member was animated o+er different +ideo bac"grounds !n other words, <tein too" the aesthetics of animated cartoons / 2D animated characters superimposed o+er a 2D bac"ground / and recreated it using +ideo imagery !n addition, simple computer animated elements were also added in some shots to enhance the surreal effect 8his was shoc"ing because nobody e+er saw such 3u0tapositions this before <uddenly, modernist photomontage came ali+e -ut ten years later, such mo+ing +ideo collages not only became commonplace but they also became more comple0, more layered, and more subtle !nstead of two or three, a composition could now feature hundreds and e+en thousands of layers And each layer could ha+e its own le+el of transparency !n short, digital compositing now allowed the designers to easily mi0 any num)er of visual elements regardless of the media in !hich they originated and to control each element in the process 2e can ma"e an analogy between multitrac" audio recording and digital compositing of mo+ing images !n multitrac" recording, each sound trac" can be manipulated indi+idually to produce the desired result <imilarly, in digital compositing each +isual element can be independently modulated in a +ariety of ways) resized, recolored, animated, etc Eust as the music artist can focus on a particular trac" while muting all other trac"s, a designer often turns of all +isual trac"s e0cept the one she is currently ad3usting <imilarly, both a music artist and a designer can at any time substitute one element of a composition by another, delete any elements, and add new ones 9ost importantly, 3ust as multitrac" recording redefined the sound of popular music from the $%60s onward, once digital compositing became widely a+ailable during the $%%0s, it changed the +isual aesthetics of mo+ing images in popular culture 8his brief discussion only scratched the surface of my sub3ect in this section, i e layers and transparency Oor instance, ! ha+e not
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analyzed the actual techni,ues of digital compositing and the fundamental concept of an alpha channel which deser+es a separate and detailed treatment ! ha+e also did not go into the possible media histories leading to digital compositing, nor its relationship to optical printing, +ideo "eying and +ideo effects technology of the $%&0s 8hese histories and relationships were discussed in *=ompositing. chapter #$%%%' in my The "anguage of 3e! &edia1 but from a different perspecti+e than the one used here At that time ! was loo"ing at compositing from the point of +iew of the ,uestions of cinematic realism, practices of montage, and the construction of special effects in feature films 8oday, howe+er, it is clear to me that in addition to disrupting the regime of cinematic realism in fa+or of other +isual aesthetics, compositing also had another, e+en more fundamental effect -y the end of the $%%0s digital compositing has become the basic operation used in creating all forms of mo+ing images, and not only big budget features <o while compositing was originally de+eloped in the conte0t of special effects production in the $%A0s and early $%&0s$A, it had a much broader effect on contemporary +isual and media cultures =ompositing played the "ey part in turning digital computer into an e0perimental lab where different media can meet and there their aesthetics and techni,ues can be combined to create new species !n short, digital compositing was essential in enabling the de+elopment of a new hybrid +isual language of mo+ing images which we see e+erywhere today !n other words, compositing enabled media remi0ability in mo+ing image 8hus, compositing that was at first a particular digital techni,ue designed to integrate two particular media of li+e action film and computer graphics become a *uni+ersal media integrator . And although compositing was originally created to support the aesthetics of cinematic realism, o+er time it actually had an opposite effect Dather that forcing different media to fuse seamlessly, compositing led to the flourishing of numerous media hybrids where the 3u0tapositions between li+e and algorithmically generated, two
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dimensional and three dimensional, raster and +ector are made deliberately +isible rather than being hidden #rom $Time%based& to a $Composition%based& 9y thesis about media remi0ability applies both to the cultural forms and the software used to create them Eust as the mo+ing image media made by designers today mi0 formats, assumptions, and techni,ues of different media, the toolbo0es and interfaces of the software they use are also remi0es Het us see use again After 5ffects as the case study to see how its interface remi0es pre+iously distinct wor"ing methods of different disciplines 2hen mo+ing image designers started to use compositing ? animation software such as After 5ffects, its interface encouraged them thin" about mo+ing images in a fundamentally new way Oilm and +ideo editing systems and their computer simulations that came to be "nown as non-linear editors #today e0emplified by A+id and Oinal =ut$&' ha+e conceptualized a media pro3ect as a se,uence of shots organized in time =onse,uently, while KH5 #the standard abbre+iation for non-linear editing software' ga+e the editor many tools for ad3usting the edits, they too" for granted the constant of film language that came from its industrial organization / that all frames ha+e the same size and aspect ratio 8his is an e0ample of a larger phenomenon) as physical media were simulated in a computer, often many of their fundamental properties, interface con+entions and constraints were methodically re-created in software / e+en though software medium itself has no such limitations !n contrast, from the beginning After 5ffects interface put forward a new concept of mo+ing image / as a composition organized both in time and 2D space 8he center of this interface is a =omposition window conceptualized as a large can+as that can contain +isual elements of arbitrary sizes and proportions 2hen ! first started using After 5ffects soon after it
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! should note that compositing functionality was gradually added o+er time to most KH5, so today the distinction between original After 5ffects or Olame interfaces and A+id and Oinal =ut interfaces is less pronounced

came out, ! remember feeling shoc"ed that software did not automatically resized the graphics ! dragged into =omposition window to ma"e them fit the o+erall frame 8he fundamental assumption of cinema that accompanied it throughout its whole history / that film consists from many frames which all ha+e the same size and aspect ratio / was gone !n film and +ideo editing paradigms of the twentieth century, the minimal unit on which the editor wor"s on is a frame <he can change the length of an edit, ad3usting where one film or +ideo segment ends and another begins, but she cannot interfere with the contents of a frame 8he frame as whole functions as a "ind of *blac" bo0. that cannot be *opened . 8his was the 3ob for special effects departments -ut in After 5ffects interface, the basic unit is not a frame but a +isual element placed in the =omposition window 5ach element can be indi+idually accessed, manipulated and animated !n other words, each element is conceptualized as an independent ob3ect =onse,uently, a media composition is understood as a set of independent ob3ects that can change o+er time 8he +ery word *composition. is important in this conte0t as it references 2D media #drawing, painting, photography, design' rather than filmma"ing / i e space as opposed to time 2here does After 5ffects interface came fromM Pi+en that this software is commonly used to create animated graphics #i e , *motion graphics.' and +isual effects, it is not surprising that we can find interface elements which can be traced to three separate fields) animation, graphic design, and special effects !n traditional cell animation practice, an animator places a number of transparent cells on top of each other 5ach cell contains a different drawing / for instance, a body of a character on one cell, the head on another cell, eyes on the third cell -ecause the cells are transparent, the drawings get automatically *composited. into a single composition 2hile After 5ffects interface does not use the metaphor of a stac" of transparent cells directly, it is based on the same principle 5ach element in the =omposition window is assigned a *+irtual depth. relati+e to all other elements 8ogether all elements form a +irtual stac" At any time, the designer can change the relati+e position of an element within the stac", delete it, or add new elements

2e can also see a connection between After 5ffects interface and stop motion that was another popular twentieth century animation techni,ue 2ith stop motion techni,ue, puppets or any other ob3ects are positioned in front of a camera and manually animated one frame at a time 8he animator e0poses one frame of film, changes the ob3ects a tiny bit, e0poses another frame, and so on Eust as it was the case with both cell and stop-motion animation, After 5ffects does not ma"e any assumptions about the size or positions of indi+idual elements Dather than dealing with standardized units of time, i e film frames containing fi0ed +isual content, a designer now wor"s with separate +isual elements positioned in space and time An element can be a digital +ideo frame, a line of type, an arbitrary geometric shape, etc 8he finished wor" is the result of a particular arrangement of these elements in space and time !n this paradigm we can compare the designer to a choreographer who creates a dance by *animating. the bodies of dancers - specifying their entry and e0it points, tra3ectories through space of the stage, and the mo+ements of their bodies #!n this respect it is rele+ant that while After 5ffects interface did not e+o"e this reference, 9acromedia Director which was the "ey multimedia authoring software of the $%%0s did directly use the metaphor of the theatre stage ' 2hile we can lin" After 5ffects interface to traditional animation methods as used by commercial animation studios, the wor"ing method put forward by software is more close to graphic design !n commercial animation studio of the twentieth century all elements / drawings, sets, characters, etc / were prepared beforehand 8he filming itself was a mechanical process 1f course, we can find e0ceptions to this industrial-li"e separation of labor in e0perimental animation practice where a film was typically produced by one person Oor instance, in $%GA 1scar Oishinger made an ele+enminute film &otion ainting + by continuously modifying a painting and e0posing film one frame at a time after each modification (owe+er, because Oishinger was shooting on film, he had to wait a long time before seeing the results of his wor" As the historian of abstract animation 2illiam 9oritz writes, VOischinger painted e+ery day for o+er fi+e months without being able to see how it was coming out on film, since he wanted to "eep all the conditions, including film stoc", absolutely consistent in order to a+oid une0pected +ariations in

,uality of image V$% !n other words, in the case of this pro3ect by Oischinger, creating a design and seeing the result were e+en more separated than in a commercial animation process !n contrast, a graphic designer wor"s *in real time . As the designer introduces new elements, ad3usts their locations, colors and other properties, tries different images, changes the size of the type, and so on, she can immediately see the result of her wor" 20 After 5ffects simulates this wor"ing method by ma"ing =omposition window the center of its interface Hi"e a traditional designer, After 5ffects user interacti+ely arranges the elements in this window and can immediately see the result !n short, After 5ffects interface ma"es filmma"ing into a design process, and a film is re-conceptualized as a graphic design that can change o+er time

2hen physical media are simulated in a computer, we do not simply end with the same media as before -y adding new properties and wor"ing methods, computer simulation fundamentally changes the identity of a gi+en media Oor e0ample, in the case of *electronic paper. such as a 2ord document or a :DO file, we can do many things which were not possible with ordinary paper) zoom in and out of the document, search for a particular phrase, change fonts and line spacing, etc <imilarly, current #2006' online interacti+e maps ser+ices pro+ided by 9ap,uest, Jahoo, and Poogle augment the traditional paper map in multiple and amazing ways / 3ust ta"e a loo" at Poogle 5arth 2$
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Ctd in 9ichael -arrier, 6scar 7ishinger. &otion ainting 3o. + >www michaelbarrier com?=apsules?Oischinger?fischingerTcapsule ht mB 20 2hile graphic designer does not ha+e to wait until film is de+eloped or computer finished rendering the animation, the design has its own *rendering. stage / ma"ing proofs 2ith both digital and offset printing, after the design is finished, it is sent to the printer that produces the test prints !f the designer finds any problems such as incorrect colors, she ad3usts the design and then as"s for proofs again 2$ http)??earth google com?

A significant proportion of contemporary software for creating, editing, and interacting with media de+eloped in this way / by simulating a physical media and augmenting it with new properties -ut if we consider media design software such as 9aya #used for 6D modeling and computer animation' or After 5ffects #motion graphics, compositing and +isual effects', we encounter a different logic 8hese software applications do not simulate any single physical media that e0isted previously Dather, they )orro! from a num)er of different media com)ining and mi0ing their !or-ing methods and specific techni2ues. #And, of course, they also add new capabilities specific to computer / for instance, the ability to automatically calculate the intermediate +alues between a number of "eyframes ' Oor e0ample, 6D modeling software mi0es form ma"ing techni,ues which pre+iously were *hardwired. to different physical media) the ability to change the cur+ature of a rounded form as though it is made from clay, the ability to build a structure from simple geometric primiti+es the way a house can be build from identical rectangular building bloc"s, etc <imilarly, as we saw, After 5ffects original interface, tool"it, and wor"flow drew on the techni,ues of animation and the techni,ues of graphic design #2e can also find traces of filmma"ing and 6D computer graphics ' -ut the result is not simply a mechanical sum of all elements that came from earlier media Dather, as software remi0es the techni,ues and wor"ing methods of +arious media they simulate, the result are new interfaces, tools and wor"flow with their own distinct logic !n the case of After 5ffects, the wor"ing method which it puts forward is neither animation, nor graphic design, nor cinematography, e+en though it draws from all these fields !t is a new way to ma"e mo+ing image media <imilarly, the +isual language of media produced with this and similar software is also diffirent from the langauges of mo+ing images which e0isted pre+iously !n other words, the Fel+et De+olution unleashed by After 5ffects and other software did not simply made more commonplace the animated graphics artists and designers / Eohn and Eames 2hitney, Korman 9cHaren, <aul -ass, Dobert Abel, (arry 9ar"s, D?Preenberg, and others / were creating pre+iously using stop motion animation, optical printing, +ideo effects hardware of the $%&0s, and other

custom techni,ues and technologies !nstead, it led to the emergence of numerous new +isual aesthetics that did not e0ist before 8his article only begun the discussion of the common logic shared by these aesthetics7 subse,uent articles will loo" at its other features