Pluginmanifesto

Last updated

The pluginmanifesto is a document written by Ana Kronschnabl that looks at the challenges for filmmaking for the Internet and other reduced bandwidth platforms (such as mobile phones, PDAs and PlayStation Portables). The author noted, "The pluginmanifesto arose out of a need...In discussion with others we realised that most people assumed that we [those who make web films] were approaching this new technology from the same angle that many others were – that of trying to deliver film or television over the Internet. This was not what we were trying to do. We felt that the Internet was not just a new viewing platform, but a new medium, as different as TV is from film and film is from theatre." [1]

Contents

The document is written in the tradition of other creative manifestos, such as the Dogme95 manifesto. The pluginmanifesto was launched Watershed Media Centre in Bristol on 17 May 2001. [2] The author never intended the manifesto to remain a static document, but looked for wider input and evolution of the ideas within, "The text of the pluginmanifesto can be freely copied and modified. Indeed we encourage you, along with other filmmakers, artists, geeks and web-users, to take the contents of this document and evolve it in-line with your experiences, ideas and perspectives" [3] The manifesto was published as copyleft under the Design Science License and the author encouraged others to revise or re-write the document as they wished.

Responses to the Pluginmanifesto

Following its launch, the pluginmanifeso created a limited response on the Internet. OffScreen.com noted the value of attempting to understand cinema on the Internet using documents such as the pluginmanifesto;

"The more interesting and potentially groundbreaking ventures are the web sites that are dedicated exclusively to internet cinema....Plugincinema is a good place to start for newbies to the world of internet cinema because it has a pluginmanifesto which lays out the philosophy of their understanding of internet cinema." [4]

While some video artists, such as Jonathan Brann [5] and Geert Wachtelaer [6] referenced it as an influence in their work;

"Inspired by...the plugin manifesto. The pluginmanifesto is a document written by Ana Kronschnabl that looks at the challenges for filmmaking for the internet and other reduced bandwidth platforms..."

Others, such as Steve Bennett (of Iron Fist Motion Pictures) wrote their own response in the form of an alternative manifesto. [7] The pluginmanifesto makes similar points to the 'Neocinema' manifesto (called 'Dogma 2001: The New Rules for Internet Cinema' [8] ) and indeed some have confused the two documents. [9] Since its launch it has continued to be talked about at digital media events (for example at the FOSS workshops). [10]

The manifesto was also discussed by Anna Notaro in the journal, 'The Velvet Light Trap' in an article entitled 'Technology in Search of an Artist: Questions of Auteurism/Authorship and the Contemporary Cinematic Experience' [11] Other writers have also discussed its ideas such as blogger 'mayoke' in her essay 'The Future of the 7th Art' [12] and also by Dr.Simone Kurtzke's 2007 thesis 'Web Film Theory';

"The manifesto thus is intended as a tool to call forth a new film movement. The aim is to provide an intellectual and theoretical framework under which webfilmmakers can help create what the authors consider the new ‘art form’ of webfilm. Despite this aim, we have seen that much of the manifesto consists of a usability guide to Internet-friendly webfilmmaking, foregrounding its technological aspects. As such, it functions as prescription material and illustrates the power of non-human agents including bandwidth, hardware and software." [13]

In October 2007 The manifesto was discussed at the conference 'Video Vortex: Responses to YouTube' in Brussels under the title 'The pluginmanifesto: presaging the rise of YouTube?' [14] [15]

See also

Notes and references

  1. Kronschnabl, A & Rawlings, T, "Plug In & Turn On: A Filmmakers Guide to the Internet". London:Marion Boyars. 2004. http://plugincinema.com/plugin/content/view/168/46/
  2. http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/about_us/press_release_pluginmanifesto.htm Pluginmanifesto launch press release
  3. Kronschnabl, A & Rawlings, T, 'Plug In & Turn On: A Filmmakers Guide to the Internet'. London:Marion Boyars. 2004. http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/about_us/plugin_book.htm Archived 2006-06-13 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "Offscreen :: Film on the Internet". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  5. jonathanbrann :: [Video 動画] YouTube NAVI [ dead link ]
  6. The pluginmanifesto was referenced and reproduced in full on the visual artist's website. http://www.geertwachtelaer.com/pluginmanifesto.htm Archived 2007-10-09 at the Wayback Machine
  7. response published on plugincinema website http://plugincinema.com/plugin/content/view/172/27/
  8. "neocinema.com – Dogma 2001: The New Rules for Internet Cinema". www.neocinema.com.
  9. "The chapter [of the book Plug In Turn On] continues to formulate the rules (http://www.neocinema.com/) of the manifesto with the intention of eventually creating a collaborative society that seeks to produce ‘pure’ web films, which are produced specifically for consumption over the internet. The authors see web-films as an entirely new medium in new media, and as a viable future option for would be film makers." However the book covers the pluginmanifesto, but this references the Noecinema manifesto! http://wiki.media-culture.org.au/index.php?title=Annotated_Bibliography_-_n5023645&printable=yes
  10. notes from FOSS event http://www.yourmachines.org/ym2004/av_documentation.html
  11. Notaro, Anna (2006). "Technology in Search of an Artist: Questions of Auteurism/Authorship and the Contemporary Cinematic Experience". The Velvet Light Trap. 57 (1): 86–97. doi:10.1353/vlt.2006.0019. S2CID   193234788. Project MUSE   195928.
  12. The Future of the 7th Art on her myspace blog, but the URL is blacklised by wikipedia
  13. http://socialscotland.com/webfilm-theory/ Webfilm Theory by Simone Kurtzke
  14. Video Vortex: Responses to YouTube Conference Fri 05.10.2007 11:00 – 19:00 http://www.argosarts.org/articles.do?id=373 Archived 2007-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Tomas Rawlings and Ana Kronschnabl @ Video Vortex text: http://mastersofmedia.hum.uva.nl/2007/10/05/tomas-rawlings-and-ana-kronschnabl-video-vortex/ and video: http://argos.xio.be/blog/?p=39 Archived 2008-01-13 at the Wayback Machine

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HTTP</span> Application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, where hypertext documents include hyperlinks to other resources that the user can easily access, for example by a mouse click or by tapping the screen in a web browser.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adobe Flash</span> Deprecated multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to websites

Adobe Flash is a multimedia software platform used for production of animations, rich internet applications, desktop applications, mobile apps, mobile games, and embedded web browser video players.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winamp</span> Media player for Microsoft Windows

Winamp is a media player for Microsoft Windows originally developed by Justin Frankel and Dmitry Boldyrev by their company Nullsoft, which they later sold to AOL in 1999 for $80 million. It was then acquired by Radionomy in 2014, now known as the Llama Group. Since version 2 it has been sold as freemium and supports extensibility with plug-ins and skins, and features music visualization, playlist and a media library, supported by a large online community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ActiveX</span> Software framework by Microsoft introduced in 1996

ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide Web. Microsoft introduced ActiveX in 1996. In principle, ActiveX is not dependent on Microsoft Windows operating systems, but in practice, most ActiveX controls only run on Windows. Most also require the client to be running on an x86-based computer because ActiveX controls contain compiled code.

Inline linking is the use of a linked object, often an image, on one site by a web page belonging to a second site. One site is said to have an inline link to the other site where the object is located.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RealPlayer</span> Media player app

RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm, including MP3, MP4, QuickTime File Format, Windows Media format, and the proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats. RealPlayer is also available for other operating systems; Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian versions have been released.

The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for notable software media player programs.

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as television shows and films, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable television, and/or satellite television systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Internet Protocol television</span> Television transmitted over a computer network

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the ability to stream the source media continuously. As a result, a client media player can begin playing the content almost immediately. This is known as streaming media.

Kristian Levring is a Danish film director. He was the fourth signatory of the Dogme95 movement. His feature films as director include Et skud fra hjertet, The King is Alive, The Intended, Fear Me Not, and The Salvation.

Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) is a deprecated application programming interface (API) of the web browsers that allows plugins to be integrated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valie Export</span> Austrian media artist

Valie Export is an avant-garde Austrian artist. She is best known for provocative public performances and expanded cinema work. Her artistic work also includes video installations, computer animations, photography, sculpture and publications covering contemporary art.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viral video</span> Video that becomes popular via Internet sharing

A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email. For a video to be shareable or spreadable, it must focus on the social logics and cultural practices that have enabled and popularized these new platforms.

A web film is a film made with the medium of the Internet and its distribution constraints in mind. This term aims to differentiate content made for the Internet from content made for other media, such as cinema or television, that has been converted into a World Wide Web-compatible format. Web films are a form of new media.

jQuery is a JavaScript library designed to simplify HTML DOM tree traversal and manipulation, as well as event handling, CSS animation, and Ajax. It is free, open-source software using the permissive MIT License. As of August 2022, jQuery is used by 77% of the 10 million most popular websites. Web analysis indicates that it is the most widely deployed JavaScript library by a large margin, having at least 3 to 4 times more usage than any other JavaScript library.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Microsoft Silverlight</span> Application framework for writing and running rich Internet applications

Microsoft Silverlight is a discontinued application framework designed for writing and running rich internet applications, similar to Adobe's runtime, Adobe Flash. A plugin for Silverlight is still available for a very small number of browsers. While early versions of Silverlight focused on streaming media, later versions supported multimedia, graphics, and animation, and gave support to developers for CLI languages and development tools. Silverlight was one of the two application development platforms for Windows Phone, but web pages using Silverlight did not run on the Windows Phone or Windows Mobile versions of Internet Explorer, as there was no Silverlight plugin for Internet Explorer on those platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tudou</span> Chinese video-sharing website headquartered in Shanghai

Tudou, Inc. is a Chinese video-sharing website headquartered in Shanghai, China, where users can upload, view and share video clips. Tudou went live on April 15, 2005 and by September 2007 served over 55 million videos each day.

Documentary practice is the process of creating documentary projects. It refers to what people do with media devices, content, form, and production strategies in order to address the creative, ethical, and conceptual problems and choices that arise as they make documentary films or other similar presentations based on fact or reality. Colleges and universities offer courses and programs in documentary practice.

Dogma 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity". These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists", as opposed to the studio. They were later joined by fellow Danish directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. Dogme is the Danish word for dogma.

The following comparison of audio players compares general and technical information for a number of software media player programs. For the purpose of this comparison, "audio players" are defined as any media player explicitly designed to play audio files, with limited or no support for video playback. Multi-media players designed for video playback, which can also play music, are included under comparison of video player software.