The Politics of Simulation

The Politics of Simulation Visual Spectacles, Digital I agi g Tech ologies a d the U derlyi g Social Relatio s i Popular Wester E tertai e ts Candidate number: Supervisor: Giulia Battaglia Dissertation MC submitted to the Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics, August , in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the MSc in Global Media and Communications LSE & USC . 1 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................................... 3 Theorising Simulation ................................................................................................................................................. 5 Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................. 14 Interpreting Simulation ........................................................................................................................................... 20 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Reference ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Appendices .................................................................................................................................................................... 41 Figures and Charts Chart : The Triangular Conceptual Framework............................................................................................ Chart : The pre-sampling and final-sampling of films............................................................................... Chart : the crosstab for summarising sampled data................................................................................... Chart : Nominees of Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects from – ............................... Figure : Pi, Meerkats, and the Algae )sland Film Poster of Life of Pi ............................................... Figure : Meerkats in Algae )sland Still from Life of Pi ........................................................................... Figure : Joey caught by Barbed Wires Still from War (orse ............................................................ Figure : The digitally simulated Azadi Tower Still from Argo ............................................................. Figure : A Still from the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King......................................................... Figure : A Poster of the Crysis Frachise........................................................................................................... Figure : A still from the video recording of touring the Test Track...................................................... Figure : Another still from the video recording of touring the Test Track ...................................... Figure : Stills from four other films which use the MASS)VE simulator............................................ 2 Abstract This paper focuses on computer-simulated image-making by studying its three major fields, which includes contemporary visual culture, the digital production technologies, and their underlying social relations. By grounding the theorisation of simulation on these three aspects, this paper raises a research question concerning the relation between the act of simulated image-making and social domination. It develops a bi-modal visual/discourse analysis to inspect simultaneously the simulated imageries and their productions. After having selected samples from some popular entertainment platforms including films, video games and special venue attractions, it critically interprets them by studying the ideological and hegemonic discourses embedded in simulated-imageries and their image-making processes. It concludes by stating that simulation and its images are intimately connected to hegemonic groups and institutions as they not only covertly mediate but also overtly manifest social dominances and ideological controls. Introduction This paper is a study of simulated imageries and its digital production process. Contemporary western entertainment industry is selected to be the field of observation, as it is currently the most dramatic site of computer-simulated image-making, where numerous fantastic illusions are increasingly assuming convincing and realistic imageries thanks to a proliferation of digital imaging technologies in recent decades, namely computer-generated imagery CG) , motion capture, digital matte-painting, interactive simulation, etc. )n special effects films, video games and special venue attractions, computer simulation dominants the vision of the spectators and players, impacts them with technological novelty and sensational spectacles through images or interactions. This paper is partially inspired by this unprecedented level of simulation in the entertainment industry. Also it finds simulated imageries an ideal field of carrying out critical cultural diagnosis, as they are situated in a unique intersecting area of culture, technology and society, a place where ideological penetration and social control are amplified to the extreme through the three s channels. This paper thus regards simulation in image-making as simultaneously a cultural practice, a technological means, and a social manifestation: it adopts a post-modernist tradition by arguing that simulation is a unique strand of cultural practice which uses signs not to reflect reality but to construct verisimilar unreality or hyperreality as Baudrillard [ ] coins it ; meanwhile it also studies the technological aspects of simulation, as the practice of transcribing the unreal into something that looks real is always connected with various means and techniques of imaging, which in turn have determining power to effect the messages of the final visual 3 products; thirdly and more critically, it inspects the social relations behind simulation through a critical perspective, carrying out a cultural critique which argues that simulation mediates dominant ideologies and social control through both its technological act and its cultural product. This paper is also a response to the issues spotted in existed academic works on digital images. As several researchers e.g. Rose, : ; Willis, : have pointed out, a major insufficiency of the current literatures is that many scholars still treat digital image-making as traditional representations and thereby the concepts and methods they deploy largely focus on interpreting the image itself while neglecting the specificity of the medium and its production. Whereas among those who do notice the uniqueness of digital image-making and highlight it as a different cultural practice e.g. Baudrillard [ ]; Gane & Beer [ ]; (ayles [ have engaged with the underlying social relations with enough criticality Rose, : . ] , few Therefore this paper aims at grounding its theorisations of computer-simulated image- making not only on the level of image but also on its technological production and social implications, which, as will be shown in the chapter follows, results in a triangular conceptual framework of analysing simulated imagery. The method of carrying out the research is correspondingly designed to match this framework, as it abandons traditional approaches of critical visual analysis which primarily focus on the image by using a bi-modal visual/discourse analysis to investigate the social relations which are not only mediated by the visual but also its technological production. The last point to make here is that this paper acknowledges its insufficiency of claiming the social effects of entertainment without conducting any audience studies. (owever ) would note here that as a two-year double-degree master student, ) have the opportunity to complement my thesis in a second dissertation, in which to study the reception end of simulated imageries becomes the central aim. This paper, on the other hand, has limited its scope within production in order to maintain a methodological framework which is not too complex to be tackled. )n general, the goal of this paper is trifold. Firstly it tries to characterise and theorise digital imagery as a unique practice articulated culturally, technologically and socially. Secondly it tries to develop a sufficient analytical tool to conduct empirical studies on this emergent field. Thirdly it aims at providing critiques of the currently digitalised entertainment industry. )t is under this guidance that the following chapters are conceived and presented. 4 Theorising Simulation ) Simulation as Culture The pleasure of imitation, as the ancient know, is one of the most innate in the human spirit; but here we not only enjoy a perfect imitation, we also enjoy the conviction that imitation has reached its apex and afterwards reality will always be inferior to it. Contemporary culture has become simulation Baudrillard, - Umberto Eco : . Whereas the word simulation here refers to a concept much larger than what it usually signifies as a technical term, it has important implications for theorising digital image-making as it highlights simulation not as a mere technological approach but a cultural phenomenon. Baudrillard himself ascribe simulation to the implosion of meaning in the cultural systems, where signs interact with signs, creating meaning of their own without touching the layer of reality, forming a layer of the hyperreal which supplants reality in constructing our everyday experience ibid.: - . Some other postmodern theorists have developed similar concepts, although they use different terms such as pastiche Jameson, intertextuality Kristeva, , repetition Eco, or . (owever all have conveyed the idea that contemporary image production is detached from the reality, as the visual signs no longer signifies reality but stays within a world of pre-existed signs. From this postmodernist perspective, simulation, as a means of image-making, clearly differentiates from the traditional sense of representation. For representation, it is the bourgeois realism - the dominant form of signification in bourgeois society that guides its cultural production. As John Tagg argues, realism offers a fixity in which the signifier is treated as if it were bonded with a pre-existent signified : . This indicates a solid connection between the sign and reality, which makes representation a typical signifying practice (all, . )n contrast simulation operates differently by presenting a realistic sign while the underlying signification chain does not exist, because in simulation the referent can be regarded as substituted by the sign, as Eco reveals, absolute unreality is offered as real presence. […] the sign aims to be the thing, to abolish the distinction of the reference [ ]: . Therefore, unlike representation, the mechanism behind simulation is driven by a goal not to reflect but always to create. The reason behind this is that the act of simulation happens in a context where the profound reality is absent, while in contrast representation can only take place when there exists such a reality which can be either reflected or denatured Baudrillard : . This is to categorise the spectacular images offered by contemporary entertainments 5 as simulations rather than as representations, because the illusory images they present on display denote nothing real but increasingly fantastic and fictional hyperrealities. (owever, unique as simulation may be as a cultural phenomenon, it is not necessarily to be characterised as something new. As Andrew Darley has pointed out, one shall remain cautious about essentialising all the traits of simulation as postmodern. Rather, as he demonstrates in his study of the genealogy and tradition of digital visual culture, simulation is in fact extremely pre-modern. From the illusionist paintings in renaissance, to the magic theatres and phantasmagoria in the eighteenth century, to the nineteenth century amusement parks, we see constant endeavours of transcribing the unreal, the fantastic and the fictional into realistic visual forms Darley, : - . This indicates that simulation as a cultural practice does not emerge after representation but simultaneously with it. Yet theorists like Baudrillard may still claim that the contemporary situation is indeed postmodern as the unprecedented popularity of simulation in today s visual culture is a phenomenon unmatched by any historic periods. (e claims that whereas simulation was incorporated by representation, as a false representation or illusion , now it increasingly takes the dominant position by assimilating representation into its own simulacra : . This is to stress a remarkable shift in our visual culture, as we are experiencing the dawn of the represented real and the rising of the simulated illusory. Under such context, the predominant strand of image-making in the entertainment sector changes from classical realist meaning- making through signifying, to the digital generation of illusory yet spectacular images see (ayward, : and Darley, : , . - The transformation is further reflected by the relation between visual pleasure and images. Rather than traditional entertainments methods of eliciting a scopophilic pleasure of viewing by involving the audience in a fictional yet realist narrative space, the simulated digital visual spectacles, designed to stimulate and capture the eye and, often, the gut viscera , pursuits visual astonishment and pleasure through the contradiction of its convincing imagery and its nature of being purely illusory, providing the spectator thrill and excitement at a physicalsensual level Darley, : , . Thus many postmodernists have characterised the current culture of simulation based on digitality as extremely superficial , or depthless see Baudrillard, ; Jameson, . Darley : , on the other hand, argues that our culture today is a digital visual culture , characterised by its sheer visual impact and craftsmanship of the image: [T]he forms of digital visual culture […] manifest a distinctive preoccupation with the image as image: images are the material or ground for new modes of combination, new levels of illusion, new kinds of surprise and delight. […] a mode of reception that is fascinated not so much by what 6 images signify as with their power to induce direct stimulation, visceral thrill and formal and spectacular excitations. […] They are 'into' the image' at a more corporeal and tactile level. Darley s stress on the image itself as a source of pleasure indicates the postmodern fascination with the medium rather than the message. This propels this theoretical enquiry to go further into the technological aspect of simulation, to focus closely on its display apparatuses and production techniques, which are discussed in the following section. ) Simulation as Technology As the corpus of films attached to this rejuvenation of special effects has developed and expanded […] so has the narrative element of such films distinctly receded in favour of the stimulation, impact and astonishment that can be produced by new and revamped techniques of image capture and fabrication. […] Part of the wonder is caused by the distinctive capacities of the apparatus itself: digital imaging is directly analogous in this respect to the cinematography. The technology itself is the message. - Darley, A. : - What contributes contemporary simulation s uniqueness, or postmodernity , on the other hand, is the digital imaging technology. This is also to reiterate the disjuncture between representation and simulation through a technological perspective. Modern representation establishes itself largely on bourgeois photography which emphasises truth value for the medium Tagg, ,. Photography serves the ideal of bourgeois realism by claiming to have least human interference and a direct indexicality with its referent, therefore inevitably confines its scope of image making within realist themes Willis, : . Meanwhile, the new level of figuring the image by digital imaging technology - termed by some as hyperplastic or post-filmic see Fisher, : - maintains a photo-realistic image while erases the indexicality between the - image and the imaged, so that the cultural producer gains more freedom and control in visualising unrealistic objects. Many recent literatures e.g. Rose, : , Deacon et al, : , and Willis, have stressed the digital image s manipulability down to each pixel . To briefly explain the mechanism behind digital imaging is necessary here, otherwise the term becomes abstract and hard to grasp. Take the prevailing strand of digital imaging – the computer-generated imagery CG) for example, it can be generalised into three steps – modelling, texture mapping and rendering 1. As Darley : demonstrates, objects that need to be imaged are at first sculptured into three-dimensional digital models, then textured with surface details, and finally rendered with light settings into convincing images – all in a virtual space architected by computer Here I am mainly introducing CGI of still objects. I have not included the animation part in this short generalisation, which involves key-framing animating and motion capturing. 1 7 programmes. The resurrection of traditional art forms sculpturing, painting and stage lighting in CG) production gives the producers an option of constructing highly artificial image without being bothered by realist concern. Judging by this, simulation as a technology clearly abandons photography s utopian ideal of minimum human interference by penetrating deeply into the image, through a sophisticated amalgamation of various traditional and novel imaging techniques. As claimed previously, the change in the pattern in which audience obtain pleasure from the entertainment media is not only cultural but also technological. Unlike photography which greatly conceals its trace of production to stress its visual product Tagg, : , the simulated spectacular image goes beyond it by impressing its audience not only as an image but also as a technological artefact – the craftsmanship, the technique and the apparatus behind the image are all part of its spectacularity Darley, : by claiming that: , . Baudrillard puts it more radically [W]e don't look for definition or richness of imagination in these images: we look for the giddiness of their superficiality, for the artifice of the detail, the intimacy of their technique. What we truly desire is their technical artificiality, and nothing more. : - Despite the slight arbitrariness in his words, Baudrillard acutely reveals the predominant goal of achieving novelty in the aspect of technical reproducibility rather than other aspects in simulated image production. Similarly, Umberto Eco contends that it is not the invention of ideas but their technical execution that dominates contemporary image production, as he illustrates his argument by comparing the cinematic special effects of two sci-fi films: the spaceships of Star Wars, shamelessly descended from Kubrick's, are more complex and plausible than their ancestors, and now the ancestor seems to be their imitator : - . The focus on simulation technology instead of the simulated image, on reproducibility instead of creativity, on execution instead of invention, reflects the dominant logic which underlies contemporary cultural industry: aesthetic practices have been increasingly incorporated by industrial commodity production Jameson, : - , where the work of art has become the work designed for its technological reproducibility Benjamin, : - . Moreover, the universal criterion of merit of a media product disconnects itself from the meaning of the products and become reconnected to the amount of conspicuous production, of blatant cash investment on its productive apparatus (orkerheimer & Adorno, : . This explains why the most popular films of our time are the digital special effects films, and the top-selling video games are these which adopt the most cutting-edge computer graphics. Simulation as a technology is selected to become the spectacle of the media product not only because they are advanced, sophisticated and novel, but also because they cost spectacularly to 8 be produced – digital imaging is a scarce means of production which requires high investment in the development of its technologies Cubitt, : . When Walter Benjamin contended long ago that art was transforming into its technical reproducibility, he also revealed that the underlying social function had displaced its ritualistic basis to another one – the politics : - . (is words have profound implication for inspecting today s entertainment production, in which digital simulated imageries are increasingly being characterised as dazzling technological artefacts rather than meaningful cultural texts. The following section thus illustrates this point in detail by studying the dominant control and the social mechanism behind simulation. ) Simulation as Society )t is no coincidence that computers – the currently predominant productive machinery for the post-industrial man, has provided the most popular productive vehicle for simulation – the very thing which now amuses them most. (orkheimer and Adorno argued long before the birth of semi-conducts that amusement in capitalism was an extension of the mechanised work process. Decades have past and the situation remains the same, computerisation has substituted mechanisation by dominating the post-industrial man s leisure and happiness through determining the production of entertainments. As was shown earlier in this theoretical chapter, simulation can be regarded both as a culture and a technology. Culture, as Adorno and (orkheimer have argued, is a cataloguing and classification system which brings us under social administration technological rationality is the vehicle of domination itself ibid.: : . Meanwhile, a . Therefore the politics behind simulation is always to maintain the current social hierarchy and hegemony through its both channels. Adorno and (orkheimer's major contention, as Shaw generalised in her Technoculture, is that: : - has What seems like benign entertainment, made possible and affordable by technology, which, itself, promises a future replete with the better, cheaper, even more spectacular versions of the same, is nothing more than well-disguised propaganda […]. [)t is] a powerful vehicle for mobilising disaffection and alienation while masking the reality of an exploitative economy. Simulation, as it currently prevails in our visual cultural practices, abolishes realism by delivering ever spectacular yet superficial illusions to its audience. )t increasingly immerses us in one after another dazzling unrealities that are disconnected from various social realities. And it is not only to distract but to control as well. As Guy Debord turns to the spectacular image, he claims that because the spectacle is the place where all attention, all consciousness, converges : , it inevitably becomes the most ideal channel of mediating domination by the ruling 9 class. (e argues that: the spectacle […] is not something added to the real world - not a decorative element, so to speak. On the contrary, it is the very heart of society s real unreality. DeBord, : ; my own emphasis . The phrase real unreality has a double entendre for simulated imagery. On the level of aesthetics, it refers to the paradoxical merging of realistic visual forms and their illusory nature, as was explained earlier in this chapter. While on a social level, it stresses that although simulated imagery is connected with unreality, it is still produced out of real social wants and needs. Judging from this perspective, the spectacles generated by simulation shall not be merely treated as a collection of stunning images but visually articulated social relations, a set of ideologies translated into material forms ibid: , , . Meanwhile, in the technological sphere of simulation, not only is the hegemony of western traditions and ideologies clearly visible Pryor & Scott, : , but more specifically, it has for long been occupied by a group of white middle-class American males in their thirties and forties (ayward, interests Darley, : : , while being constantly interfered by military and corporate . These social factors are embedded into simulation technologies, encoded into the simulated image, and finally mediated to the mass audience. For example, Douglas Kellner has argued that most video games, based on simulation technologies developed under strong male and military dominance, are mostly spectacles for predatory capitalism and macho militarilism : . Baudrillard, setting off in a McLuhanian perspective, argues that digitality is the message. Looking from this lens, the very productive technique of simulation determines the reception of the simulated image, a process which may result in an extended control of the capitalists over image consumption Baudrillard : . Similarly, Willis contends that imagination becomes reduced to imaging because simulation technology has made the signification process more totalising as it does the imagining for the spectator has argued in the same way that: : . Baudrillard : [N]o contemplation is possible. The role of the messenger is no longer information, but testing and polling, and finally control […] the receiver construe and decode by observing the same procedure whereby the work was assembled. The reading of the message is then only a perpetual examination of the code. Various theorists have characterised mass media products as pre-coded information packages, turning the behaviour of the audience into submission and uniformity (orkheimer & Adorno, ; Debord, e.g. . Meanwhile Darley, drawing from a Mcluhanian tradition, goes beyond this by claiming that this controlled reception is now tightened to the extreme, because the simulated visual spectacles now communicate with the audience by bodily 10 impact rather than signification : . This stresses the link between the increasingly passive status of the spectator and his new pattern of pleasure-obtaining from the simulated illusions. As Darley contends, spectating simulation is an experience not confined within the field of vision but related to all the senses – the sensations of sheer delight, visceral thrill and near-vertigo, of tactility : . And as he has addressed, the tactility of simulated imageries is what makes the audience more submissive to the pre-coded entertainment products. Thus the politics behind simulation is doubly articulated through its both channels of culture and technology. )n summary, the social control and manipulation in our digitally technologized visual culture manifest themselves through the hyper-real, superficial, spectacular and tactile visuality and interactivity of simulation, yet they are also the very traits which elicit infinite sensual pleasure and excitement for the audience. The current situation, looked through this postmodern cultural critique perspective, is indeed pessimistic. (owever, ) would offer a brief critique of these contentions by suggesting their insufficiency of being too much self-evident Willis, : , as it is observed that audience have the ability to read the media product in a counter-hegemonic way (all, . But since this paper does not put audience study under its scope, it will temporarily assume the position that simulation results in a unified pattern of reception, until further research has been conducted. 11 Conceptual Framework As the structure of my theoretical chapter suggests, the conceptual framework for my later analysis of the visual material can be summarised as a triangular relationship among culture, technology and society. )t can be further detailed and illustrated as below: Capitalist Society Social Relation Simulation Image Technology Digital Production Visual Culture Manipulability Illusionism Chart : The Triangular Conceptual Framework. As is shown in the illustration, the three elements under examination here are the spectacular image, its technological vehicle and the social relations which underly both. They further reflect the contemporary visual culture, the digital production process, and the dominations within the capitalist society. The three interacts and communicates with each other through various ways. For example, in the channel between culture and society, the image s specularity is transcribed into ideology, thus the existed social relation is maintained. The other channels can be read similarly. This visualised framework serves as a general summary of the theoretical chapter, while some of the points made previously are not presented for the sake of simplicity. This framework indicates that the research field is consisted of three areas. The starting point of the research is the image, as it is a direct source of visual materials that can be studied. Meanwhile to study the image is at once to study the technologized visual culture, as Shaw : reflects: Visual culture is currently an important field of academic study, not only because cinema and television are ubiquitous but because we recognise that any diagnosis of contemporary conditions must take into account the wide spread influence of these technologies and their effects on all other aspects of culture. (er words indicate that the image and its technology shall be examined as an integral whole. Meawhile, although the relations between the mass-mediated image and its social influences 12 have been sufficiently studied by many recent scholars, as an act of representation e.g. (all, , their work has put too much emphasis on what the image signifies and fails to recognise the transformation of the era from representations to simulations in postmodern digital entertainment industry, a place where the image itself increasingly bears nothing but superficial hypereality. And as was argued in its theoretical chapter, with a goal to critically engage with image production in current show businesses, one has to consciously differentiate simulation from representation, as the former incorporates both the image and its technical production into its message. Anne Willis s contention is regarded as an important guidance for the construction of this conceptual frame work, in which she argues: the naturalistic image … is taken as a given. )magining technologies themselves have not been subject to anywhere near the same level of theoretical enquiry : . Also, she points out the urgent need of investingating the technological in order to study the simulated imagery. As she suggests: Current developments in computer simulated image-making make this absence and these knowledge divisions less operable. They also make it all the more necessary to ground theorisations of the visual culture of late modernity in an analysis of the technological. : The triangular theoretical framework is a response to this claim, as it investigates simultaneously the image and its imaging process, emphasising specifically the technological aspects of the production. Therefore this conceptual framework distinguishing itself from those provided by former critical cultural theorists, as it is a more technologically grounded theorisation of the social relations behind images. Research questions The following research is conducted to answer the how question: (ow are hegemonic ideologies and dominant social control articulated through simulated imageries? This question requires the research to centre on both the production and the image itself, while inspecting the intimate interactions among culture, technology and society. Also, by asking how it simultaneously asks the what questions. For example, what are these ideologies and who are the dominant people? What is exactly the relation between culture, technology anf society? )t is these questions that guides the construction of the following methodology section. 13 Methodology 2 Chosen Methods and Justifications As this paper focuses on the production of computer simulated imagery, it adopts a bi-modal analytical method combining discourse analysis of texts and visual analysis of images to study the visual culture and the underlying social relations. While visual analysis provides a way of engaging with the image itself, discourse analysis is regarded as the major critical method of tackling simulation as a medium and a technical act, by examining various discourses (e.g. media reportages, interviews and other textual/verbal resources) relevant to the image-making, revealing the techniques and procedures of imagery, its producers and its social-political contexts (Rose, 2012: 192-7). Meanwhile, this paper does not classify its methodology as any existing strand of analytical approaches and methods of the visual, as it claims to have a specifically conceived and constructed method for analysing the production of simulated imageries that are covered by this paper. To justify why this paper does not follow any existing strand of visual methodologies, I have to first introduce these strands: In general, past analyses of visual materials were mostly conducted through thematic, auteur-centred, psychoanalytical, ethnographic and semiotic perspectives - among which psycho-analysis and ethnography can be at once excluded for this paper because they are not for analysing production but reception, meanwhile thematic and auteur-centred are also inappropriate because the former is primarily descriptive while the latter is not developed for collaboratively produced mass media products (see Bordwell, 1989; Iedema, 2001; Rose, 2012; Lister & Wells, 2001). On the other hand, semiotics, which builds itself on linguistic theories, is not regarded as a sufficient tool for my research because it focuses too much on interpreting the media content instead of the issues of socio-political context of production (Iedema, 2001: 186), neither does it take into consideration the specificity of the medium and the social/cultural practices built around it (Lister & Wells, 2001: 73). In general, as is criticised in the previous chapter, semiotics as a prevailing visual analysis method tends to focus too much on the visual as texts that they take the image as a pre-given thing by neglecting the technical production behind it, therefore the researchers position themselves more as consumer/reader than as producer (Willis, 1990: 297). 2 In my MC4M1 summative essay I have conducted a pilot for this dissertation, its methodological arguments are partially referred to here, however, as the research question went through a major change, I have changed most of its content to suit the research work here. 14 In contrast, the relatively flexible analytical angle of visual cultural studies is partially referenced by this paper. Visual cultural studies have recently emerged as an effective analytical tool of examining the image, developed in response to the unprecedented influence of imaging and visualising technologies in current media industries (Lister & Wells, 2001: 63). Visual cultural studies incorporates a wide range of methodological approaches, drawing insights from semiotics, psychoanalysis, critical textual and discourse analysis, linking the studies of images, its medium and its social context as a whole (ibid.: 62). As my research puts production, image, and social relations all under the scope, the construction of its methodological approach largely builds on visual cultural studies. However, as has been reflected by my pilot research (in MC4M1 essay) which uses a complete set of methodological procedures that visual cultural studies provides, using cultural studies to study simulated imageries may become too big a scheme to tackle when we consider the fact that culture studies is designed to inspect the whole circuit of culture including links of audience reception and regulation (see Du Gay et al, 1997), while this paper mainly focuses on its very link of production. The methodology is then reformulated by referencing Gillian Rose s concepts on modalities and sites of images (Rose, 2012: 19-40), in which she argues that the visual material is characterised by its three sites - the production, the image and its audiencing, meanwhile each site has its subdivisions of technological, compositional and social modalities. Excluding the site of audiencing, an analytical framework is constructed for this research by referencing her framework of modalities and sites. The Triangular Analytical Framework As has been suggested, the framework and procedure here is inspired by an article introducing cultural studies as a visual methodology (Lister & Wells, 2001), and it also based on Rose s concepts on modalities and sites. I have, however, made major structural changes to both, and merged the two into a new method for specifically analysing the production of simulated imageries, so that key conceptual fields like imaging technology, digital visual culture and hegemonic social relations will be evenly addressed. Matching the conceptual framework raised earlier in the theoretical chapter, the analysis is carried out in three steps, examining the cultural, technological and social modalities of the image. The first step, focusing on the cultural attributes of the simulated imageries, is more about the What? question of the image. By inspecting its graphic (cinematic) and social codes, its genre, its reference and its intertextuality with other media products, this step studies what 15 is the message that the simulated image tries to convey in a cultural level. This step provides a platform where traditional methods of visual analysis (e.g. semiotics) can operate on. The second step is to examine the technological attributes of the simulated image. This is to ask the (ow? question. For example, the researcher may want to know: Who are the producers? How do they describe their work? What digital technique is used to produce the image, and why it is this technique - this style of visual effects, instead of others, that is selected to produce it? More critically, what is being simulated in the process of production? How is the spectacularity of the image constructed? Is the spectacular image closely connected to its technological vehicle? In general, this step provides a stage where the analysis of various textual/verbal discourses on image production takes place. The third step is to examine the social attributes of the simulation. This is more about the Why? question. The researcher may ask: Is there any social or political transformation taking place when the image is produced? What are the imperatives and constraints in which the production and the distribution take place? Can certain unbalanced power relations be observed in its production process? What kind of domination and whose hegemony is observed from the production of the image and the productive technology? This is the stage where a diagnostic cultural critique is formulated. During the analysis, these steps should not be strictly conducted in a linear and separate manner. Instead, they should be organised in a reciprocal and reflexive order, so that the interconnection of the three aspects of the image can be revealed. It further requires a sampling that consciously selects samples which are interconnected by similar characteristics, which will be explained below. Sampling This paper selected two groups of samples, one group of images for visual analysis and another group of texts which are related to the selected images for discourse analysis. A detailed set of procedures of sampling is stated here: Firstly I selected images from three major western entertainment platforms that are closely connected with simulated image-making, including cinema, games and special venue attractions. Due to the sheer amount of digital special effects films in contemporary cinema, a pre-sampling was conducted by referencing a list of the Academy Awards winners from year 2003 to 2012, after which 30 western films3 that uses significant amount of cinematic digital special effects were chosen to be carefully spectated. Four films4 among the list of thirty were 3 4 See all the thirty films listed in Chart 2 on page 17. See films marked orange in Chart 2 on page 17. 16 later selected in the second round of sampling, including the Lord of Rings: the Return of the King (Jackson, 2003), War Horse (Spielberg, 2011), Argo (Affleck, 2012) and Life of Pi (Lee, 2012). Meanwhile four other films5 from this list were selected as some support samples for interpreting the Lord of the Rings, including I, Robot (Proyas, 2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (Mulcahy, 2007), The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Cohen, 2008), and The Dark Knight (Norlan, 2008). 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 CINEMA The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban I, Robot Spider-Man 2 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe King Kong War of the Worlds Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Superman Returns The Golden Compass Resident Evil: Extinction Transformers The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor The Dark Knight Iron Man Avatar District 9 Star Trek Inception Alice in Wonderland Iron Man 2 Real Steel War Horse Rise of the Planet of the Apes Transformers: Dark of the Moon Life of Pi Marvel's The Avengers Argo Prometheus Chart 2: The pre-sampling and final-sampling of films. The sample data of films was further supplemented by a selection from some most acclaimed or acknowledged computer game productions and special venue attractions in recent years that 5 See films marked grey in Chart 2. 17 used advanced digital simulation/imaging techniques, among which a popular game franchise Crysis and a Disney EPCOT attraction called Test Track were selected. Later a group of textual discourses which included media reports and interviews, website blogs and visual effects production documents were selected from various Internet sources. They were selected specifically to complement the first sample group of the images, as they were related to the production process of the selected images. The whole constellation of sampled data was then examined, studied and categorised in to a cross-table6. Note here that during the process the samples were not randomly selected but with a preoccupation that they can interrelate with each other, which meant that most of them had overlapping characteristics as this paper tried to be not only critical but persuasive as well. The sampling method could be classified as purposive sampling (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003), in which the samples selected were regarded by me as appropriate for this specific research. This method of sampling was chosen not only because it requires less effort to be carried out by independent researchers, but also because this research required specifically selected samples that were closely connected to the subject matter. A random sampling method, in contrast, requires too much statistical endeavours and will not generate ideal samples for the research. Issues and Limitations One major limitation spotted is in the stage of data selection, where the sample selected cannot be claimed to be representative for the whole population, as the sampling is a non-probability one – this is the unavoidable deflect of this method. To compensate this insufficiency, I will make justifications of choices for each of the major samples to be referred in the data analysis chapter, to explain its connection with the whole population of simulated entertainment productions. Another issue lies in the method of doing bi-modal visual/discourse analysis. As I was later conducting the data analysis and interpretation, I increasingly found that the visual analytical methods were primarily serving a descriptive role. By occasionally referring to semiology during the analytical process, I have shifted my reading position to a consumer. Although it provides some extent of criticality, the interpretation made by studying the connotation of the image was too self-evident to be considered persuasive. In response to this problem, during the interpretation I chose to closely link the readings through semiotics with the analysis of the discourses on the production chain. In this way, however, the visual analysis incorporated by this methodology has become a complementary means rather than a major one. 6 See Chart 3 on Page 19. 18 Cinema Title Visual Source Attractions War Horse Life of Pi Argo Lord of the Rings Crysis Disney Test Track Drama/War Fantasy/Drama History/Drama Epic/Fantasy First-Person Shooting Slot-car Racing Film still Film poster Film still Website Game Poster Video of touring Message Horse running into barbed wires, bloody and strangled Sampled Discourse Media Reports Media Reports, Interviews Media Reports, Visual Effects Documents Media Blogs, Webpage Interviews Media Reports, Interviews Media Reports Production Computer-Generated Digitally Processed Computer-Generated MASSIVE Simulator CryEngine Sandbox Digital Interactivity Display On film screen in 3D On print media On film screen On film screen Home Screen in 3D Facilities/Screen Gloomy Exotic Authentic Grand/Violent Impactive Futuristic Barbed wires Animal Historic site Epic Warfare Advanced Weaponry Automotive Industry Unbalanced Gender Ratio in Game Industry U.S. Military Global Hegemony Consumerist Car Culture Visual effects Simulation Society 19 Technology Culture Genre Games Social Context Spectacularity Power Relation Protagonist surrounded Tehran cityscape in the by exotic animals and 1970s Iran plants Conflict between animal Impossibility of imaging Political tension cruelty and humanist fantastic picture through between U.S. and Iran theme traditional techniques An epic war between Future soldier wearing Design, evaluate and human and orc, in middleadvanced Nanosuit Ride futuristic vehicles earth battlefield Animal exploitation Occult exoticness Grand authenticity Violent masculinity Military Weaponry Car design and ride Bourgeois Humanism Western Orientalism Political Nationalism Male Dominance Military Power Corporate Control Simulation as Intermediaries of Ideology and Control Simulation Itself as a Site of Dominance Chart 3: the crosstab for summarising sampled data Interpreting Simulation The analysis below is further divided into two chapters. While various ideologies and social dominations are being introduced and discussed in both chapters, it shall be addressed in the beginning that these ideologies and dominations are not the primary concern of this paper although they will be explained and briefly studied - it is the ways in which simulation manifests them that is under careful inspection here. Thus the following sections are not organised according to forms and types of ideologies and dominations but by the relation between simulated image-making and them. The first chapter, for example, will argue that simulation is a bridge being utilised to overcome social and cultural impossibilities for the image-makers, in the process of which the ideological penetration and control embedded in the images are facilitated and extended: Simulation as Intermediaries of Ideology and Control ) Life of Pi – Imaging the unimageable : The film Life of Pi Li, is the winner of Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects. )t can be considered the most dramatic example of current digital special effects cinema, as it achieves stunning spectacularity through heavy usage of digital imaging techniques to simulate various shots which contain animal behaviours. Among the total shots of the film, are visual effect shots Making of Life of Pi , . By using simulated animals instead of real animal performers, this film presents extremely fantastic yet highly convincing images onto the screen, in which animals fight with each other fiercely, or interact with human characters with dramatic intensity. As many media reports have reflected e.g. (iscock, ; Director Ang Lee on the unfilmable Life of Pi , , the triumph of Life of Pi lies in its successful visual transcription of a textual script deemed unfilmable by industry. The research here focuses on this claim made by various media reportages – Life of Pi films an unfilmable script , as it regards this claim as a discourse that requires further inspection. For example, why is the script deemed unfilmable? To answer this we have to refer to the film s diegetic world: Life of Pi narrates a story in which a religious )ndian teenager and a Bengal tiger have survived a shipwreck, and wandered on the sea together in a lifeboat for many days, during the period of which they encounter strange marine creatures, natural disasters and a mysterious island. As can be seen from the synopsis, this extremely fictional storyline is too complex a task for traditional representation techniques to image. Director Ang Lee commented in an interview that: Kid, water, big special effects, animals – and they have to be in a small boat on water. )t seemed to be a filmmaker s every nightmare (iscock, . (e feels this because the traditional filming techniques requires a connection with reality as has been stated in the 20 theoretical chapter , meanwhile the diegetic world in this film is so detached from the real world that the referent is hardly to be found. (owever, digital simulation of water, special effects and animal in this film have overcome this difficulty, as the mechanism behind simulation is to create not to reflect – it does not require a referent. This indicates that simulation in this film is a solution to overcome the aesthetic challenge posed by the cultural practice of filming. (owever this is not the end of the analysis of the film, as it aims at provides a critical inspection of the underlying social relations. Therefore the next question is, how is hegemony and control articulated through these simulated imageries? Figure : Pi, Meerkats, and the Algae )sland Film Poster of Life of Pi To answer this we have to turn to the visual rather than discourse. A film poster see Figure of Life of Pi is selected to be analysed. )n this image, the protagonist is framed in the very centre by meerkats and plants. This picture is digitally manipulated and composited as it has 21 two focal points – one in the front, focusing on three meerkats and one in the far end, focusing on Pi and the mysterious environment. The composition of this image indicates that Pi s ethnicity his skin colour, his clothes and his necklace is but part of an occult exoticness, functioning in the same way with the tropical plants and the sheer number of odd-looking meerkats – which is to differentiate the image from common western experiences. Whereas the poster is not related to digital simulation techniques, the meerkats in this image refer to a major spectacular scene see Figure in the film in which hundreds of thousands of meerkats are simulated to habitat on a small island, serving the occultist theme of the film through their sheer scale and accurate anthropomorphic behaviours. As the occult theme further contributes to the exotic, religious, mysterious and sometimes frightening depiction of the Other , ) would argue that the spectacularity achieved by the film is a product of orientalism, which is a long established way of depicting at the east as exotic and different through western lenses Said, . Figure : Meerkats in Algae )sland still from Life of Pi This also indicates the necessity of studying the unfilmable nature of the script from a critical perspective. The story is so detached from the real world that it cannot be represented but simulated, not only because it is a written fiction, but more profoundly, because it is an extremely distorted western view of the east. This film is a vivid example how western hegemony – in this case orientalism – is using simulation to bridge cultural barriers by imaging the unimageable yet hegemonic discourse on the dominated and powerless the East . ) War Horse – Solving Moral Dilemma. War horse Spielberg, is a war/drama film which narrates a story of a horse named Joey who is sold to cavalry, experiences various wars, 22 and eventually returns safely to his breeder s home. )t is another case in which significant amount of simulated imageries of animals and special effects is produced during the filmmaking. The selected still is from a sequence in which the horse Joey gets scared by the battlefield and frenetically runs straight into a cluster of barbed wire, strangled and bloody. The image contrasts the innocence of the animal with the violence of the war – a horse being seriously hurt in men s battlefields, thus the theme of anti-war and humanism is conveyed by eliciting the spectator s sympathy towards the horse and disgust towards warfare. )t needs to be point out here that humanism is a constantly favoured theme by the director Steven Spielberg as it grants his cinematic productions a universal appeal to global audiences see, for example Steven Spielberg: A (umanist , . Figure : Joey caught by Barbed Wires Still from War (orse (umanism, on the other hand, is a prevailing bourgeois ideology which emphasises its ideal of equality, freedom and reason while masking real social domination and supressing class struggles Althusser, ; Mattick, . This deeply invested ideological control in the film can be revealed by reading the narrative with a Marxist perspective, as Joey can be read as labour and its breeder as capitalist, whereas Joey is being sold and exploited by mankind, experienced all the sufferings as a labour, in the end he still returns to his owner as a loyal servant. Therefore humanism in this film not only conveys its middle-class utopian ideal, but also serves the totality of social control by connoting class submission to its audience. (owever, the major question still remains after this Marxist reading - how is simulation related in this process of social control? Again, the answer is: simulation functions as 23 intermediary which bridges ideological penetration by overcoming social challenges. For War (orse, the filming crew face a dilemma in which to film a real horse contacting actual barbed wires is a direct manifestation of animal cruelty in the filming process, which is contradictory to the humanist ideal the film tries to convey. The image-maker solves this dilemma through simulated imagery - whereas the horse itself is not digitally made, the wires are Failes, . The physics, the materials, the tension of the wire are simulated to be convincing, while the horse in the filming process does not get injured at all. Because of this, the film has generated a cloud of media discourses which stress the film as totally animal friendly in its filming process, a viewing choice for the whole family see for example OConnor, ; On the Set of War (orse , . The War (orse thus maintains its ideology of humanism through simulation. And as its humanist theme provides better market penetration, its social control as propagandising class submission is further massively mediated. ) Argo7 – Bridging Political Barriers. The film Argo is a history/drama film produced by (ollywood studios, distributed globally. )t narrates a story in which six Americans trapped in the )ranian Revolution were being rescued by a C)A agent. The film is chosen to be studied here not because it belongs to the emergent digital spectacle genre, but because it deliberately packages its simulated imagery as an authentic representation in order to serve its underlying ideology. Argo demonstrates vividly how simulated image-making can be used to overcome political obstacles and extend the power reach of dominant ideologies - in this case, nationalism promoted by the United States government. The film is produced under a circumstance that filming in the s )ran is physically impossible, and filming in contemporary )ran is politically impossible McMurry, : . The situation can be said to be resulted by a broader social context in which the political tension between )ran and the United States is being exacerbated by various issues such as military dispute, nuclear weapons and terrorism, as various news have reported see, for example, Porter, ; )ran arming Taliban, . Meanwhile digital technology provides an alternative of making images about past )ran without going to the actual location. Thus many shots of the cityscape of )ran in this film are not filmed by camera but actually computer-simulated and generated Kaufman, . )n general, Argo can be considered as a vivid example which uses simulation to bridge political barriers of production, and as a result, the dominant nationalist ideology behind the film is channelled and enforced by the simulated imageries. 7 ) have used this as a pilot sample in my MC M essay. 24 This still image see Figure , captured from a major establishing shot of the film which shows the cityscape of Tehran with its landmark Azadi Tower taking the central position, is among the most spectacular digital imageries of the film. The production behind this shot uses grand, authentic and accurate visual effects to package the simulation as real footage. )n the ARGO Visual Effects Supporting Statement, Gregory McMurry, Visual Effects Supervisor of the film, recalls the production of this shot: The mantra behind this shot was details, details, details - you ll see leaves moving on the trees, of-the-era cars circling the ring road, long shadows affected by the pollution haze […] digital people going about their lives and even dirt on the camera lens. All of this helps sell the realism of the shot and maintains the grainy hand-held documentary feel the director was after. McMurry, : As is stated by McMurry, the visual effects of this image are designed to serve the claimed realism of the film. More specifically, through incorporating cinematic conventions into the simulation, such as haze , dirt on lens , handheld feel, grainy textures, and a combination of high point of view, deep depth of field and slow camera movement, the image is digitally assembled to signify an aerial shot of the corresponding location. Put in other words, the entire endeavour behind the image is to substitute the visual sign digitally recreated image with the another visual sign an aerial shot , whereas the referent is absent the real cannot be retrieved . Tehran is past and Figure : The digitally simulated Azadi Tower Still from Argo This image s realistic visual effects have resulted in the concealment of the simulation process, as many spectators may notice the grand realism of the shot while fail to notice the shot is artificially synthesised. Thus the simulation here is invisible – or successful as it silently substitutes the referent without anyone noticing. )t is subservient to the narrative and themes of 25 this film, extending its representation to areas that are beyond the traditional act of cinematography. The image thus functions just like representation. Visually it aesthetizes and stereotypes the landscape of )ran into a single landmark, stressing its difference rather than similarity with many American cities. The concreteness and lifelessness of the architecture also connotes a sense of alienation and potential danger. This picture is similar to Life of Pi in the way that the powerful is imaging the powerless at will – through simulation technologies. )ran is coded as the Other by this image, due to its inferior status in the U.S.–)ran opposition, just like the East in Life of Pi. (owever it is also different from Life of Pi as it claims itself to be documentarily authentic, while the latter, a fictional fantasy, has no such intention. )f Life of Pi and War (orse are using simulation primarily for the purposes of entertainment, then Argo is different in that it uses simulation more as a political discourse which manifests the global hegemony of the U.S. governments. )t achieves this goal by using simulation as a tool of facilitating authenticity. Whereas its narrative and images suggest strong nationalist ideologies, its very act of imaging )ran regardless of the political barrier of filming is also a manifestation of power and control. More dramatically, on February , , this manifestation was hyped to the extreme by another political discourse created by the U.S. government, in which First Lady Michelle Obama announced Argo as the winner of Academy Award for Best Picture, live from the Diplomatic Room of the White (ouse Cirrili, . Judging from this perspective, Argo is similar to the cases discussed below, in which simulation no longer merely functions as a background intermediary channelling ideology and visuality, but also itself as simulating rather than what is being simulated is increasingly becoming a site of overt manifestation of dominance and hegemony: Simulation Itself as a Site of Dominance This section argues that instead of being mere background intermediaries, simulation itself is also a site dominated by various ideologies, especially the ideology of its technological producers – who are characterised by their male, military and corporate traits. Although ) acknowledge that these traits usually appear together rather than alone, ) have to use three separate cases representing three platforms of entertainment cinema, video games and Disney attractions to demonstrate each of them for the sake of the structure of this chapter. ) would start the analysis of this section by examining a still from the Lord of the Rings franchise, to first propose that simulation is a manifestation of male dominance: ) Lord of the Rings – Male Dominance. A still see Figure on page scene in the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King Jackson, 26 is captured from a in which hundreds of thousands of human and orc warriors are killing each other in a fictional middle-earth battlefield with gigantic war elephants rushing through warzones. This shot incorporates militancy, brutality and violence all together into its extreme masculinity. (owever, rather than claiming this male-centeredness as some third-party ideology going through a channel facilitated by simulation - like what ) have done in the previous section, ) would argue here that this predominant masculinity is more of an attribute of simulation itself. Figure : A still from the Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King. This is to stress simulation as a male technology . For example, the grand battlefield scene this image represents is generated primarily by a computer simulation programme called MASS)VE Multiple Agent Simulation System in Virtual Environment Thompson, . The development of MASS)VE simulator is a process dominated by male: it is conceived and financed by a male film producer – Peter Jackson, programmed by a male computer scientist - Stephen Regelous, to satisfy Jackson s masculine goal of simulating massive attack ibid. . Meanwhile the image-makers who engage with the MASS)VE programme to produce this scene in Lord of the Rings are also predominantly male - in a series of interviews8 provided by the official webpage of the Lord of the Rings, among all the interviewed visual effects producers who are responsible for the production of this simulated battle scene, thirteen are male while only one is female 9 – an extremely unbalanced gender ratio. 8 9 Interview data retrieved from: http://www.lordoftherings.net/effects/prologue_frame.html I counted the numbers myself. 27 This complies with the fact that one of the most prosperous fields of simulation in the entertainment industry – the cinematic visual effects production, is dominated by male workforce. For instance, in the long list 10 of various artists awarded by the Best Visual Effects of Academy Awards, from - no single female is present. This skewed gender distribution in simulated imagery production reflects the general situation in the current computing and information technology industries. For example, statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics and Catalyst showed that in female Misa, : - only ; Foust-Cummings et al, - % of American computing workforce was . To demonstrate the gender unbalance in simulation industry is to highlight its social shaping as a male technology. Thus inevitably the very act of simulating is embedded with masculine traits. Violence, warfare, destruction and death are the predominant theme of simulation, not only because they are spectacular but also because they are a manifestation of the embedded male dominance of the technology. )t can be further argued that since medium is the message and the production technique determines the very meaning of its visual product McLuhan, Baudrillard, : ; , simulation as a male technology is masculinising our spectacular visual culture. This can be seen from the case of MASS)VE, as many of the films which adopt its simulation techniques have a similar pattern of displaying screen masculinity through depicting epic warfare, mass destruction and violent death11. )n this way, militant male dominance is constantly displayed and reproduced through the adoption of simulation technologies in mass media products. The following points to be made within this section detach themselves from the field of cinematic production by turning to the interactive entertainment industry computer games and special venue attractions , as this field is not only characterised by its dramatic male dominance for example, in UK game industry female game producer make up only - per cent of the whole workforce [)van, ] , but moreover, this male-centeredness is intimately interweaved with military and corporate interests. ) Crysis – Hegemonic Military Discourse. A poster see Figure videogame franchise Yerli, and on page of the Crysis is used here as a starting point for explaining the connection between computer games and military hegemony. The image depicts a battle on a city street. The destroyed city indicates that the context is set in warfare while the style of the architectures tells us the time is contemporary. )n contrast with this contemporary setting, a man wearing futuristic armour is positioned in the left as if he is the protagonist. (e is not under 10 See Appendice 1 on Page 41-44 for a detailed list. See Appendice 2 on Page 45 for a set of stills from films which use MASSIVE to achieve similar effects to the Lord of the Rings Franchise. 11 28 cover – which implies that he is not afraid of being shot, or further suggests that the futuristic suit he is wearing may be advanced enough to protect him from rifle bullets as well as the explosion next to him. Thus this image is using its entire elements to address this armour. Figure : A Poster of the Crysis Frachise Discourses of and on this game further explains the poster. For example, from the game s narrative we know that this armour is named Nanosuit . )t can be considered as one major spectacle of the game, as the gameplay involves intimately around this high-tech suit. Meanwhile from an interview, the game producer claimed that the concept of Nanosuit was based on a real U.S. military project named the Future Force Warrior Booker, . Despite this game s general theme of military action in the narrative, it can be argued that its relation with military discourse is much complicated than this. Firstly, the game belongs to a category known as First-person Shooting FPS , which is an extremely popular game genre that centres on projectile weapon-based combat through a first-person perspective the player experiences the action through the vision of his screen avatar . FPS has a unique relationship with military institutions, in the way that the technologies which shaped its early-stage development in the late s were adapted from combat flight simulators and tank simulators developed primarily for the U.S. army Garmon, . Therefore the FPS can be regarded as a genre deeply embedded with military discourses from the beginning of its technological development. The military discourse in Crysis is clearly visible: in the first episode of the game, for example, the player is deployed as an U.S. Delta Force soldier, whose objective is to fight North Korean and 29 alien enemies. This storyline complies with the uniform pattern of most FPS games, in which the player serves the army which is predominantly American by carrying out orders. Note here how the military discourse is transferred from the technology to the game content – it is because the simulation technology in FPS originates from military laboratories that the game space in FPS becomes a site of reproducing military combat actions. On the other hand, Crysis not only displays military discourse as a military-shaped technological artefact, but also reflects the latest global hegemony of the U.S. military through its simulation of military discourses. For example, in Crysis, the intimate connection between the fictional Nanosuit and its real world counterpart in the U.S. military proposal, as well as the realistic setting of contemporary U.S. Delta Force troops, both indicate that this type of games is being continuously influenced by contemporary military activities and weaponry designs, as it constantly draws inspirations from these discourses to formulate selling point for its gamers. Moreover, the act of simulating military discourse may further become a means of propagandising the global hegemony of the advanced U.S. military. For example, in the case of Crysis, the Nanosuit is vital for the survival in the game since player can manipulate the protagonist s body mechanism such as strength, speed, cloak and armour through interacting with the suit Booker, . The player is thus conveyed a message that in the game he can kill and conquer due to the fact that he is a superiorly equipped American soldier. )n contrast, the North Korean soldier in this game who is depicted as less technologically equipped assume a rather inferior status as they become mere shooting targets for the player. Therefore, Crysis is shaped by military domination both as a genre which laid foundation on military simulators, and as a latest game production which draws inspirations from contemporary military discourses. )n turn, the hegemonic military discourses are reproduced and channelled to its player through his interaction with the simulated space the game provides. Similar to the case of the Lord of the Rings, simulation in this sense is more of an overt site of manifesting domination rather than being a background intermediary of channelling ideological penetration for other cultural practices. ) Test Track – Immersive Corporate Propaganda. The last selected sample for this section is a video clip 12 see Figure on page showing the complete touring of a slot car attraction named Test Track, located in Disney World Resort, Florida. )n this -minute long video recording, the camera holder starts his tour by entering the first block of the attraction – the Chevrolet Design Studio in which various Chevrolet concept vehicles were on display. Later he/she walks in a sector where he/she designs a futuristic car with the help of a computer programme. Then the camera holder boards a Chevrolet Sim-Car and is taken through a 12 Video data retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBDLPOkqstw 30 digitally simulated testing ground surrounded by large arrays of screens of the SimTrack . After a series of simulated evaluations, he/she experiences an outdoor high-speed slot-car riding. When the ride is finished, the camera holder enters a showroom where various models of Chevrolet cars are displayed. Figure : A still from the video recording of touring the Test Track. Unlike films and video games, Test Track is a physical space rather than a two-dimensional image, yet it can still be considered as a relevant sample for this research, as the experience it provides is predominantly visual and digital. Different from simulation rides where the audience is shown a movie while their seats move to correspond to the action on screen, Test Track provides a much more complex simulation in which a complete flow of industrial design, manufacturing, evaluation and ride of cars takes place as interactive entertainments. )ts significance for this research lies in the fact that it is a site deeply embedded by corporate interest and technologies and simultaneously a place which disseminates corporate control. This attraction is interwoven with corporate dominance in both technological and cultural aspects. Technological as it belongs to the game genre of racing simulation, of which the technologies, facilities and apparatus are always closely connected to automotive corporations. As reported, in , Disney )magineers visited the Milford Proving Ground owned by General Motors GM and later made a second trip to the facility and collaborated with GM to create Test Track Worlds of motion, . This resulted in an attraction which resorts to the simulation of automotive industries as a form of entertainment. )n this way, General Motors, as an automotive giant, embeds its consumerist car culture into every apparatus and technology of the 31 touring experience. For example, as is shown in the video recording see Figure , in the simulated process of designing the futuristic vehicle, the interaction with the design simulator is more like customising it from a perspective as consumer. With options of changing paint, wheels and adding accessories, the experience is closer to buying a car online through figuring out a combination of choices rather than conceiving an industrial product in design studios. Thus the simulation disseminates corporate control over the guests of the attraction by fostering consumerism through their interactive experiences. Figure : Another still from the video recording of touring the Test Track. This dominance is also economic, as the GM Corporation obtains the financial superiority when it chooses to become the major sponsor of the attraction. The situation is reflected in the transformation from Test Track s predecessor - World in Motion to its current form, as in GM requested Disney to alter the whole touring experience of World in Motion - the previous slot-car attraction in Disney EPCOT resort, by substituting its main section of demonstrating the history of transportation with a new one which would focuses specifically around their automobiles World of Motion , . The economic power of GM then transforms the entertainments in Test Track into an advertisement of its own products, as we see deep infiltration of the Chevrolet brand a marque of GM into almost every aspect of the touring experiences. For example, the golden Chevrolet logo is frequently seen in every room the camera holder enters. On every car designed by the guests, a Chevrolet logo and a classic Chevrolet grille design is automatically generated. 32 Furthermore, with its showrooms of current and future models of Chevrolet cars, the attraction bears huge similarity to a dedicated Chevrolet auto show. Therefore, in general the case of Test Track indicates corporate control in current entertainment of interactive simulation in two aspects. First one is that dominant corporate embeds its prevailing ideologies into the entertainment by exporting its technological infrastructure the apparatus and facilities to simulation, thereby its hegemonic control is disseminated though consumers interactions with these infrastructures. Second one is that corporates continue to dominant the simulated discourse through exerting their economic power to affect the act of simulation, transforming it into their own propagandas. Summary The interpretation of selected samples has argued in two aspects that simulation both covertly mediates and overtly manifests social dominance and control. In the first section it argued that simulation, as a novel and powerful technological vehicle, has been used by various visual producers to overcome challenges posed by current social/political/cultural issues and conflicts. During this process, the spectacular images it enables have greatly expanded the ideological and hegemonic control of the cultural artefacts produced, penetrating areas where traditional image-making techniques cannot reach. Therefore, simulation in this sense can be considered as silent intermediaries which bridge barriers for the act of extending social domination for the powerful groups. In the second section it has moved on to argue that simulation itself is also a dramatic site of manifesting dominance by proposing three major characteristics of simulation – male, military and corporate – with three cases. It has revealed in each case that powerful groups and institutions not only shape simulation at its early stages of technological development, but also, they continue to influence simulation throughout its later trajectory, by exerting their hegemonic discursive power and economic superiority. Their shaping of simulation has transformed it to a place where ideological propaganda and social control are being constantly reproduced. This interpretation thus replies the research question How are hegemonic ideologies and dominant social control articulated through simulated imagery? by proposing two possible answers, one is that simulation functions as intermediaries of ideological penetration, and the other is that simulation itself is a place of the overt expression and reproduction of hegemony. Furthermore it provides a respond to the sub-question what are these ideologies and who are the dominant people? by using both its sections to contend that contemporary simulated imagery-making industries are places dominated by powerful social groups and institutions 33 which are predominantly western, middle-class, male, military, political or corporate, their ideologies varies from nationalism, humanism to consumerism and orientalism. While for the question What is exactly the relation between culture, technology anf society? , this research answers by revealing that the contemoprary visual culture and its various digital technologies are all subservient to and manipuated by the politics of simulation. Therefore, this research validates the major contentions made earlier in the theoretical chapter, by claiming that both culture and technology are places of maintaining the totality of social dominantion and control. 34 Conclusion This paper focused on the field of simulated image-making by critically studying the complex interaction among spectacular image, its digital production and the underlying social relations in both its theoretical and research chapters. In the theoretical chapter it has grounded the theories of simulation in three aspects - the cultural, the technological and the social. It argued that simulation was simultaneously a unique cultural practice, a novel imaging technique and a site of social domination and control. It thus developed a triangular conceptual framework based on the three for conducting the following research. In the methodological chapter, it denied the traditional approaches of visual analysis of examining simulated-imageries, as it contended that they were insufficient in the way that they were developed for studying photographic representations instead of digitally produced illusionistic images. It later formulated a bi-modal analytical method which combined visual analysis of the image with discourse analysis of its production chain, by referring to visual cultural studies and some other relevant methodological literature. The research was later carried out by inspecting six cases, including four films, a computer game and a special venue attraction. As it aimed to provide a diagnostic critique of the current entertainment industry, it focused more on critically engaging with the hegemonic social relations in both the technological and cultural aspects of simulated image-making, rather than providing descriptive accounts on the aesthetics and mechanism of simulation in current entertainment industries. The analysis of the selected data grouped the relation between simulation and social domination/control into two categories. The first group of samples argued that simulation is a background intermediary which covertly bridges social-political-cultural barriers for the extending of ideological penetration of its visual products. The second group of data revealed that simulation as both an act and a product was also a site of overt manifestation of social dominance, which was characterised by its male, military and corporate traits. The empirical study thus provides a critical analysis of current western entertainment industries by proposing that digital simulation is clearly not inaugurating a new era of social relations but maintaining its current hierarchies and inequalities. This paper has claimed itself to be a response to the unprecedented level of digital simulated image-making in the culture industries, and a response to the lack of research and also means of research on this field. Therefore both its theoretical chapter and research chapters were conceived and written in order to study simulation with unique perspectives, enough criticality and some academic depth. However, it also recognises that to study the social relations and 35 effects of digital simulation one cannot focus only on the homogenised production end while neglecting that it is the heterogeneity of the reception that marks its diversity as a cultural practice. Thus further research should be conducted in the light of audience reception of simulated imageries. This goal, as already suggested in the introductory, will be the major guidance for my second dissertation in the following year. (11,749 words) 36 Reference (including visual and textual sources for empirical studies): 1. Affleck, B. (Director & Producer). (2012). Argo [Motion Picture]. United States: Warner Bros. 2. Althusser, L. (2003). The Humanist Controversy (G. M. Goshgarian, Trans). In Matherom, F. (Ed) The Humanist Controversy and Other Writings, pp. 221-306. London: Verso. 3. Baudrillard, J. (1983). Simulations. New York: Semiotext(e). 4. Baudrillard, J. (1988). The Ecstasy of Communication. New York: Semiotext(e). 5. Baudrillard, J. (1995). Simulacra and Simulation (S. F. Glaser, Trans). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press (Original work published in 1981). 6. Benjamin, W. (2008). 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United States: Electronic Arts. 40 Appendices: Chart 4: Nominees of Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects from 1977 – 2012. Year Film Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 (50th) Star Wars 1978 (51st) Superman (Special Achievement Award) Alien The Black Hole 1979 (52nd) Moonraker 1941 Star Trek: The Motion Picture 1980 (53rd) The Empire Strikes Back (Special Achievement Award) Dragonslayer 1981 (54th) Raiders of the Lost Ark 1982 (55th) 1983 (56th) Blade Runner E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial Poltergeist Return of the Jedi (Special Achievement Award) Ghostbusters 1984 (57th) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 2010 Cocoon 1985 (58th) Return to Oz Will Vinton, Ian Wingrove, Zoran Perisic and Michael Lloyd Young Sherlock Holmes Dennis Muren, Kit West, John Ellis and David W. Allen Robert Skotak, Stan Winston, John Richardson and Suzanne Benson Lyle Conway, Bran Ferren and Martin Gutterridge Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Garry Waller and William Neil Dennis Muren, William George, Harley Jessup and Kenneth F. Smith Joel Hynek, Robert M. Greenberg, Richard Greenberg and Stan Winston Richard Edlund, Al DiSarro, Brent Boates and Thaine Morris Ken Ralston, Richard Williams, Edward Jones and George Gibbs Dennis Muren, Michael McAlister, Phil Tippett and Chris Evans John Bruno, Dennis Muren, Hoyt Yeatman and Dennis Skotak Aliens 1986 (59th) Little Shop of Horrors Poltergeist II: The Other Side Innerspace 1987 (60th) Predator Die Hard 1988 (61st) Who Framed Roger Rabbit Willow The Abyss 1989 (62nd) Nominees Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein and Richard Yuricich John Stears, John Dykstra, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune and Robert Blalack Les Bowie, Colin Chilvers, Denys Coop, Roy Field, Derek Meddings and Zoran Perisic H. R. Giger, Carlo Rambaldi, Brian Johnson, Nick Allder and Dennis Ayling Peter Ellenshaw, Art Cruickshank, Eustace Lycett, Danny Lee, Harrison Ellenshaw and Joe Hale Derek Meddings, Paul Wilson and John Evans William A. Fraker, A.D. Flowers and Gregory Jein Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Richard Yuricich, Robert Swarthe, Dave Stewart and Grant McCune Brian Johnson, Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren and Bruce Nicholson Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, Ken Ralston and Brian Johnson Richard Edlund, Kit West, Bruce Nicholson and Joe Johnston Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer Carlo Rambaldi, Dennis Muren and Kenneth F. Smith Richard Edlund, Michael Wood and Bruce Nicholson Richard Edlund, Dennis Muren, Ken Ralston and Phil Tippett Richard Edlund, John Bruno, Mark Vargo and Chuck Gaspar Dennis Muren, Michael McAlister, Lorne Peterson and George Gibbs Richard Edlund, Neil Krepela, George Jenson and Mark Stetson Ken Ralston, Ralph McQuarrie, Scott Farrar and David Berry The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Richard Conway and Kent Houston Back to the Future Part II Ken Ralston, Michael Lantieri, John Bell and Steve Gawley 41 Year 1990 (63rd) Film Total Recall (Special Achievement Award) Backdraft 1991 (64th) Hook Terminator 2: Judgment Day Alien 3 1992 (65th) Batman Returns Death Becomes Her Cliffhanger 1993 (66th) Jurassic Park The Nightmare Before Christmas Forrest Gump 1994 (67th) The Mask True Lies Apollo 13 1995 (68th) Babe Dragonheart 1996 (69th) Independence Day Twister The Lost World: Jurassic Park 1997 (70th) Starship Troopers Titanic 1998 (71st) Armageddon Mighty Joe Young What Dreams May Come 1999 (72nd) The Matrix Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace Stuart Little Gladiator 2000 (73rd) Hollow Man The Perfect Storm Nominees Eric Brevig, Rob Bottin, Tim McGovern and Alex Funke Mikael Salomon, Allen Hall, Clay Pinney and Scott Farrar Eric Brevig, Harley Jessup, Mark Sullivan and Michael Lantieri Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Gene Warren, Jr. and Robert Skotak Richard Edlund, Alec Gillis, Tom Woodruff, Jr. and George Gibbs Michael Fink, Craig Barron, John Bruno and Dennis Skotak Ken Ralston, Doug Chiang, Doug Smythe and Tom Woodruff, Jr. Neil Krepela, John Richardson, John Bruno and Pamela Easley Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri Pete Kozachik, Eric Leighton, Ariel Velasco Shaw and Gordon Baker Ken Ralston, George Murphy, Stephen Rosenbaum and Allen Hall Scott Squires, Steve Williams, Tom Bertino and Jon Farhat John Bruno, Thomas L. Fisher, Jacques Stroweis and Patrick McClung Robert Legato, Michael Kanfer, Leslie Ekker and Matt Sweeney Scott E. Anderson, Charles Gibson, Neal Scanlan and John Cox Scott Squires, Phil Tippett, James Straus and Kit West Volker Engel, Douglas Smith, Clay Pinney and Joseph Viskocil Stefen Fangmeier, John Frazier, Habib Zargarpour and Henry La Bounta Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal M. Dutra and Michael Lantieri Phil Tippett, Scott E. Anderson, Alec Gillis and John Richardson Robert Legato, Mark Lasoff, Thomas L. Fisher and Michael Kanfer Richard R. Hoover, Patrick McClung and John Frazier Rick Baker, Hoyt Yeatman, Allen Hall and Jim Mitchell Joel Hynek, Nicholas Brooks, Stuart Robertson and Kevin Mack John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley and Jon Thum John Knoll, Dennis Muren, Scott Squires and Rob Coleman John Dykstra, Jerome Chen, Henry F. Anderson III and Eric Allard John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke and Stan Parks Scott E. Anderson, Craig Hayes, Scott Stokdyk and Stan Parks Stefen Fangmeier, Habib Zargarpour, John Frazier and Walt Conti 42 Year Film A.I. Artificial Intelligence 2001 (74th) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Pearl Harbor The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 (75th) Spider-Man 2003 (76th) 2004 (77th) Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow Clones The Lord of the Rings: The Return of Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex the King Funke Master and Commander: The Far Side Dan Sudick, Stefen Fangmeier, Nathan McGuinness and of the World Robert Stromberg Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Terry Frazee the Black Pearl Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson, and William Azkaban George I, Robot Spider-Man 2 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 2005 (78th) Nominees Dennis Muren, Scott Farrar, Stan Winston and Michael Lantieri Jim Rygiel, Randall William Cook, Richard Taylor and Mark Stetson Eric Brevig, John Frazier, Ed Hirsh and Ben Snow Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara and John Frazier King Kong War of the Worlds John Nelson, Andrew R. Jones, Erik Nash, and Joe Letteri John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney, and Scott Farrar Joe Letteri, Brian Van't Hul, Christian Rivers, and Richard Taylor Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Randal M. Dutra, and Daniel Sudick Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006 (79th) Poseidon Superman Returns The Golden Compass 2007 (80th) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and John Frazier Transformers Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl, and John Frazier The Dark Knight Iron Man Avatar 2009 (82nd) Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett, and John Frazier Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover, and Jon Thum Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris, and Trevor Wood Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 2008 (81st) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson, and Allen Hall District 9 Star Trek Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton, and Craig Barron Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber, and Paul Franklin John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick, and Shane Mahan Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew R. Jones Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, and Matt Aitken Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, and Burt Dalton 43 Year 2010 (83rd) 2011 (84th) 2012 (85th) Film Nominees Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Inception Bebb Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Alice in Wonderland Phillips Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Part 1 Aithadi Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Hereafter Farrell Iron Man 2 Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick Hugo Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Part 2 Richardson Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, and Real Steel Swen Gillberg Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes Daniel Barrett Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, and John Transformers: Dark of the Moon Frazier Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan de Boer Life of Pi and Donald R. Elliott Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Christopher White Marvel's The Avengers Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Prometheus Martin Hill Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould, and Snow White and the Huntsman Michael Dawson Chart 4: Nominees of Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects from 1977 – 2012. 44 45 Figure 9: Stills from four other films which use the MASSIVE simulator. Top left: Resident Evil: Extinction (Mulcahy, 2007); Top right The Dark Knight (Norlan, 2008); Bottom left: I, Robot (Proyas, 2004), Bottom right: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (Cohen, 2008).