In Manovich’s β€œPrinciples of New Media” he talks about the idea of modularity. β€œMedia elements … are represented as collections of discrete samples. These elements are assembled into larger-scale objects but continue to maintain their separate identities.” This quote describes how there are different elements in a single media but each individual element comes together as a collective, but their identities still remain.Β 

This part stood out to me as it made me realize all the little details when playing my favorite games. In games, there is the audio, the dialogue and background music, then there’s the visuals, and the texts that come with the dialogue. All these elements work together to make the game more enjoyable but one element can be changed without affecting the overall work. For example, the background music can be changed without making every other feature in the game without compromising the overall enjoyable experience. 

The passage also reminds me of being in a dance team. In a dance team, each dancer is like a module, where they all have their own unique role, timing, and movements. Everyone is doing their moves but the outcome creates a cohesive performance. If someone is no longer able to perform, the choreography can be altered or the dancer can be replaced and the overall performance would be not compromised and can still continue smoothly, which is similar to modules as modules can be swapped or adjusted without greatly affecting the final big artwork. They both also rely on being able to adapt. Dancer must be able to adapt to changes in choreography like the tempo or moves in general just like how modular systems in new media makes it easy to change elements of it. In both systems, there is an emphasis on balancing both independence and collaboration.