In this theory the syntagm is a linear stringing together of elements while at the paradigmatic each new element is chosen from a set of other related elements. In this case, the elements in syntagm dimensions are related in praesentia: it is the flow of words we hear, or the shots we see. On a paradigmatic dimension the elements are related in absentia: they exist in our minds or stuffed away in a database. To quote Manovich: “the database of choices from which narrative is constructed (the paradigm) is implicit; while the actual narrative (the syntagm) is explicit”. In New Media projects, this is reversed according to Manovich. The paradigmatic database is tangible, while the syntagmatic narrative is virtual. Lev Manovich defines soft cinema as the creative possibilities at the intersection of software culture, cinema, and architecture. Its manifestations include films, dynamic visualizations, computer-driven installations, architectural designs, print catalogs, and DVDs. In parallel, the project investigates how the new representational techniques of software cinema can be deployed to address the new dimensions of our time, such as the rise of mega-cities, the "new" Europe, and the effects of information technologies on subjectivity. Manovich calls on 4 different criteria to define Soft Cinema in his research:  1. Following the standard convention of the human-computer interface, the display area is always divided into multiple frames. Using a set of rules defined by the authors, the Soft Cinema software controls  both the layout of the screen (number and position of frames) and the sequences of media elements that appear in these frames. The media elements (video clips, sound, still images, text, etc.) are selected  from a large database to construct a potentially unlimited number of different films. In Soft Cinema ‘films’ video is used as only one type of representation among  others: motion graphics, 3D animations, diagrams, etc. The original piece was created for the 2002 "Soft Cinema installation", for an exhibition titled 'Future Cinema: Cinematic Imaginary after Film.'  "Texas" looks at the 'Modern experience of living between layers', that is, how time has created different 'layers' of space throughout the world we live in. The film calls on a number of databases, each structured in the same fashion. The database containing video footage (as opposed to music) holds 425 clips selected from footage that Manovich himself shot at various locations over several years.