Integrated Media – Reading #1: The field of digital documentary: a challenge to documentary theorists

In the reading entitled ‘The field of digital documentary:
a challenge to documentary theorists’ Craig Hight, discusses how the mode of documentary making through film has transcended the barriers of film to cinema format, and has become formatted for crossing multiple mediums such as computers (internet), television, cinema and portable devices (tablets, smart phones, portable video players, etc.). He contends that the remediation of documentary film to a more multifaceted platform, as well as the use of portable and more durable video/audio recording devices, has allowed for the lines between amateur and professional documentary making to become blurred. He also notes how there is a “Radical shift in the basis of documentary culture”, as documentary has been “appropriated” as a ramification of the relationships between “old and new media” which has resulted in this modern way of integrated media, through web uploading and online streaming of mp4 files (video). From my understanding, I identify a reiteration of what he is saying multiple times, as he delves deeply into the specifications of the remediation of media and the internet as a media platform. It provoked me to think mostly about YouTube and how we can now link video with different social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter. The relation to documentary, however, can be perceived in the modern day world by even the documentation of peoples everyday lives through ‘vlogging’ and the sharing of these videos to express their participation in popular culture of today. It is of my understanding that this reading is covering how media has been remediated and changed as a result of technology through the decades, and is now a product of integration between different platforms and mediums.