the question was posed to us about editing and speed, specifically do fast cuts mean fast action and slow cuts mean slow (and visa versa). it was interesting to note when I was doing this exercise that the opposite actually occurred – using fast cuts for something fast (ie. the cars on the freeway) made them appear slower than they were due to the jolted nature of where they appear on the screen. this was unexpected for me and the traffic didn’t appear nearly as “fast” as it did using only my eyes. on the other hand, using the same cuts for the washing going slowly around the machine made it almost appear faster… so the principle of fast cutting – fast movement works for slower objects, but not in the case of objects that are already moving fast. generally in films, fast cutting denotes a lot of action, or things moving in a faster pace. I have pointed out with my videos and this task that maybe this is not the case when you are already filming something that is moving fast…

fast cut

fast static

slow cut

slow static 1-

 

– don’t try to ‘fit’ your documentary into a model or taxonomy > let the work itself inform what mode it fits into after the fact

– we are all part of participatory formats and have been engaging with this material for years (has been happening for years before documentary came to the party)

– johnny cash project example

– legalities involved in participatory formats > contribution contracts

– youtube relies on content from outside simply to exist > documentary on the other hand functions to make a comment or statement

– film documentary (relies on characters coming along to contribute or be the subject) interactive documentary (relies on contributors participating)

– look at what the actual form allows (korsakov) and what you technically can DO with it before you create a meaning or try to embed meaning

shadow

not light

light:

digital video and alexandre astruc’s camera-stylo: the new avant-garde documentary realised? 

– “the cinema, like literature, is not so much a particular art as a language which can express any sphere of thought” – (Astruc in Graham 1968: 19)
– a new media technology provides a new means of expression: means new aesthetic, new mode of construction and a new pattern of production & distribution
– the spectrum of uses for the technology has been opened up allowing greater possibilities for both modern and alternative uses (contemporary & avant grade)
– with every new shift in technology (for example new developments from film to vhs to online media) there has been wider capabilities and a larger reach for amateurs and professionals alike
– internet and the world wide web along with products such as iMovie and the way users are now able to capture & edit footage easily has change distribution and production
– mobile media is another massive leap – a phone is no longer just a phone but also a device for capturing and sharing photographs and video
– the developments spoken of have been mainly in economic availability (there is not such a big gap in quality between professionals and what equipment is available to the general public), miniaturisation (ie. the iPhone, equipment is no longer space consuming and difficult to access), new and alternative forms of distribution (ie. youtube)
– new & experimental forms have an effect on a wider sphere today than they once did (commercial and institutional) experimental form is no longer so far removed from the generic
– the internet has caused the wall between private and public spheres to disappear (both in the way that the mass media has industry has been able to interrupt he private sphere and the individual’s ability to now engage and contribute to public discourse)
– Habermans has concerns about the consequences of such change, particularly in how contributions by intellectuals are losing focus amidst the wealth of unedited, uninformed information in the public domain
– youtube is an example of a new distribution model or form allowing new expressions and uses of the visual medium
– amateurs have been able to find a mass audience that would not have been possible in the past > the question this raises is whether this is really a good thing ?