MediatedExperienceFilter

March 26, 2007 4:17 PM

I'm looking for scholarly research and writing on the topic of experience mediated through recording devices, with an emphasis on cell-phone still/video cameras, point-and-shoots, etc -- casual, frequent media gathering activities performed by nonprofessionals in support of blogging and other personal storytelling.

As part of grad-school prep, I've been reading a lot of papers regarding everyday storytelling using multimedia (think blogging, flickr, youtube skits, etc). One aspect these specific papers haven't touched is how the use of recording equipment for media-gathering affects the individual's experience of events, as opposed to experiencing the same events as a spectator without intent to record. Is anybody doing research on these issues from a technical or anthropological perspective? If not, why not?

For the record, as a film studies undergrad, I'm aware of the extensive body of work surrounding ontology and documentary filmmaking theory (cinema verite, direct cinema, etc), but I'm interested specifically in non-professionals recording photo/video/audio media for personal (or at least non-'old media') use.

posted by Alterscape to media & arts (4 comments total)

Weird...I was just talking about this yesterday. Neal Stephenson briefly touches on mediated experience through video in In the Beginning...was the Command Line, although the essay is more about mediated experiences via operating systems.
posted by lunalaguna at 5:20 PM on March 26, 2007

camera lucida
posted by juv3nal at 5:59 PM on March 26, 2007

Thomas De Zengotita talks about this in relation to the "culture of performance" that people today (whether they are producing a recording or fantasize about being in in such a recording) seem to be living in.
posted by mattbucher at 7:05 PM on March 26, 2007

Here are four citations from scholars who are looking broadly at multimedia composition and students (i.e. non-professionals). Perhaps you have already looked at them. I've read Kress and Selfe, the others came from a conference I attended this weekend. The link to the Center for Digital Storytelling might also prove beneficial.

Davis, Robert, and Mark Shadle. ""Building a Mystery": Alternative Research Writing and the Academic Act of Seeking." College Composition and Communication 51.3 (2000): 417-46.

Hull, Glynda A., and Mira-Lisa Katz. " Crafting an Agentive Self: Case Studies of Digital Storytelling." Research in the Teaching of English. 41.1 (2006): 43-81.

Kress, Gunther. Literacy in the New Media Age. Literacies. Ed. David Barton. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Selfe, Cynthia L. Technology and Literacy in the Twenty-First Century: The Importance of Paying Attention. Southern Illinois University Press. 1999.

Center for Digital Storytelling: www.storycenter.org
posted by mrmojoflying at 5:50 AM on March 27, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]