Jen and I have been working on the session we’ll be hosting at Vloggercon and if you’ve looked at it on the wiki or the website, you may have noticed that it’s changed or morphed a couple of times. So, with an interest in jumping into the disscussion ahead of time, this is the final version of the session description:
The Undiscovered Country
“Videoblogging is a new medium of expression — just as oil painting, film and jazz once were. It opens up a space where none existed before, and allows us to create all kinds of new possibilities for creative expression and communication. What we do with that space - what possibilities we invent - is up to us. There’s been much talk, for example, of democratizing media but democracy is not necessarily inherent to videoblogging, it’s just one of the many possibilities that we can create in the space that’s opened up.
With so much undiscovered country before us, where do we start? What is it that we want to do? This session will take a look at videoblogging and some of the explorers who are already out there inventing this new medium, and then open up a conversation for further travel.”
We were thinking that in order to get more than people’s initial gut reactions we could start by asking those interested a few questions that we could all ponder and discuss over the next week. Basically we’re interested in talking about people, projects and tools that are out there exploring this area that is more than just video distribution via blogs.
So who/what is out there playing/exploring/inventing/taking risks with:
1. Content - what you say
2. Form - how you say it
3. Process - how you make it
4. Money - how you pay for it
5. Audience - the people with whom you converse/collaborate/co-author
6. Tools - the hardware, software, services that make this possible
So who/what fills this bill? In what area(s) are they pushing the envelope? Please don’t use this as an excuse to talk about your own work or project. We want to talk about what/who is inspiring or informing your work or project. For example, Kent Bye is developing a new way for people to collaborate as part of his Echo Chamber Project. Rather than talk about what a cool guy Kent is, let’s talk about how this tool opens up new possibilities and what are some other ways people might use this tool. Or another example is Erik Nelson’s Carp Caviar project. For six months he’s been exploring and content, form, process and his relationship to his audience. How can I learn from what he’s done and incorporate it with the machinima videobloggers in Second Life? I could go on but the point is to open this up. A number of people have emailed me about participating in this session - we’ll, here’s how everyone can.
BTW, in case you were wondering, yes, “The Undiscovered Country” is a phrase from Hamlet’s To be or not to be soliloquy and yes, I’m quoting Star Trek quoting Shakespeare.
17 Comments
hi michael,
i like what your getting at, and i think it is also important to find new people making new media. I have bloged for a while and i really enjoy it.
heres couple people that i find inspiring:
jesse cooper at http://www.nitevideo.com
the kid is pretty funny and seems to just have fun with the camera and audience, new but cool.
steve garfield (needs no intro)
the guy is amazing and really puts effort into his vlogs. he also supprts the vlogsphere and it great to see seasoned veterns!
more later!
It is cool that people wanna talk about vlogging and video but is THERE a need to make everything so complex?
The more we define something the more it will seem too ‘refined’
I love the idea of opening up dialogue about what vlogging can be, but, at the risk of being a big buzzkill, part of what I love about vlogging is that it is so open to “ordinary” voices, to people saying whatever they want to say (conceptually, artistically, politically, etc.), without the pressure to innovate, to be original, to constantly push the envelope, which we find so much in other related areas of our lives–our jobs, school, our kids, our artistic practice, etc.
To me, what is so unique and “a-ha!” about vlogging is the investigation of the personal–people revealing moments of their lives or their communities, or exploring a concept or visual style that might not otherwise find an audience, as a way of developing personal connections, without the attendant pressure to *produce*.
I totally applaud and support people who want to break out of the mold and do something exciting and new, but I just want to throw out a little caveat that sometimes the mundane reuse of form and style can hold value and meaning too, and I just wonder–and I may be crazy here–if we put too much of a premium on originality these days.
Okay. Leo - this isn’t about defining anything. I’m just asking who do you think is out there pushing the boundaries and tell me what’s important about the implications of what they’re doing.
So, Tyler, how is what Jessie Cooper doing different from what other are doing and what new possibilites does that create for people?
As far as Steve Garfield - you didn’t say it so I will. Steve is out there pushing the boundaries in a couple of ways - 1. He probably tries almost any new tool he can get his hands on looking for ways to enhance or augment what’s possible. 2. In terms of content, he was one of the first out there saying, “Look, regular people are interesting!” That’s so freeing. Probably best summed up by Josh Kinberg as “Mundane is the new punk.”
Wow Jen, I think I haven’t been clear. I’m not trying to put pressure on anyone to be innovative. I’m saying let’s look at who and what is innovative and what implications does that have for us (look at my previous comment about Steve Garfield). Does what “they” are doing inspire me, make things easier for me, or give me capabilities that I didn’t have before?
Yeah, I probably haven’t been clear either–I think we’re actually in agreement here. I’m coming out of the filmmaking world where the drive to “innovate” can be stifling and suffocating, so I’m a bit sensitive to terms like that in the vlogging world where, as you say, the process is actually freeing rather than restricting, and I just want it to stay that way! “Mundane is the new punk”–totally. I’m all about experimenting with new tools and drawing on inspiration from others to grow and evolve; that’s what it’s all about! I just love the liberating aspects of vlogging where I don’t have to feel like I’m doing something nobody’s ever seen before, and it can still be interesting and meaningful. So when I hear “push the envelope,” my gut reaction is one of worry, because I’ve seen the desire to push the envelope result in unpleasant competition when it should result in productive collaborations and growth. But I think you’re calling for exactly the latter, and so am I.
There are so many out there, but three come to mind that I’d like to share.
http://www.beachwalks.tv/
Walking and talking on a very personal level. I have long felt the need for depth in video blogs. Here someone is doing it.
http://theradblog.typepad.com/
Jon’s site is completely out there in terms of using photos, video, art and technology to connect the dots, connecting the personal with much larger social, and universal world. He has the “just do it” thing going on. I like that.
http://chasingmills.blogspot.com/
They inspire me in more ways than I can express. To create stories, using the video blog canvas, is a dream come true.
good luck with vloggercon…
hey verdi,
I totally agree about steve garfield.
As for Jesse I emailed him and found out how he creates his blogs and it’s very interested. he told me has hasen’t spent a dime to create it which i think is very cool! he says there is always a way to do something for free on the web, from video hosting to domain names. his vlog is still very new but The content he posts is funny and light hearted and is getting better and better. As for contributions, i think he is helping people understand how easy it is to make your own media, and the more people that make the media, the better.
oh yah, your stuff is kick ass too!
My choice for the only exciting video podcast, vlog, whatever would be http://www.secretpants.net/
I found it on Firefox searching for something that wasn’t so self absorbed as the usual citizen jester holding a camera at arms length from his face, or watching someones feet walk along a path. It may be a bit for some but never boring. Vlogging should not be an iCam on someome who is basically reading a text blog. Give it an edge!
Sorry, my thoughts were disrupted on an unexpected Firefox PC upgrade. Back on the Mac….
So put the microphone on someone else, a stranger, a friend with a different thought maybe?
VernissageTV http://www.vernissage.tv/blog/ takes you to opening receptions of exhibitions and events. VernissageTV provides insight to the social side of the art world. Vernissage TV talks with artists in a relaxed style. I really enjoy the concept of this vlog being an art student myself.
The Lossy Video Group is a collective of experimental digital video artists and musicians working out of Montréal, Québec.http://lossyvideo.blogspot.com/
This is another favorite of mine. Very creative and outside the box. I feel this vlog is really pushing the envelope!
How about CSF vlog (also called ‘his masters toys’)… based in mumbai, i think it’s a collective vlog, which is an interesting approach we don’t see much. Also interesting to think about who their audience is, posts are quite often in english, so it’s easily accessible outside of it’s own community, but is there a local audience for it? Plus it might be interesting to look at some vlogs from other continents/cultures.. list is looking a bit mono at the moment (surpise surprise
)
My take on inspiration:
http://blip.tv/file/get/Rgsullivan3-inspiring333.wmv
An interesting question you pose…….I just admire people like you and Ryan who said, hey anybody can do this even a 37 yr old guy who likes Batman and wants to talk about his life and what he likes…..It(vlogging) evloves over time as you expirement with what you are doing what you are trying to do and what you end up doing……I find inspiration in people like Josh Leo and Missbehavens, it’s not fancy or boundry pushing per say, but it’s honest, or at least appears so…those who make me think….. but the real funny thing is that there is probably someone who don’t even know of yet who is going to knock our socks off, that is what is cool to me. We are seeing transistion from “radio” to “TV”, the changing of the guard…..here’s to the ride….
Hey everyone, I came across this new site called iklipz that is looking to show films by iindependent filmmakers. If anyone’s interested, they have some decent content. I guess they’re going to be having monthly online fests with best of show winners. Worth checking out.
Vloggercon2007! start preparing…
The quest for the new and the undiscovered is exciting in and of it self. I’m sorry that I don’t have any suggestions yet but watching your video and reading the comments has left me inspired. Yes, lets find the new, creative, and innovative, and let it change us.