CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS
PREEMPTING DISSENT: OPEN SOURCING SECRECY
An Open Source Documentary Film Project
Call for Videos, Testimonials, Photographs, and other Audio Visual =20
Materials
This project examines new forms of social control including the =20
proliferation of Tasers and the rise of =93no-fly=94 and watch-lists. =
We =20
are seeking contributions to this project in the form of video, still =20=
images, and testimonials. This content will be made available for =20
others to mix and remix into their own documentaries.
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE:
We are seeking video content from those of you who have experienced =20
and/or captured on video new forms of surveillance and social =20
control. Have you been Tasered by police, security guards, or other =20
citizens? Did you witness someone being Tasered and record it on =20
video? Has your name been placed on a =93no-fly=94 list =96 or similar =20=
exclusionary watch-list? If so, we invite you to submit your video =20
footage, personal video testimonials, audio testimonials, photographs, =20=
news footage, cell phone videos, mash-ups, and any other audio-visual =20=
medium which will convey your story.
To participate in this project, please go to =
http://www.opensourcecinema.org/project/preempting-dissent
BACKGROUND:
Greg Elmer of Ryerson University and Andy Opel of Florida State =20
University are working with Open Source Cinema, to create a =20
collaborative, open-source documentary film based on Elmer and Opel=92s =20=
book, Preempting Dissent. Using the Open Source Cinema platform - a =20
collaborative website which serves as a repository for user-generated =20=
content - the audience will be encouraged to submit their own media as =20=
well as to remix media uploaded by the filmmakers and other users. By =20=
publishing a =93road map=94 of production, this project will encourage =20=
participation through all stages of production. The project will =20
produce a feature length documentary, as well as enable a non-linear =20
open source cinematic database that will evolve over time through the =20=
collaborative contributions of users. The documentary, the producer's =20=
video clips, and user-generated contributions will all be available =20
for remixing.
PREEMPTING DISSENT:
This project is based on the 2008 book Preempting Dissent that =20
critically examines new forms of surveillance and social control. This =20=
new logic encourages the suppression of public dissent and mobilizes =20
both =93fear=94 of the unknown and =93faith=94 in government leadership. =
Elmer =20
and Opel show that this new logic stretches well beyond the realm of =20
airport security and international relations into everyday police =20
techniques, including the use of Tasers, the deployment of =93stealth=94 =
=20
crowd control, the zoning of protestors and the suppression of public =20=
dissent. Drawing on social theories and media analyses, this book =20
reveals the underlying =94logic of preemption=93 whereby threats must be =
=20
eliminated before they materialize. By addressing the implications of =20=
this new logic, Elmer and Opel lay the groundwork for more effective =20
resistance.
AUTHORS:
Greg Elmer is Bell Globemedia Research Chair and Director of the =20
Infoscape research lab, Ryerson University, Toronto. He also teaches =20
in the graduate programme in Communication and Culture, York & Ryerson =20=
Universities and the School of Radio, TV Arts. Andy Opel is an =20
Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Florida =20
State University, where he teaches documentary video production and =20
critical media studies.
Andy Opel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Media Production Area Head
Department of Communication
University Center, Building C, Suite 3100
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-2664
W: (850) 644-8768
C: (850) 322-3349
(aopel /at/ fsu.edu)
www.andyopel.net
