New publication from Palgrave
Video Cultures
Media Technology and Everyday Creativity
Edited by David Buckingham and Rebekah Willett
Over the past decade, the video camcorder has become a commonplace
household object.
The rise of YouTube and other video sharing sites has made it
significantly easier to
distribute amateur video productions, and national broadcasters are
increasingly
interested in 'user-generated content' and the work of so-called
'citizen journalists'. For
some, this growth in access to video production is part of a wider
democratisation of
media, and the emergence of a much more participatory media culture.
However, others
argue that such practices amount to little more than a trivial
family pastime, that does
little if anything to challenge the power of the established mass
media. This book
explores the diversity of 'video cultures' in contemporary Britain
through a series of case
studies ranging from citizen journalists to amateur pornographers,
and from teenage
pranksters to elderly members of video-making clubs. Through its
discussion of specific
video-making practices, the book raises broader issues about key themes in
contemporary cultural studies, including creativity, social capital,
identity and technology.
CONTENTS
In The Frame: Mapping Camcorder Cultures; R.Willett

A Commonplace Art? Understanding Amateur Media Production; D.Buckingham

'Take Back The Tube!': The Discursive Construction of Amateur Film-
and Video-Making;
D.Buckingham, M.Pini & R.Willett

Inside the Home Mode; M.Pini

Speaking Back? In Search of the Citizen Journalist; D.Buckingham

Parodic Practices: Amateur Spoofs on Video Sharing Sites; R.Willett

Skate Perception: Self-Representation, Identity and Visual Style in
a Youth Subculture;
D.Buckingham

Handing Over Control? Access, 'Ordinary People' and Video Nation;
J.Henderson

In The Bedroom: Sex on Video; M.Pini

The Hidden World of Organised Amateur Film-Making; D.Cuzner
Always On: Camera Phones, Video Production and Identity; R.Willett

Power To The People? The Past and Future of Amateur Video; D.Buckingham
