Friday, February 15, 2008

Videojournalism? Journalism or Art?

" When I'm painting, I'm not aware of what I'm doing......I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image etc because the painting has a life of its own".

So said Jason Pollock.

Yesterday I added this modified comment from a colleague:

"We view and read images and film with our emotions; they are symbols that communicate with our sub conscious. Our minds make assumptions about their content and meaning, thus the image depends on the context with which it has been used.

The image and film's state can be heightened by elements such as music, colour and narrative - all of which add texture, qualification and interpretation".

Journalism is exacting; factual information, the truth, objectivity and impartiality.

Embedded in long format film it is the documentary, and over the years many many doc makers often solitary or working in small groups e.g. Molly Dineen, The Lord's Tale 2002; Barbara Kopple, American Dream 1990: Jean-Marie Teno A trip to the Country, have showed us just how magnificent the form is under their authorship.

Their pieces are considered, studied and allow movement both within the film, and by the journey of film making itself.

Videojournalism borrows very heavily from the doc form, but works to the compressed time ratio of news???

It is a quasi of many forms, almost confused by what it is.

But there's no denying that it is about artisanship.

Perhaps above many other things, it captures why there is no one fixed form and why I mention two broad strands that sit next to each other: Vjism for TV and Vjism gonzo.

The latter is more expressionistic; eschewing the template of news production.

For traditionalist newsmakers it's a medium hard to understand; difficult to acknowledge breaking the rules, particularly if you've been used to the stanza of prescriptive news all your working life.

Just as one art form over time usurped another, film styles n' all, video-making ( video journalism) stands to morph from one form to another.

We've likely only just seen the beginning of the auteurs.

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