‘Take back the tube!’

The discursive construction of amateur film and video making

Bibliographic Data

ID20207624
AuthorsDavid Buckingham (0000-0002-5098-7056, University of London, corresponding author), Maria Pini (0000-0002-9995-5370, University of London, corresponding author), Rebekah Willett (0000-0002-3327-3633, University of London, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume8
Issue2
Pages183-201
Publication date2007-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Media Practice (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1468-2753 • E-ISSN: 2040-0926
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1386/jmpr.8.2.183_1
OpenAlexW2793526678
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited3

This article focuses on the discursive construction of amateur film- and video-making within popular books, manuals and magazines, dating from 1921 to the present day. The theoretical approach derives primarily from Pierre Bourdieu's analysis of ‘cultural fields’, as developed particularly in his work on photography. We begin by exploring the broad rhetoric of ‘democratisation’ that characterises popular discussions of the potential of amateur film- and video-making. This leads on to a discussion of how the technology itself is framed and defined; how the identity of the amateur film-maker, and the social uses of amateur film-making, are constructed; and how the aesthetic dimensions of this practice are identified. Despite the excitement which commonly surrounds new visual representational technology, and despite the accelerating pace of technological change, we argue that there is a considerable historical continuity in terms of how amateur film-making is framed and defined

Advertising · Aesthetics · Amateur · Art · Business · Political science · Sociology · Artistic and Creative Research · Cinema and Media Studies · Engineering · Law · Media Studies and Communication · Mechanical Engineering

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