Film & Participatory Culture

## **Corporeal Origins**

Contemporary cultural analysis tends to lack a corporeal dimension. Very little content is produced in a tangible form. Hypothetically, everything begins when a viewer watches a film trailer and it elicits a certain response, whether it be nostalgia, melancholia, euphoria, or some entirely different sensation. In turn, a viewer drives to a theater and purchases a ticket to see the film. Afterwards, he or she might discuss the film with co-workers, family, or friends. In such a digital age, it is easy to forget that not only are opinions shared online but in person between people and even strangers. These conversations, or corporeal circulations of culture, are the origins of a larger circulating network of knowledge, opinions, and innovation, both online and offline.

## **Online Behavior**

There is a diversity of online behavior: some individuals actively participate while others passively observe. "Open affinity spaces" are online platforms and places where any individual can participate in spreadable media. Individuals are encouraged to participate and contribute through linkages of common interests; they find their online niches and become willing participants in a greater collaborative project. For example, sites such as YouTube provide an opportunity for users to connect with one another in posting comments about the the videos while also replying to others comments, stimulating discourse relating to the content and creating a digital community as users express their views and opinions with one another.

Reciprocity is behavior or beliefs in which something is given deliberately and interpersonally to another person, in response to a prior event. Individual online users continuously spend time watching videos, reading comments and articles, and sometimes providing other users with feedback. Collaborative sites like YouTube employ an information or attention economy where collaboration between individuals creates an advantageous system of knowledge.

## **Changing Roles of Consumers & Producers**

Technological advances have increased the significance of consumers in both film and participatory culture while providing readily available information to both consumers and producers. In general, there has been a recent shift towards reliance on consumer participation in film culture. Crossovers and backstories create a give and take relationship between consumers and producers, especially seen in more modern film productions, which affect fan enthusiasm and level of participation. For example, the crossover of multiple superheroes of the Marvel universe in *The Avengers* was extremely popular amongst existing fans and amassed a large following of new fans. In return, consumers provide feedback: one such form being digital response videos.

While new fan-created media is aesthetically focused on existing dialogues in cinema, digital video responses expand conversations and further film analysis. Contemporary media platforms have situated their sites so that users have the ability to utilize a variety of mediums to express their ideas and opinions, such as discussion posts, reply videos, memes, and the like. The integration of multi-media in our everyday communication has reshaped the way consumers and producers interact and create new content.

For examples of participatory film culture, click here.

## **References**

1. ↑ Beer, David. *Popular Culture & New Media: The Politics of Circulation*. Palgrave, 2013. Chapter 6: Bodies and Interfaces: The Corporeal Circulations of Popular Culture. Pg. 122-164.
2. ↑ Jenkins, Henry. "If It Doesn't Spread, It's Dead." 2009. Web. Part 5: Communities of Users. February 20.
3. ↑ Lange, Patricia. "Achieving Creative Integrity on YouTube: Reciprocities and Tensions." Enculturation 8 (2010).
4. ↑ Jenkins, Henry. *Rethinking Media Change: The Aesthetic of Transition*. Chapter 18: Quentin Tarantino's Star Wars? Digital Cinema, Media Convergence, and Participatory Culture.