Full text loading...
-
Footage: Action cam shorts as cartographic captures of time
- Source: Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication, Volume 5, Issue 1-2, Jan 2015, p. 103 - 109
-
- 01 Jan 2015
Abstract
This short article reflects on short videos of action cam footage that are widely disseminated on online platforms. These first-person perspective shorts are compared to early cinema’s phantom rides in the use of point-of-view shots, and a dizzying effect of heightened mobility and versatility in camera movements. ‘Short’ in form and duration, highly individual and personal, and with minimal (DIY) editing, these moving-image, navigational ‘selfies’ are exemplary for the aesthetics of social media and online video sharing platforms. Considering the distinction Michel de Certeau’s has made between (abstract) maps and (personalized) tours, I explore the way in which these images construct a form of moving-image cartography – a first-person cartography that fits today’s pervasive visual trope of navigation.