User:Mihail Bakalov/Trimester 4/GraduateResearchSeminar/ProjectProposal3

Research question

What is the attached value of the experience economy on online social networks? Is it worth documenting every our action on these platforms?

Intro + Project description

This project builds on a similar concept to Willem Flusser's idea about mediation through images, where happenings turn to events. I see that nowadays happening in social networks.

I would like to use the every day user generated banal posts on social networks for the foundation of my work. The goal of this project is building a fictional documentary story/film by re-enacting posts made by users from the available information on online social platform. Focusing on posts that present personal experiences and doings.

We live in an experience economy where economic value is being created through experiences. As a basis for my research I am taking the concept of experience economy. What Facebook has given to people is the space to share mundane things and make them into worth events. By doing that it brings meaning to banality, it highlights it and attaches value to it. By construing user publications from social network I intend to have a similar approach as to what Facebook does the banal content. The posts that I will take for my script will be chosen by me, as to which fit my concept best. I will not emphasize on corporative commercial objects and content but mainly focusing on personal daily mundane activities which become amplified through the network. As a second element of my concept would be the cinematographic approach. It will resemble the amplification of social networks on the content. The aesthetics of the filming would be lush and glamorous, which would oppose to the dullness of the content of the script. The imaginary will be similar to the Hollywood style of filmmaking, steady slow camera movement and panoramic shots.

-examples of cinematographic approach similar to what I want to achieve ( Scott Hicks - “Snow Falling on Cedars”; Martin Scorsece – “Aviator” and camera man like Robert Elswit - “The life of Pi”, Wally Pfister ( “Inception” ); Christopher Doyle; Slawomir Idziak )

What I'm interested in is the way actions are turned into experience thus into memory, which are broadcasted. I will choose an online profile of a person who is broadcasting his doings or either I will build a character from several user profiles and will mold a fictional story. Actors will be used to reenact the posts. The film will have several acts resembling several posts being re-enacted.

EXAMPLES OF INSTAGRAM POSTS!

alt My homemade breakfast!

alt Walking the dog

alt Reading the news paper

[ EXAMPLE SCRIPT OUT OF 5 POSTS ] - 1. Making breakfast(fried egg) – 2. Walking the dog – 3. A cup of juice – 4. Dull conversation – 5. Reading the newspaper

Thomson&Craighead - Spam Karaoki project http://thomson-craighead.net/docs/songs.html http://thomson-craighead.net/docs/firstperson.html

My works

Photographic works – taking content from one place and putting into another – Decay and SaveAs.

Practicle steps

-searching for posts on social networks -searching for location for filming

Bibliography

The experience society - Joseph Pine (Harvard Business Press, 2011)

Geert Lovink - Networks without a cause

Evgeny Morozov - The netdelusion