Throughout our first week, we’ve had a look at what defines online screen production and what some of its characteristics are. We listed some of these qualities off during class – these included optional anonymity, accessibility from around the globe and easy interactivity with an audience. They helped us think about what content on the internet is made up of and how it is different to that of traditional media. We’ve been asked to respond to one or two of these qualities in the form of a short piece of online media, so I thought I’d prepare for this by taking a look at an example of an online screen production that displays several characteristics that are unique to the online space.
The video I’ve chosen can be found here. This is a 35 second segment of a recorded live stream that took place between the 29th of October and the 6th of November. Twitch, a streaming platform used primarily for gaming. In an effort to promote their new category called ‘Creative’, Twitch ran Bob Ross’ show The Joy of Painting for 9 days straight. The run of the show had a live chat stream directly to the right of the show, allowing the thousands of viewers to discuss the show as it unfolded.
The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross
The chat itself was really what drew in the many thousands of live viewers (approx. 61,000 during this clip). In itself, it was entertainment; the clip I linked above demonstrates this. Quite often when Bob would paint something that looked off initially, the chat would yell “RUINED”. After he had blended or fluffed the stroke, they would bombard the feed with “SAVED”. There were numerous little rituals that the community developed over the course of the 9 days, and the entire run of the show sticks out as an unusually funny instance of something that could only occur in an online space.
The chat during the live stream was the defining characteristic that made the event unique. The community turned something that wouldn’t necessarily be seen as particularly engaging or appropriate for the audience that uses Twitch (younger) into a phenomenon that captured so many due to its hilarity. It is such an obscure thing for so many people to be so involved in, that it could only happen on the internet. The magic of it was the spontaneity; the fact that it wasn’t created in a lab for a particular audience was what made it special. The audience made their own fun.
The importance of the viewers to the entertainment factor also may imply that the stream could, in a way, be considered amateur content, which makes up the majority of online content. This raises the question of why amateur content is frequently extremely popular and well received on the internet, where it is not in other forms of media. Are ‘lightning in a bottle’ events, like the Bob Ross Twitch stream the makeup of amateur online content? Do these only exist due to the over saturation of online videos and simply a case of the Infinite Monkey Theorem? Or are is more amateur content than we think carefully crafted and curated? Furthermore, is the reason some content is funny due to its poor quality? Throughout my second blog post and project work I’ll look into these questions, and hopefully explore the nature of online amateur content a bit more.