Sørenssen, Bjørn. “Digital Video and Alexandre Astruc’s Caméra-Stylo: The New Avant-Garde in Documentary Realized?” Studies in Documentary Film 2.1 (2008): 47–59. EBSCOhost. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.
From the beginning it was really interesting to see Sørensson reflecting upon Astruc’s predictions of where film will lead society and how film will become a ‘fundamental tool for human communication’. Just as theorised by Astruc, film is now a medium that almost all people in developed countries not only have access to, but also rely on for entertainment and sometimes even information – such as in the documentary form of film.
In his article, Sørenssen makes the point that the future of the media, in particular the role of film is unknown and very uncertain. He raises the question as to whether a more widespread access to digital media producing facilities will result in enhancement into one unified public sphere or fragmentation into several ‘partial public spaces’, losing legitimacy and it’s current grip on society.
The fact that Sørenssen also recognises that in 2007, people are still watching films that are made using George Eastman’s 35mm film from 1892, is interesting because it is an ancient piece of technology in the wider scheme of media developments, but is still remaining relevant and being used today. Since 2007, however, the rise of digital video has truly taken hold and it is unusual for a modern film to not be filmed in the digital format, simply because of the convenience and security that digital format video has over film, despite the obvious changes in aesthetic qualities. I noticed a huge difference in the aesthetic quality when comparing the 2 ‘Anchorman’ films – Anchorman 2 being distributed almost entirely in a digital format. In fact, Anchorman 2 was the last Paramount Pictures film to be distributed in 35mm at all, even though most modern cinemas would have taken the digital version over the 35mm.
Ultimately, in his article, Sørenssen raises interesting ideas about the future of not only documentary, but film as a whole. His observation that the digital accessibility of audio-visual media may in fact be the next-stage realisation of Astruc’s prediction regarding the future of film and it’s role in society as an integral pillar of communication.
Thinking about what Astruc and Sørenssen have said about film, I feel that the role of film will remain pretty constant into the future. Whilst it is becoming far more accessible and informal in nature (most of us in Western cultures have access to amazing filmmaking technology in our phones), the role of true filmmakers that document events and really seek to say something with their work is relatively secure, as they are the ones that possess true power when it comes to the direction of new media in the future.
