Wednesday, June 13, 2018

The Great Train Robbery

Motion Picture film was invented in 1888 and for the first twenty years films were made imitating theatrical productions, where the camera was stationary and people walked onto the set and acted in front of the camera.  It was not until twenty years later, in 1909, that someone thought to have parallel story lines and different camera angles in the movie The Great Train Robbery.  It took another ten to twenty years to refine the basic techniques.  It took almost forty years for a true film aesthetic to develop.

Similarly, I contend, that the standard format for youtube videos is still being formed.  It is natural to imitate the Television and Film models that currently exist, but the environment of youtube is as different from film, as film is different from theater.

Since youtube was invented in 2005 it has been 13 years and the channel has seen a real evolution of content.  It will probably be another 25 years before there is a standard  youtube aesthetic that everyone accepts as being "natural."  It is exciting to be a part of the process.


copyright (c) 2018
William Schaeffer

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