In Film and Video Intermediality, Janna Houwen innovatively rewrites the concept of medium specificity in order to answer the questions “what is meant by video?” and “what is meant by film?” How are these two media (to be) understood? How can film and video be defined as distinct, specific media? In this era of mixed moving media, it is vital to ask these questions precisely and especially on the media of video and film. Mapping the specificity of film and video is indispensable in analyzing and understanding the many contemporary intermedial objects in which film and video are mixed or combined.
Janna Houwen is an Assistant Professor at the department of Film and Literary studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
IntroductionPart 1: The Reality Effect1 Reality Effects: Literature, Film and Video2 Devices in Video3 Devices in Film4 Sliding Scales5 Mediumspecificity and the Reality Effect6 InteractionPart 2: (Dis)embodiment7 Dispositif: A New Layered Structure8 (Dis)Embodying Dispositifs9 Cinema’s Disembodying Dispositif: An Effect of an Effect10 Other Views on Film Viewing11 Surfaces and Screens: Video’s Embodying Dispositifs12 In Between: Three Intermedial InstallationsPart 3: Social Structures13 The Medium,The Media and The Social14 Video: Flow and Feedback15 Film: Private/Production16 Electronic Diaries, Cinematic StoriesPart 4: Violent Features17 Objective Representation18 The Production of Portable Objects 19 Freezing20 Touching21 Surveillance22 VoyeurismConclusionBibliographyList of Films and VideosIndex
This excellent book brilliantly examines complex arguments about media and their impact. As we transit from conventional forms of expression to multi-modal media, Janna Houwen expertly studies the shift in our understanding of meaning and messages and their role in contemporary society.