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January 2003, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
Robert Inglis <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 27 Jan 2003 16:45:56 +0000
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Hi,

Per this discussion, I remembered a few points which may aid your research.
I believe, in McLuhan's "Laws of Media", there is mention of a psychological
experiment carried out in the 60's (the experiment originally was conducted
to disprove McLuhan's hot/cool hypothesis, but wound up doing the opposite).
  To put it as briefly as possible, the experimenter set up two controlled
situations, one in which subjects were exposed to a 'light-on' stimuli
(which was argued to have its analogue with 'hot' media, which McLuhan
argued were print and film media) and a 'light-through' stimuli (which would
constitute a 'cool' medium, such as television).  The experimenters found
that the thinking of the test subjects was contrasted markedly after brief
exposures to these stimuli, as measured on cognitive tests.  (One might
arguably typify the subjects' as exhibiting contrasts between objective
(light-on) and subjective (light-through) cognition.

How does this relate to your argument?  The viewfinder, as well as the
display media, in film vs. video technologies correspond to these
contrasting cognitive modalities (objective vs. subjective).  One might also
consider the physical nature of the camera's themselves - the heavy rigidity
of the 35 mm film camera vs. the spontaneous, hand-held nature of video
cameras, and especially DV cameras, lending the video technology a more
subjective aspect.  One could argue that this aspect of the technology, in
turn, effects the kinds of films that are made with video cameras (i.e.
Agnes Varda's recent, 'subjective' DV documentary; experimental video art;
etc.)

Much of your argument of the 'gendering' of film technologies rests on a
McLuhanist hypothesis - 'the medium is the message' - i.e. the nature of the
technology having a causative effect on the so-called 'message'.  However,
while McLuhan's hypothesis may have fallen out of vogue in academic circles,
it was supported experimentally, as I mentioned above.  (I'm sorry but I
simply can't recall the name of the experimenter at this time).  Hopefully,
some of this may prove fruitful in your research.

Good luck,
R. Inglis



After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.
      Italian Proverb





>From: "Holberg, Amy" <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: gendering of film technology
>Date: Sat, 25 Jan 2003 19:04:17 -0500
>
>  Though it's not all, or even primarily about gender, Lisa Cartwright's
>"Screening the Body" about scientific and medical films has quite a lot
>of interesting things to say about the camera and film technology
>becoming proxies for the authority of those who use them. She analyzes
>the production and exhibition of medical films in terms of a number of
>potential differences of which gender is one.
>
>----
>For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives:
>http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html


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