A Media Archaeology of Playfulness in Video Culture:From Small-screen Realities to Short-video Platforms
The present studies on the playfulness of short videos either overlook their historical context,or presuppose a binary perspective of new media versus old media.Additionally,the material elements of videos like screen size,mobility and interface also get little consideration in these researches.This article adopts a media archaeology approach to situate today's short-video platform in a remediation network,encompassing other three subtypes of small-screen realities cellflix,Flash animations and egao movies.It attempts to examine the recurrence of playfulness,as a kind of affordance,in the production activities of screen cutlure.The research finds that the digital platform achieves the remediation the playfulness in small-screen realities,through its design of hardware software that remediates cultural forms such as personal portability,image-interaction interface,driving music,remix and parody.However,it is important to note the underlying content distribution model of platforms significantly diverges from the gift economy model prevalent during the early stages of the Chinese Internet.Instead,the former shifts towards commercialization,scripting and governmentation.The paper's revisit of short video's alternative history contribute to a deeper understanding of digital platforms'prehistories,and help to rethink the issues of continuity and rupture between new media and old media.
short videoInternet historiesMedia RchaeologyMaterialityPlayfulness
万方数据
维普
