Vernacular Videos in the Participatory Culture of Web 2.0: The Contribution of Amateurs and Artists to the Development of Audio-visual Language

The revolution in communication technologies is changing language and this, in turn, will change human thinking. This statement can now be taken for granted. The fact that it is supported by many authors, including Marshal Mc Luhan (1964), Neil Postman (1992) and Lev Manovich (2002), is already evidence of it. The issue of information in the public sphere of Web 2.0 is controversial and much debated. The democratization of cyberspace brings with it the chance to develop a complex audiovisual grammar that anticipates video art and experimental films. The online environment features both to audiovisual experiments undertaken by amateur videographers and professional elites. In this place of extremes, there is room for developing both narrative and non-narrative expressions of self-reflexive audiovisual products. Whereas Lev Manovich (2002) states that the avant-garde becomes legitimised in the cut and paste era of digital filmmaking, which replaces the sequential narrative, this article sets out to determine the contribution of amateur videographers and artists to the development of the new audiovisual grammar of web 2.0. My case studies focus on the two main tendencies of home-made audiovisual products, both of them leading to the effectiveness of audiovisual communication. The video-confession replaces the visual narrative illustration with a form of orality that increases the audience’s imaginative participation. The DIY-videos, non-narrative metaphors in essay form, complement abstract comprehension. These new forms approach Astruc’s concept of caméra stylo, enhancing the audiovisual communication of the mass audience. Thus, the audience is able to comprehend a richer and more sophisticated cinematic language.