Shoot, edit, share: cultural software and user-generated documentary practice

Hight, C. (2011). Shoot, edit, share: cultural software and user-generated documentary practice. Expanding Documentary 2011, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand, December 7-9.

Abstract: This paper draws from the paradigm of software studies, which investigates the significance of software within contemporary cultural, social, political and economic practices. Within this frame, ‘cultural software’ refers to programs which are used to create and access media content and environments. There is a need to map and analyse the nature of these software (and hardware) tools that are serving to encourage broader participation in media production. The focus of this paper is on the proliferation of software editing tools designed for novice video practitioners; low-budget, freeware and open source applications available across various platforms (downloadable to desktop/laptop machines, bundled with camcorders, as apps for smart phones, or as cloud-based applications). These are part of a long line of technologies whose 'democratisation' is associated with profound changes within the fabric of everyday creative activity. The emergence of these tools sits in parallel with the broader history of the digitisation of editing systems used within high-end professional practice, a transition which itself has been associated with significant changes within film and television production over the last twenty years. Within professional practice, the emergence of desktop editing has refashioned everything from the daily working relationships between creative personnel to the broader economics of production. The significance of the continuum of ‘entry-level’ forms of editing software, however, is more difficult to assess. Their development offers the potential to significantly broaden the production base for user-generated culture, through encouraging new groups of ‘practitioners’ to participate. However, the tools themselves effectively favour a comparatively narrow range of creative practices. Software manufacturers have reduced and simplified the nature of editing itself as part of a trade-off to make their tools more user-friendly, emphasising intuitive, accessible and efficient forms of practice. This is a trade-off which has implications for the broader nature of user-generated documentary culture.