Quick-cut j i t T e R Y video: A manifesto

I have been arguing for the artistic and intellectal potential of fast-cut video ever since I published the book, the rise of the image the fall of the word, at the beginning of this century. Here is an article I wrote in 2011 making one version of my case.

     What I have tried to do now is put that argument itself into a video. This video, therefore, is intended not only to make the argument for the potential of this new art form but to serve as evidence of that potential (as was—for a then new art form—Chuck Berry’s record Rock & Roll Music).

This video is, consequently, a bit less condensed than most of my other videos: it runs about three-and-a-half minutes—a minute longer than Chuck Berry’s song. However, it is a whole lot shorter than that that article, not to mention that book.

I should add that the video is not without its pretensions: Shakespeare’s Hamlet is, for example, much quoted.

I am curious whether you think the video succeeds in making and embodying the point.

Mitchell Stephens

Mitchell Stephens, one of the editors of this site, is the author of nine books, including the rise of the image the fall of the word, A History of News, Imagine There’s No Heaven: How Atheism Helped Create the Modern World, Beyond News: The Future of Journalism, and The Voice of America: Lowell Thomas and the Invention of 20th Century Journalism. He is a professor emeritus of Journalism at New York University, lives in New York City and spends a lot of time traveling and fiddling with video.

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