Back to the camcorder
It's 2024, but can we still think about going back and creating our memories with an old-fashioned camcorder?
I can relate to this personally. I started my filmmaking journey with a terrible camcorder. Then, over the last decade, video quality has gradually improved, from HD (or even worse) to 4k. But it feels like this improvement has come at the expense of the ineffable power of 480p frames.
So why embracing the awful video and audio quality?
- Natural interaction: filmed people do not feel embarrassed and behave more naturally. No worries about every tiny detail being captured by modern smartphone cameras and then shared globally or used to feed an AI.
- Nostalgic value: our billion pixel images may be realistic, but will they give us the same feelings when we look back in years to come? Grainy old videos look like memories, they are warm and fuzzy.
- True artistic expression: artistic movements such as Dogma 95 claim that authentic cinematic expression should be natural. That means only handheld shots, no fancy editing and just focus on the story and the characters.
Now I plan to start documenting everyday life with a camcorder, possibly along with other random things to throw back in time. Like an iPod Shuffle and an instant camera.