This week’s topic was given by guest speaker Dr. William Brown, who is a Senior Lecture in Film at Roehampton University. The majority of the lecture was a screening of his 2014 film called, ‘Selfie’. The film explores how the image virus took control of the nineteenth century, and how in the twentieth century the grip of the image virus has increased. Now, in the twenty first century the image virus has begun to run rampant throughout humanity, and it explores the effect that this is having on our society. William views himself as a victim of this image virus and the grip that it took on him was fast and undetectable. At the beginning of the film, William believed that the images were proof of his body’s existence, however as the film progresses he realizes that the goal of the images was to give themselves existence and sustain themselves. This is because the image virus is seen to attach itself to the human body, the body then creates images and becomes a means of transmitting and propagating images, leading to the conclusion that images are a virus. William believes that a large proportion of humanity is sick with the malady of self-recording; to the extent that people plan their days around self-recording.

 

The entire film is recorded using the front facing camera, giving it the visual style of the selfie. This helps to reflect the deeper meaning of the film, through the style of the film. The content described is structured in a video lecture format. This helps the viewer to understand the concepts and how they interlink with one-another. Its narrative structure is also composed through the audience learning about the subject as William learns more, making the audience feel as if they are falling down the same rabbit hole as William. The film makes the viewer reflect on the topic and brings to light the possibility that they also have the image virus and the hold it may have on their lives. The film linked to the Postdigital Nations module as it provided another view point for the arguments of Postdigital Bodies, and therefore helped give a broader understanding to the topic.

 

The reading linked to William’s film was Brooke Wendt’s, ‘The Allure of the Selfie: Instagram and the New Self-Portrait’. The book specifically focuses on the social media platform, Instagram, and explores the rise of selfies and everything that encompasses it. It is composed of five essays, which use other theorist opinions to back different arguments. The topics discussed include: Message, which explores adverts on smartphones. Fascination, which discusses the self, the selfie and how it links to social media to create a network. Aesthetic, which looks at filtering images and the effect this has had on users. Dissemination, which talks about hashtags and how they affect our identity. Lastly, NO Photo, which explores the willing and unwilling people who are trapped in the world of selfies. The reading was extremely interesting and helped provide context for the lecture.