There's No Place Like Home Video

by James M. Moran

From its recording of family events to its influence on filmmaking, home video defies easy categorization and demands serious consideration. In There's No Place Like Home Video, James Moran takes on this neglected aspect of popular culture. He offers a history of amateur home video, exploring its technological and ideological predecessors, the development of event videography, and its symbiotic relationship with television and film. He also investigates the broader field of video, taking on the question of medium specificity: the attempt to define its unique identity, to capture what constitutes its pure practice. Rather than look for a grand narrative to define its specificity, Moran places video and home video at the intersections of multiple forms of communication.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really appreciate Moran's treatment of theories of medium specificity and the home mode of video production. I picked it up because I was looking for sources on found video. After the intro and two chapters it became apparent that this was a different topic, so I am putting it down. I look forward to returning to it someday for the pleasure of a good theoretical read.