Children, video-making and research: emerging questions about visual methodologies Liesbeth de Block and Rebekah Willett Centre for the Study of Children, Youth and Media Institute of Education, University of London

Camcorder cultures Media technology and everyday creativity AHRC-funded project, , David Buckingham and Maria Pini domestic use learning cultures and contexts creativity Surveys, interviews, case studies

Domestic visuals as cultural objects and constructions Richard Chalfen(1987) Snapshot Versions of Life Documentation - visual history Memory - triggering of the memory, hedonistic function Cultural memberships - display of proper and expected behaviour

Possibilities home video moving image re-watching audience technology

Spoof videos, masculinity and friendships 120 spoofs from 68 different producers - young white men, only 2 young women Humour Negotiation: cool achievers Play and power (Winnicott)

Children in Communication about Migration ( EU funded – 7 partners - 3 years Research themes –education, family, friendship, visual communication Focus: refugee children Media clubs, intranet Researchers and media educator

Video as participation during research process –A focus for the negotiation of understanding between researched and researcher before, during, after –Allows children to guide the research direction BUT –We set the boundaries: club, themes, skills/equipment –Their work comes out of their media experience

Video as ‘voice’ For participation in the public sphere –Part of a long tradition of marginalised voices in documentary and activist media? Grierson (1946) ‘the creative treatment of reality’ –Who is the audience? –What are their speaking positions? –What are the confines within which they can ‘speak’?

What is the video? Pink (2004) video as a subjective text made in collaboration with the researcher –‘as a technology that participates in the negotiation of social relationships’ –‘video representation’ children’s productions do not simply ‘speak for themselves’.

videos

Analysing visuals - accounting for practices and texts Context of production - place, social context, purpose and motivation, technology,people/social relationships Construction - film grammar, sound, editing, legibility,presentation Content - representation, genre, narrative Reception - who, where, how, when, why,