YouTube: The New Cinema of Attractions.

Introduction

Tom Gunning has described cinema prior to 1906 as a cinema of attractions (Gunning 1990: 56). According to Gunning unlike contemporary narrative cinema, which solicits a voyeuristic spectatorial gaze, early cinema is an exhibitionist cinema where the spectator is overtly acknowledged and invited to look. As Gunning puts it, “It is the direct address of the audience, in which an attraction is offered to the spectator by a cinema showman, that defines this approach to film making (Gunning 1990: 58). It was a cinema based on spectacle, shock and sensation. Today many of the clips on video-sharing sites like YouTube bear a remarkable similarity to these early films. They too address the audience directly, are exhibitionist and are frequently sensational and shocking. This essay examines how the concept of attractions might be useful for understanding video sharing sites like YouTube. It explores the possibility that media practices specific to YouTube not only extend the concept of attractions, but more importantly produce a unique form of attraction specific to the medium, one that might be thought about as YouTube attractions.

Gunning opposes the cinema of attractions to a cinema based on narrative constructions in a number of ways. Firstly, he argues that unlike the narrative form, “attractions address the viewer directly, soliciting attention and curiosity through acts of display.” Addressing the audience directly destroys any possibility of a voyeuristic viewing experienced. Instead it produces a very visceral viewing experience full of shocks and thrills. Gunning explains that, “As moments of spectacle, their purpose lies in the attention they draw to themselves,” rather than in the development of narrative devices such as “characterization, causality, narrative suspense, and the creation of a consistent fictional world” (Gunning 1994: 190). Today many of the clips on video-sharing sites like YouTube bear a remarkable similarity to these early films.

The cinema of attractions was dominated by acts of display that manifested themselves through sudden burst of presentation such as a still shot of a train suddenly coming to life through movement and rushing forward. These acts of display produced a sense of immediacy and presence and therefore were highly affective and engaged the senses. The erotic film of early cinema could be understood as an extreme example of this kind of exhibitionist cinema. The cinema of attractions was more about the pleasure of the spectacle than narrative absorption. Andre Gaudreault who collaborated with Gunning on developing an early version of the concept of attractions states, “The attraction is there, before the viewer, in order to be seen. Strictly speaking, it exists only in order to display its visibility” (Gaudreault 2006: 95). Whereas narrative film works through a cause and effect chain of events building toward a climax or conclusion, the acts of display that dominate the cinema of attractions are autonomous, instantaneous moments. In this sense the cinema of attractions is not interested in creating characters with psychological motivations.

This exhibitionist tendency manifests itself through a range of practices such as performers gesturing to the audience with an inviting look or wink (Mary Jane’s Mishap, and Sick Kitten, Albert Smith, 1903), conjurors bowing in magic films (Un homme de têtes, 1889 and L’homme orchestre, 1900, Georges Méliès), and comedians smirking at the camera (The Fatal Sneeze, Hepworth Manufacturing Co, 1907 and Par le trou de serrure, Pathe Freres 1901). It can also be cinematic in nature as in the trick films, which used cinematic manipulation such as using stop-action editing as the primary source of novelty (Grandma’s Reading Glasses, Albert Smith, 1901, An Extraordinary Cab Accident, R.W. Paul, 1903 and The Big Swallow, Williamson’s Kinematograph Co Ltd, 1901). Performance itself can be a form of exhibition, such as dance and acrobatic performances, comedy and vaudeville acts, as well as novelty animal acts such as boxing cats. The sense of exhibition also emerged from the way the world was put on display through actualities and topicals. Actualities and topicals were films that documented a wide range of non-fiction subject matters from everyday life to political events. Actualities tended to focus more on capturing movement such as a scene of the ocean (Rough Sea at Dover, R.W. Paul, 1895) whereas topicals focused more on significant events such as political speeches, wars and cultural events (The Melbourne Cup, Walter Barnett, 1896). Actualities and topicals might be seen as precursors to documentaries and news programs.

Finally, an equally important aspect of the concept of a cinema of attractions is the mode of exhibition popular at the time. Prior to 1906 films appeared as one attraction amongst many on a vaudeville programme. A film could be surrounded by a number of unrelated acts including, singers, comedians, slides shows, narrators, circus acts, dances and magical acts. This was an environment that produced an atmosphere similar to a fairground with its many attractions, the cinema being but one of them.

Like the early cinema of attractions many of video-sharing sites are dominated by this sense of exhibitionism including addressing the audience directly, erotic dances and performances, gags and novelty acts and putting the world on display by documenting significant events and capturing exotic locations. This sense of exhibition is taken to an extreme as audiences are not only invited to look but also post comments and video responses. This paper looks at the similarities between early cinema and video-sharing sites and asks whether these sites can be considered a new cinema of attractions. It does this in three parts. The first part looks at the context in which the concept of the cinema of attractions emerged. The second part aims at defining the cinema of attractions in greater detail through a close reading of three cases studies. The final part explores the connections between the early cinema of attractions and the video-sharing site YouTube. Because of the high turnover in clips uploaded on YouTube it is impossible to include links to particular clips as they may disappear at any time. Therefore, I have created a playlist of clips for this article which will be updated from time to time. To view examples of the clips discussed in this essay visit this page.

Rizzo, Teresa.
YouTube: The New Cinema of Attractions.
Scan: Journal of Media Arts Culture 5, no. 1 (May 2008).

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