First person shot. New Forms of Subjectivity between Cinema and Intermedia Networks

Abstract

The article analyzes the first person shot, a stylistic figure resulting from a radical transformation of the classical point of view or subjective shot within the contemporary media landscape. The first part of the article focuses on two main features of the first person shot. On the one hand, it is an intermedia figure, arising from the reciprocal interactions of technological innovations which unfolded on different media platforms: the steadycam and its derivatives, digital cameras and their miniaturized versions, surveillance equipments, videogames playable from a first-person perspective. On the other hand, it is an experiential figure, as it directly expresses the dynamic grasp of the world, enacted by a hybrid agent (a body – sensor), and consequently its perceptual, practical, emotional, living and ongoing experience.