#howtowatchafanvideo

[aliensandidentity-sp21]

How to Watch a Fan Vid

“MVD suggested that the best fan videos could produce ‘layers of meaning,’ being accessible at first glance to anyone with a casual familiarity with the program, offering a deeper experience to anyone who knew the program well, and a still deeper experience to someone who has been part of the fan community’s discussions around the show“

From this excerpt the two dynamics of fan videos and other participatory media is revealed. These two dynamics being how participatory media can affect both shared experiences with a show and personal experience with a show. In other words, a large group of people could watch a fan video and they could reminisce on the the show that the video is about in general. Then someone else could watch that same fan video by themselves and connect to a deeper and more personal experience compared to the shared experience they would have in a group.    

[aliensandidentity-sp21]

How to Watch a Fan Video - Henry Jenkins

Reading this text was actually very informative for myself. I have never truly watched a fan video, so while watching these I was not exactly sure the purpose, or what exactly to look for when I watch. The text explains that these videos take a while, about 6-8 hours to produce and distribute. A lot of effort is  put into a video that is only a few minutes. Another thing that really matters in a fan video is the aesthetics. The video must be “cool” and be layered with images and videos that link together well. I completely agree with this statement, in the sense if I was watching a video that did not flow well, I would definitely not be as interested. These “recurring images” carry a lot of emotion and meaning. Another thing that I learned was “slash this.” I was not aware of this statement, and learned that it meant the romance between two same sex characters. I thought this related well to Roswell New Mexico, since we see a lot of same sex relationships throughout the series.