Many with a Mobile Cameraphone: The Democratization of Documentary?

The author is developing a new documentary project entitled 24-hours.?in (www.?24-hours.?in) that will explore new opportunities for participation, collaboration and the potential democratisation of documentary production. Utilising user-generated video captured on mobile phones, the project will be participatory whereby the audience/producers contribute documentary pieces shot on mobile devices, around the theme of 24 hours in a city or location; e.g. 24-hours.in/Istanbul or 24hours.in/London. With reference to Dziga Vertov’s seminal 1929 documentary film ‘Man with a Movie Camera’, the films will document the cities, the people that live there and their daily lives. Moving beyond the participation model, the project will build up a database of location specific documentary material and aim to create a new system for collaborative documentary production. The project is currently in development, for ISEA 2011 I will discuss the project as a work in progress, the impact of mobile phones and the potential that these devices, Web 2.0 and social media may offer for documentary production.