Third screens, third cinema, third worlds and triadomania: examining cellphilm aesthetics in visual culture

Abstract

This article discusses cellphilm aesthetics and their resultant effect for visual culture in the 21st century. The new media have impacted traditional analogue structures with profound effects. The cellphone, for example, has become a part of the film and television industries. Accessibility and relative ease of use have ensured their popularity. The article operates from previous work on cellphilms and establishes an argument for the social value that cellphilms have and their attendant social impacts. What becomes important is not so much their comparative aesthetic qualities, but what these qualities mean for their users and the social contexts. The article discusses
aesthetics based on work on many cellphilms including Shane (WFC 2009a), Trains (WFC 2009b), The Sacred Orchid (2009), Pussy G’awn Crazy (2010), and Aryan Kaganof’s SMS Sugar Man (2008).