Earlier this week, I watched the movie Tarnation by Jonathan Caouette. It skirted the line between being troubling and artistically amazing. The 8mm footage made all the colors oversaturated, like we were viewing a polaroid in motion. However, what really captivated my interest was the second chapter of the movie “Once Upon a Time” which showed a series of “slides” of text followed by photographs:

I love the way the text was used – like little breaks for narrative in silent films.

It was a real democratic way of telling a story. I’m always looking for democratic ways to quickly use technology to achieve an end and I think this technique really fits the bill. Think of it as Radio for YouTube!

I tried to find examples of this at NPR, and I didn’t see this exactly. I saw slideshows sure:

The World of Maurice Sendak
The Streets of New York
The Partisans of Ali
Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton

But nothing really jelled. If there was narrative, there was no music or ambiance. If there was music, no narrative.

And only one video that I saw used text in a similar way. It was at the beginning of the absolutely chilling All Alone in the World from A War Photographer’s View of Iraq .

Imagine a lighter subject, imagine music, a narrator, interviews, photos and text. That’s what I’m talking about.

Andy Bailey, in the Filmmaker review says that Tarnation was made with a cheap video camera, consumer editing software, troves of home movie footage and less than $300. He says that it’s ironic “that a film originally created for less than the price of a plane ticket now has to obtain thousands of dollars in music clearances in order to move forward for distribution.” Okay, so edit the film with creative commons licensed music from the start, and you’re on to a real fast and democratic way to generate radio for YouTube.

Really. NPR, if you’re listening. In the absence of a YouTube for Radio. Make Radio for YouTube.