A networked voice: Speculative transformations of essayistic subjectivity in online environments

This paper considers the forming of an essayistic voice in an online interactive documentary called Grey Skies/Blue Skies. Made in the context of project-based research Grey Skies/Blue Skies combines an essayistic voice-over with a collection of short video clips, where each clip has multiple possible relations to other video clips within the documentary. I will speculate the multilinear affordances of Grey Skies/Blue Skies create a form of essayistic voice specific to the online environment. Akerman's [(1976). News from Home. DVD. Directed by Chantal Akerman. New York: Criterion Collection] News from Home is an essay film which opens a distance between voice-over and panoramic shots of New York City to invite the viewer to think that I will use to see how Grey Skies/Blue Skies realises voice in a multilinear context. From the combined perspectives of multilinear documentary and the essay film this paper will provide a concept of essayistic voice specific to the implications of the network as a particular site for documentary practice.