Filming your life, a French passion? There’s no doubt about that, considering the enthusiasm that amateur films generate. Made yesterday in Super-8, today on YouTube, they tell their time and are part of a collective story. A round table explored all its dimensions. Report.
« If I tell you April 24, 2005? », questions Justine Ryst, Director General of YouTube France, at the beginning of the round table «From Super 8 to YouTube: filming your life» organized on April 18 by the Ministry of Culture in partnership with YouTube France and the Civil society of multimedia authors (SCAM) as part of theYear of the documentary. " Me at the zoo! ” immediately answers a voice in the room. The first video posted on the platform is visibly in all submissions.
And it perfectly illustrates the theme of the round table: on the one hand, this great place of expression ” what is YouTube today, with its 41 million users in France; on the other, budding creators who, through the platform, continue and renew the use that their parents and grandparents made of their camcorder and Super 8 camera. “ The documentary, which helps to raise awareness and popularize certain subjects, gives voice to a new generation of talents ” says Justine Ryst.
Talking about yourself, a desire as old as the world
« The need to talk about yourself is very old and starts long before YouTuberecalls Réjane Hamus-Vallée, university professor in visual and film sociology, member of the Pierre Navile Centre. There is some continuity, regardless of the technology. The arrival of the Super-8 was, in that regard, a pivotal moment. With a cassette that it was enough to load, it became easier to film, a wider fringe of the population was equipped and the border between amateur and professional practice began to become blurred ».
This continuity is found in the definition of amateur film given by Aurélien Durr, responsible for the audiovisual archives sector at the Departmental Archives of the Seine-Saint-Denis. « The amateur filmmaker, he explains, is a person who has a professional activity other than cinema, who captures moving images for his pleasure or for the pleasure of his entourage; he films people of his family or his community or an "exceptional" event to show it to that same family or community With this nuance in mind, this community can now potentially bring together millions of people…
In terms of diffusion, it is therefore the break and not the continuity that is needed. « We’re virtually in touch with the whole world, pursues Réjane Hamus-Vallée. The number of videos posted every day is dizzying, this tension between intimacy and distance is particularly interesting A visibility that, in some cases, has as a corollary an open awareness of all possibilities for young creators.
Two content creators testify
Illustration with two of them – Julien Aubrée and Louanne Carmona – whose testimony is particularly awaited. For the first, it all starts in 2010, when he finds it is possible to put content online in a few clicks » and then decides to post footage of himself playing video games with his friends. The channel Mamytwink was born. Today, it has 2.2 million subscribers and is entirely devoted to documentary illustrated with archival images with «Histoires de guerre», a flagship series with 100 million views, « written by passionate but verified by a historian ", stresses the young creator, who points out that the benevolence ” is one of the “ values » of the chain and confirms – this was true at the start of Mamytwink, it is still the case today – “ that it is difficult to be completely impervious to the camera. The direction is there as soon as the camera turns ».
Little, Louanne Carmona wanted to be a comedian. It’s by making jokes on the internet ” that she made herself known until she won the “ 50,000 subscribers in two weeks » and propels its chain Louannemanshow in the most popular online content category. This modern-day explorer, who travels around the world by train, backpacks and broken converses, speaks with excitement about her new project: I’m going to Morocco with friends in the footsteps of my grandparents who had a shed there. My grandmother told me she had the best memories of her life The idea is to come back from this experience with material for a “ over-the-top documentary », a photo project (« it would combine old photos and today’s photos and a book.
Preservation of content, a challenge for the future
The success of videos posted on YouTube immediately points to another issue, that of the preservation of these contents. Especially since the production of content seems to know no limits… This highly sensitive question is asked by Aurélien Durr, who, as part of his duties in the Seine-Saint-Denis region, has collecting everything the department produces as an institution », but also, gradually, the production of other actors, especially associations. Aurélien Durr takes an example of the work carried out since the 1990s by the association «Les Engraineurs» whose films, shot by young people, document the discourses frequently conveyed on the Courtillères, a set of buildings in Pantin. With, in the long term, the will to build the audiovisual heritage of a territory The whole issue today is “ support this digital production. We will definitely have to review our practice ».
Data retention also naturally means data storage. “ The videographer has complete freedom with regard to the content he wishes to keep after putting it online, notes Justine Ryst, but on YouTube, we have a Machine Learning, which continuously optimizes storage First-hand information when 500 hours are downloaded per minute in the world….
Invited to react, Julien Aubrée readily acknowledges that when we make videos, we don’t necessarily think about what they will become in 50 years On the other hand, it is certain that there is “ a YouTube-specific writing format », and that, therefore, this one will be a good reading grid to recognize this production in the future.
A sector in the process of professionalization?
The enthusiasm of amateur productions sometimes runs up against certain limits, inherent in this type of project. That is why it is important that the players in the sector accompany these productions on the path of professionalization. A transition that Gilles Konan, a 19-year-old student and ambassador of the Culture Pass, remembers, a device that he said: intensifies the relationship between youth and cultural offer ».
« I have witnessed the professionalization of YouTube and the special intimacy that has developed with the public, he says. Initially, I was interested in everything that revolved around video games. Today, Arte, where I watch mostly documentaries, has become my favorite channel. We have control over our time and what we watch ».
« Growing this ecosystem and moving towards professionalization is our first mission In partnership with the Scam, YouTube is getting ready to “ take some YouTubers » at the Cannes Film Festival whose schedule will have nothing to envy to that of authentic professionals.