Don't Watch This Video
That last example is really just a subtitled film, and much the same was achieved long ago with CD-ROMs. So what's new?
What's new is that millions upon millions of people are now walking around with multimedia entertainment machines in their pockets. That huge fact on its own gives this form of expression a new significance, especially for enjoying things like classic plays or opera. And, as these highbrow examples hopefully illustrate, adding video to text isn't necessarily the start of some artistic descent into Hollywood blockbuster hell.
But what other ways are there of combining words with moving pictures, and could they apply to more contemporary content?
Another obvious approach is to tell a story by alternating betwen text and video rather than by running them in parallel. I think this form has much wider applicability, especially in certain modern genres like horror. Given that, let's illustrate this point by considering two slightly gruesome examples.
First The Ring – this time not Wagner's opera but rather the Japanese horror novel of the same name (known on those shores as リング or RinguΦ). Written by Koji Suzuki, it tells of a sinister unmarked videotape that threatens viewers with death unless they pass it on to another victim. Yes, the premise is a bit silly, and the (orginal, Japanese) filmΦ of the book is competent rather than classic. But the deadly video within the film works particularly well.
It is composed of a short but surreal and unsettling series of mostly black-and-white images accompanied by a fuzzy, screeching soundtrack. These provide something very close to the experience of a real nightmare (which in my experience are overwhelmingly visual).
Watched alone in a dark room, and in the context of Suzuki's story, it can leave even cynical viewers troubled by the idea of that fatal curse. So think before you turn the page...