Coronavirus Drone Genres

Spectacles of Distance and Melancholia

Authors

  • Caren Kaplan University of California Davis, American Studies and Cultural Studies, Davis, California, United States
  • Patricia R. Zimmermann Ithaca College, Screen Studies (Audiovisual), New York, New York, United States
  • Marina Costin Fuser University of São Paulo, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23925/1984-3585.2021i24p27-39

Keywords:

Affections

Abstract

Throughout the month of March and into April, as the Covid-19 coronavirus circulated around the globe, footage of cities that seemed abnormally empty began to turn up on social media or posted to YouTube. The imagery, usually produced by professional or amateur drone operators, has been presented in such strikingly similar ways that a specific genre may be emerging.

A conversation that began on Facebook when Hallwalls curator Edmund Cardoni posted drone footage from Buffalo New York, then emerging as the second coronavirus hotspot in New York State, instigated this Quorum column. FQ editorial board member Patricia R. Zimmermann reposted the video and asked “is coronavirus drone footage a new genre?” Caren Kaplan, who works on aerial imagery and militarism, replied “Interesting! The iconic symbol of distance tech produces the imagery of social distancing.” A lively discussion ensued, leading B. Ruby Rich to invite them to develop the dialogue in Film Quarterly’s Quorum.

Author Biographies

Caren Kaplan, University of California Davis, American Studies and Cultural Studies, Davis, California, United States

Caren Kaplan is Professor of American Studies and Cultural Studies at the University of California Davis, where she is also a member of the Humanities Innovation Lab, the Mellon Research Initiative in Digital Cultures, and engaged in experiments in Gamification. She is the author of several books and publications in the area of cultural studies, gender studies, audiovisual studies, and communication.

Patricia R. Zimmermann, Ithaca College, Screen Studies (Audiovisual), New York, New York, United States

Patricia R. Zimmermann é professora de Screen Studies (Audiovisual) no Ithaca College, em Nova York. Ela integrou a Shaw Foundation Professor of New Media in the School of Communication and Information na Nanyang Technological University em Singapura e a Ida Beam Professor of Cinema and Comparative Literature na Universidade de Iowa. Ela é autora de diversos libros e mais de 200 publicações na área de teoria fílmica, mídia e comunicação.

Marina Costin Fuser, University of São Paulo, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Marina Costin Fuser is a social scientist, PhD in film and gender studies at Sussex (CAPES), with a sandwich doctorate at Berkeley. She is currently doing post-doctoral research at IEA-USP on learning technologies and in intelligence technologies on the semiotics of feminist robots at TIDD/PUC-SP. Her research includes: a study of women's emancipation in Simone de Beauvoir, women in Hilda Hilst's political theater, and nomadism in the cinema of Trinh T. Minh-ha. At Sussex, she has taught in the field of cultural studies. She has published the books Words that Dance on the Edge of an Abyss: Women in the Dramaturgy of Hilda Hilst (EDUC) and co-edited Women Behind the Cameras: Brazilian Filmmakers from 1930 to 2018 (Estação Liberdade).

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Published

2022-03-09

Issue

No. 24 (2021): Anthropocene and the crisis of anthropocentrism

Section

Entrevistas

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Caren Kaplan, Patricia R. Zimmermann; Marina Costin Fuser

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