Scratch Video a mutant hybrid of scratch DJ music and guerrilla TV

scratchvideo/theory/resonance

Humanity is excellent at retaining stories, which was how we passed down history through the generations. After constant exposure to media specifically designed to stick in your head, we now use this ability to remember pop culture. One quick flash of an image is enough of an iconic cue for the viewer to bring back particular emotions and associations.

"Constant exposure to TV over a period of time, and the sharing of TV stimuli by everyone in the society, creates a reservoir of common media experiences that are stored in our brains." (Schwartz 17)

Sound guru Tony Schwartz theorized that effective communication should take into account the cumulative media memories of the audience. It is always easier to communicate by building on what people already know; using familiar information creates meaning in the mind of viewers called "resonance", or what Schwartz calls striking a "responsive chord." Audio samples in hip hop trigger the memory of those familiar sounds the audience have stored in their brains.

Scratch video samples TV and film, scrambling the audience's storage reservoir of images, while creating new associations. It takes advantage of all the work producers and advertisers have done to make sure you heard or saw the same show or commercial a million times -- but puts those memories in a new context. Scratch video is meta-medium, a search engine of the popular consciousness.

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Copyright 2000© Hart Snider