Creative crowds. Crowdsourcing as a model for collective audiovisual production in the filmmaking field

Abstract

In the contemporary audiovisual landscape, several projects stand out through innovative production initiatives based on the open and non-formal engagement of collectives, eager to contribute in some way to the project as a whole. One of the most popular examples of this form of collaboration, based on the notion of the crowd, is crowdsourcing. The aim of this paper is to study the limits and particularities of this concept in the audiovisual field, and, specifically, in digital film production. After a theoretical discussion on the evolution of the concept and its relationship with other alternative models of collective creation, peer-based creative communities or co-creation, we will carry out an analysis of a set of relevant cases of film production that, in one way or another, have taken crowdsourcing as a referent. Through analysis we will observe a series of particularities that lead us to suggest a reconsideration and flexibilization of some of the key features that tend to conform to the traditional conceptualization of crowdsourcing as a production model oriented to the creative labor of crowds.