Series and platforms, notes on automation from the video store to online catalogues.

Abstract

The following article proposes to think of the series as a narrative format, adapted to the logic of video on demand in streaming services. In order to address the aesthetic problem of seriality, a journey that goes from blockbuster to online catalogs, from analog supports to the digitization of audiovisual content will be considered (briefly). The automation of algorithmic decisions and recommendations (Blake & Striphas, 2016) will be two central notions to think about some of the implications of the series as a data capture device, within the framework of interfaces and video-on-demand (VOD) platforms. The ways of encoding, archiving or transferring data and metadata delimit how video on demand operates within these supports that constitute the platforms. When reviewing the link of the series with the permanent feedback of its audience(s), in a global context of economy of attention (Célis Bueno, 2017), we will see that the links between aesthetics and statistics are close and inulidible to think about art. digital today.