writing
-
Back on the (block)chain gang
My current writing project is around blockchain and the entertainment industries, and mostly involves sorting hype from legitimate ideas. This is one of the first not-super-conceptual academic pieces I’ve written, so it’s interesting to sort through a whole bunch of reportage, blogs, videos, and just get a sense of what the current atmosphere around something… Continue reading
-
Material Media-Making is out (digitally) now
The digital (PDF/EPUB) version of my new book Material Media-Making in the Digital Age is available now! Head to the Intellect site to purchase (or tell your institution’s library to do so!). Exciting! From the blurb: “How might one craft a personal media-making practice that is thoughtful and considerate of the tools and materials at… Continue reading
-
one day more
I shared on the weekend that I had been working, and how rare that was (working on the weekend, not working full stop!). I’m now further into that particular grind, working through Day 8 of a nine-day stretch. I’m very much feeling it now. At times through a stretch like this you’re in the zone,… Continue reading
-
Come sail away
It’s been over a year since I worked on the weekend. Since some pretty severe burnout I’ve had to make sure that weekends and most weeknights are kept free, though sometimes the latter is unavoidable. But this weekend, between a full and crazy week last week, and an equally insane three days from tomorrow (Monday),… Continue reading
-
Notes on a theme
It’s happened again. I hit a certain point, usually every twelve months, sometimes sooner, where I get annoyed with my WordPress theme. This layout for my website that I have handpicked from dozens of options, that at the time of choosing I was most satisfied with, has now outstayed its welcome. Its geometries, its fonts,… Continue reading
-
the daily DAN
as part of current writing work, I’m going to *attempt* to create a video a day for the next fortnight (at least). they will be short, largely nonsensical, personal, abstract, unpolished, perhaps sometimes vloggy in nature — Binnsy (@binnsy) July 24, 2018 A week ago, I posted this on Twitter. Must’ve been something of… Continue reading
-
Vale Anthony Bourdain
This city is the self-proclaimed centre of democracy, science, and culture. Unlike many other self-proclaimed centres, though, this one’s claims tend to be borne out by history. I landed yesterday, blinked and nodded politely as my lovely driver gave me the rundown on the city he’s doubtless done a million times before. Got to the… Continue reading
-
Romance and reflection
There is a mode of writing about film that I really enjoy reading — I’m cautiously calling it romantic-reflexive. Practitioners of this style include Murray Pomerance, Geoff Dyer, Raul Ruiz. It’s a style I enjoy because it feels immediate, almost as if the thought had just occurred to the writer. It’s an informed style, but… Continue reading
-
Pomodoro ramblings
In my first classes this week, I introduced first-year students to the Pomodoro technique. I’ve had a mixed relationship with the technique, but sometimes find it useful in terms of getting my head fully into a project during its opening stages. In solidarity, I too typed non-stop for 15 minutes (a reduced pomodoro — usually they… Continue reading
-
Writing
I haven’t written for a very long time. That seems a strange thing to say, given that I bill myself as a ‘writer, producer, and researcher’. But it’s true. In terms of actually setting mind to page without the baggage of scholarly rigour, it’s been an age. Given I now work for an institution that… Continue reading
About Me
Daniel Binns is a media-maker and theorist of media and screen cultures. He is the author of The Hollywood War Film: Critical Observations from World War I to Iraq (2017), and Material Media-Making in the Digital Age (2021), and has published work on Netflix documentaries, drone cinematography, and film genres. Long walks on the beach are fine, but I much prefer cabins in the woods, board games, RPGs, and movies.
Daniel Binns 