'the nurse missed / my vein / & dug for it / it was a white light / a tin flame in / the forearm / fluorescent /sick vinyl / what else can i say / i opened / i cried / & the needle / drank' Franny Choi, Turing Test_Empathetic Response * Digital video, especially what has been referred to as The Bad Digital Era , exists at an impasse. Used as a cheap alternative to film and retroactively praised for its scrappy, fuzzy aesthetics, it was both a means for conveying an intimacy that a classical Hollywood look wasn't able to convey and also a way to crank out as much miserabilism and mumblecore as possible. There is a certain level of familiarity that is cultivated when a filmmaker is able to shoot in extreme close-up for a long take , allowing the characters to talk in a way that feels unscripted, even if it isn't. More than this, digital video was associated with the home video release , meaning the stories being told felt as though they were meant to be...