Thinking Inside and Outside of the (Black) Box : Bird Box and Netflix’s Algorithmic Operations

Abstract

Malte Hagener considers two dimensions of the changes in the audiovisual field: the first is exemplified by the Netflix platform on the economic and logistical level; the second concerns the aesthetic consequences of this new model of production and distribution. Characterized by a high level of autonomy and self-consciousness of this status, Netflix’s system is transforming the practice of film and the notion we have of it. Referencing Bird Box (2018), the “post-apocalyptic thriller” (Wikipedia) directed by Susanne Bier and starring Sandra Bullock, Hagener exemplifies that a post-cinema movie may be positioned between cinema, television and new media, appearing as a “self-allegory of its own position in a new media environment, especially concerning its production logic.”