A video mixtape (VMT) is a stock footage movie consisting of clips from movies, television or home videos that are generally circulated as bootleg videos. Also called party tapes or video compilations, this phenomenon comes from the days of Betamax and VHS, when home editing and duplication became possible for the masses. Video mixtapes are distributed on VHS or

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

, or by one of the many distribution methods the internet has to offer. The concept and "feel" of a video mixtape is derived from the audio mixtape phenomenon.

Content

Video mixtapes usually contain short clips from various sources. Favorite sources include "home-shopping channel and

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

bloopers, scenes from sleazy splatter B-movies, amazing news footage, bizarre pornography, strange homemade video projects, extreme sports, disasters and mishaps captured on film, or foreign television gone mad. There has never been a set criteria for the footage that video enthusiasts collect."

Mixtapes and internet culture

The emergence of

high-speed internet Internet access is the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices; and to access services such as email and the World Wide Web. Internet access is sold by Internet ...

provided an easy and cheap means to download and swap videos online. The ability to edit videos with free software on consumer computers no longer requires an expert to produce mixtapes. Most modern video mixtapes are released on DVD and through internet download. This can be in the shape of an

ISO image An optical disc image (or ISO image, from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media) is a disk image that contains everything that would be written to an optical disc, disk sector by disc sector, including the optical disc file system. ...

of the DVD, video file, and streaming video.

References

{{Reflist Home video American public access television shows Audiovisual ephemera