From “Field Immersion” to “Portrayal”: A Study on the Ethnic Space Construction in Intangible Cultural Heritage Micro-Documentaries

Abstract

In the context of digital technology reshaping the film and television communication ecosystem, micro-documentaries, with their short duration and lightweight characteristics, have become an important medium for the dissemination of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). As a composite of material and spiritual culture, the ethnic characteristics of ICH need to be visually represented through the creative construction of cinematic space. This paper, based on a film and television arts perspective, uses “space construction” as the core analytical framework to explore how ICH micro-documentaries achieve ethnic visual expression through “residence-based” realistic space documentation, “portrayal-based” psychological space symbolization, and “synchronized” cultural space visual encoding. The study finds that these works, through audiovisual construction of geographical landscapes and life scenes, psychological space presentation of the emotions and cognition of inheritors, and symbolic reorganization of audiovisual elements like costumes, lighting, and composition, not only represent the socialized living heritage of ICH but also strengthen ethnic cultural identity through the unique narrative logic of documentary film.