Mass Media and Society chapter 8 & 9
Calotype
A photographic process in which a positive image is made by shining light through a negative image onto a sheet of sensitized paper. - Henry Fox Talbot - paper coated with salt and silver nitrate - 1843-1847 - could be reproduced by negatives - first successful tech to be able to be distributed
Hulu
Established in 2007 following a deal between NBC Universal, News Corporation, and a number of leading Internet companies (including Yahoo!, AOL, MSN, and MySpace),the site gives users access to an entire library of video clips without charge and syndicates its material to partner distribution sites - avoids carriage fees
trick film
Films that contained techniques, originally used by Georges Melies, such as stop-motion photography that made objects disappear, reappear, and transform.
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
First big-budget film to be recorded digitally
Kinetoscope
a device that would become the predecessor to the motion picture projector. - a cabinet with a window through which individual viewers could experience the illusion of a moving image
domestic comedy
a generic family comedy that was identified by its character-based humor and usually set within the home
Vitascope
a large-screen movie projection system developed by Thomas Edison - first screening in April of 1896
video-on-demand
a pay-per-view system that allows viewers to order or download a film via television or the Internet and watch it at their convenience
Daguerreotype
a photograph taken by an early photographic process employing an iodine-sensitized silvered plate and mercury vapor. - by Jacques Daguerre - first photo of people in 1838 in Paris - no way to recreate, a one of a kind photo - printed to metal plate - first photo tech that people thought could be sold and commercialized
panning shots
a sense of scene and to engage his audience more fully in the experience of the film
celluloid film strip
a sequence of images on it was rapidly spooled between a light bulb anda lens, creating the illusion of motion
Near Video on Demand
a system that broadcasts multiple copies of a film or program over short time intervals but does not allow viewers to control the video by pausing or rewinding it
DVD sales and rentals account for about
a third of film revenues
Motion Picture Patents Company (MPPC)
a trade group that pooled the most significant motion picture patents and established an exclusive contract between these companies and the Eastman Kodak Company as a supplier of film stock - 10 leading companies ran it - 1908
what happened to the views of public after the failure of the Vietnam war?
ambivalent attitude toward war
High-definition television
attempts to create a heightened sense of realism by providing the viewer with an almost three-dimensional experience - higher resolution
1970s and 80s saw rise of...
blockbuster movies - jaws - star wars - the godfather
Because of high marketing and production costs, the major studios have increasingly come to rely on...
blockbusters
why did independent films become popular in the 90s and 2000s?
break from the predictable material often released by studios
earliest photograph
by Joseph Niepce - view from window at LeGras - oil-treated bitumen - camera obscura with 8 hour exposure (through light)
what two technological developments in the late 1800s played a vital role in TV?
cathode ray tube and the scanning disK
partisan news networks
cause viewers to have less understanding of opposing political opinions, making them more polarized
smartphones
cell phones that contain built-in applications and Internet access—viewers are using VOD as a way of watching television while they areout of the house
situation comedy (sitcoms)
comedy genre featuring a recurring cast of characters who resolve zany situations based on their everyday lives
pay TV
customers paid a subscription fee to access premium cable television shows and video-on-demand products,was the nation's first successful pay cable service
Motion Picture Association of America, or MPAA
deciding that they needed to protect themselves from government censorship and to foster a more favorable public image, the major Hollywood studios organized in 1922 to form an association - code of self-sensorship - voluntary rating system
what two things fueled the rapid growth of cable tv networks?
deregulation and the use of satellites - distributed local TV across the country
scanning disk
developed by Paul Nipkow, separated pictures into pinpoints of light that could be transmitted as a series of electronic lines - flat metal disk with a series of small perforations arranged in a spiral pattern - each rotation made a tv frame - the foundation for experiments on the transmission of visual images
Public Broadcasting Service
developed out of a report by the Carnegie Commission on Educational Television, which examined the role of educational, noncommercial television on society - recommended that the government finance public television in order to provide diversity of programming during the network era—a service created "not to sell products" but to "enhance citizenship and public service
carriage fees
fees paid to cable operators by broadcasters for transmitting their channels on the operators' systems.
parallel editing
film alternates between two or more scenesof action, he could create an illusion of simultaneity.
below-the-line costs
generally fixed - salaries for non starring cast members and technical crew, technical equipment, travel, locations, studio rental, catering
problems with satellite tv
high cost of a satellite dish and the theft of satellite signals - led to Cable Act in 1984
rise of digital filming technology and online movies
increasing concern for movie piracy
filmmakers use movies to
influence cultural attitudes toward certain social issues
Golden Age of cinema
late 1930s and early 1940s 1950s: golden age of TV
what happened out of the rise of antiestablishment youth culture?
movies adopted more liberal stances toward sexuality and violence and displayed a cynicism toward established social structures
above-the-line costs
negotiated before filming begins - screenplay rights - writer's salaries - producer salary - director salary - leading actors salaries
Contestants on reality TV shows
permeate every aspect of culture and media
TV invades
post WW2 TV boom makes TV most pervasive mass medium ever
direct-to-home systems
precursors to the smaller, more powerful direct broadcast satellite systems introduced in the 1990s - reduced sales of satellite TV
broadband networks
provide a multichannel television service, along with telephone, high-speed Internet, and advanced digital video services, using a single wire
analog signals
roadcast signals made of varyingradio waves
presales
sales of distribution rights for a film in different sectors before the movie's release
tracking shots
shots that traveled with the movement of a scene - allowed the audience—through the eye of the camera—to participate in the film's action
shows started giving previews of content to be given out later so that people would be intrigued and wait to watch it. they used Facebook and other social media to do so
color tech
slow to develop because color tech was incompatible with black and white TV sets - gained popularity in 60s and replaced black in white in 70s
1990s introduced...
special effects and improved computer animation
1960s tv
stress caused by the Vietnam War and the Cuban Missile Crisis, led people to turn to escapist television offered by fantasy sitcoms
aspect ratio
technology that allowed filmmakers to squeeze a wide-angle image onto conventional 35-mm film stock, thereby increasing the aspect ratio (the ratio of a screen's width to its height) of their images.
what made motion pictures projected to audience viewing?
the Lumière brothers released the cinématographe in 1895
what did these films celebrate?
the emerging youth culture and a rejection of theconservatism of the previous decade
affiliated stations
the other networks all had more than 200 affiliates each - reached 80 percent of nation's households
what is a film's performance at a box office related to?
the studio marketing budget
vertically integrated
they controlled every part of the system as it related to their films,from the production to release, distribution, and even viewing
the network era (1950s to 1970s)
three major networks (known as the Big Three) dominated the television industry, collectively accounting for more than 95 percent of prime-time viewing.
fad of 1950s
three-dimensional movies - now more popular
why was public television created?
to enhance citizenship and also to provide a television service for people inrural areas or those who could not afford to pay for a private television service
auteurs
whose personal, creative visions were reflected in their work Directors who also see themselves as artists. They want to control all aspects of their production, often writing, sometimes shooting or editing, their films
seeing comes before
words
Mechanical television
- Developed out of Nipkow's disk system - Pioneered by British inventor John Logie Baird - disadvantages: low resolution, limited pics per screen per second, excessive flickering
film/ cinema initial history
- Edward Muybridge galloping horse 1877 - Goodwin celluloid base for photo emulsions 1887 - Dickson/ Edison Kinetograph and Kinetoscope 1888 - Eastman celluloid roll film 1889 - Lumiere brothers cinematografie projector 1895 - Melies film narrative Trip to the Moon 1896
TV's impact
- transformed family life (unity and togetherness) - reinforced bonds in suburbia - home space reorganized with TV centered - idealized a preferred reality - sanctioned consumerism - bring the world into your home - exports U.S. culture - Pax Americana - TV news highlights societal disfunction - child obesity and couch potatoes - violence & Gerbner's cultivation theory - replaces healthy and enlightening activities - children's TV: creates cognition but also antisocial behavior - socialization: social issues (race, gender)
cinématographe
- where the word cinema came from - a lightweight film projector that also functioned as a camera and printer - lightweight enough for outdoor filming - depicted scenes from everyday life
TV innovation
- Farnsworth created electronic TV through scan lines & beamed electrons at his father's potato farm - 1st electronic TV broadcasts in 1939 - WW2 delays TV for a decade - RCA Sarnoff VS Farnsworth - Sarnoff sends Zworykin to borrow and improve Farnsworth idea - FCC backs NBC not CBS - death of independent stations and birth of the affiliate model
sketch comedy
- Saturday Night Live (SNL) premiered on NBC in 1975 and has remained on air ever since - reflected audiences' growing appetite for social and political commentary
1970s tv
- Social consciousness during the 1970s prompted television producers to reflect changing social attitudes regarding single parenthood, women's roles, and divorce - sitcom families reflected non-nuclear families in society
what movies made technicolor popular?
- Wizard of Oz - Gone with the Wind
TV advantages
- affordability - mix of local and national programs - new customer culture with ads - center to social life - frequent escape
talkie
- also known as talking film - audiences once again returned to the cinema in large numbers, lured by the promise of seeing and hearing their idols perform
1960s and 1970s films
- bonnie and clyde - the wild bunch - 2001: a space odessey - easy rider
cathode ray tube (CRT)
- by German physicist Karl Ferdinand Braun in 1897 - forerunner of TV picture tube - combined electricity and camera - fluorescent screen that emitted a visiblelight (in the form of images) when struck by a beam of electrons
narrowcasting
- cable channels sought out niche audiences within specific demographic groups - channels emphasize one topic, or group of related topics, that appeal to specific viewers
movies reflect
- cultural attitudes - trends - concerns
television sight radio
- envisioned before tech existed - radio networks led TV development - FCC started 1934 - always expected to be centralized mass media due to complexity - era of experimental models: FCC approves Jenkins broadcasts in 1928
early televisions
- expensive - slow to catch on due to WWII -
feature narratives
- experienced longer runs in theaters than their single-reel predecessors - popular among working class
SatelliteBroadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA) (1986)
- formed by the merger of two trade organizations—the Society of Private and Commercial Earth Stations (SPACE) and the Direct BroadcastSatellite Association (DBSA). - antipiracy task force, aggressively pursuing illegal hackers with the FBI's help.
Photography
- image represents (eikon) and imitates (imago): root words - way to document past: memory, preservation - photo is evidence something happened - new notions of private/ public - power to persuade people, societies, cultures - formulate, create public identity
film effects
- inspiration - awareness - moral guidance - mirror/ shape culture - teach - desensitization - vicarious living - escape - negative exposure - false portrayals - reinforce stereotypes
direct broadcast satellite (DBS)
- launched by four major cable companies - PrimeStar - small-dish satellite-delivered program service specifically intended for home reception
popular forms of TV shows in 50s
- magazine-style variety shows - television spectacular
digital TV
- more efficient and flexible form of broadcast technology - uses signals that translate TV images and sounds into binary code, working in much the same way as a computer - higher pic quality and used less frequency space
cable TV
- originally developed in the 1940s in remote or mountainous areas - Cable antennas were erected on mountains or other high points, and homes connected to the towers would receive broadcast signals - branched out from providing a local community service and began focusing on offering consumers more extensive programming choices
what did films reflect during WWII?
- patriotism - prewar sentiments
Dr. Griffiths film The Birth of a Nation
- presented a racist perspective on the U.S. Civil War - reflected racist concerns
digital signals
- signals transmitted as binary code - replaced analog signals
satelite TV
- space race of 1950s
advertising and sponsorships
- sponsors had some say in the program's subject matter - advertisers bought 1-2 minute spots on shows - Sponsors have retained some control over program content by withdrawing funding from shows that are deemed to have offensive or inappropriate content
electronic television
- system based on CRT - Philo Farnsworth - better picture quality, no noise, a more compact size, and fewer visual limitations
Kinetograph
- the camera that produced kinetoscope film sequences - an early movie camera developed by Thomas Edison's assistant in the 1890s
power of visual
- time: captures moving things, don't know time period or method of creation - depth: focus level
two biggest current satellite television providers
DirecTV Dish Network
famous photos
1. Henri-carter-bresson's famous photo man jumping in puddle (captured someone moving mid air) 2. Steerage by Stieglitz (social commentary on upper and lower class) 3. woman and child falling off of fire escape (controversial because she died, helped to bring justice to death) 4. Kevin Carter's controversial photo (starving child and vulture: why take a picture instead of help?) 5. Pulitzer Prize winning (Eddie Adams) 6. The Terror of War 7. Cotton Mill Girl (child labor)
photography development
1. camera obscura projection: Iraq 400s AD 2. Niepce captured first image to not fade quickly 3. Daguerre experiments with various materials 4. emulsion plates and dry plates: short exposure 5. Eastman (Kodak) developed roll film 6. Late 1940s film now affordable for consumers 7. SLR (50s), Polaroid (60s), digital (90s)
first working model of TV
1926 BBC, Baird spinning disk (mechanical) with a low resolution image
when was the first satellite tv signal broadcast?
1962
reality television
Aimed to capture real, unscripted life on camera - show drew criticisms for glamorizing bad behavior and encouraging excessive drinking and casual sex - Cheap to produce, with a seemingly never-ending supply of willing contestants and eager advertising sponsor
YouTube
Created by three PayPal engineers in 2005, the site enables users to upload personal videos, television clips, music videos, and snippets of movies that can be watched by other users worldwide
netlets
High start-up costs, relatively low audience ratings, and increasing production expenses spelled the end of the "netlets," a term coined by Variety magazine for minor-league networks that lacked a full week's worth of programming
what marked the birth of the talking film?
Jazz Singer in 1927
Big Three networks
NBC, CBS, ABC - accounted for 95% of prime-time viewing - shortly after, they added FOX to make the Big Four
prime-time TV
Programming screened between 7 and 11 p.m., when the largest audience is available - bringing families together again
1990s and 2000s tv
TV networks became more specialized, catering to niche markets in order to meet the needs of an increasingly fragmented audience.
New Wave movement
The French New Wave was characterized by an independent production style that showcased the personal authorship of its young directors
nickelodeons
The first movie houses; admission was one nickel
interactive TV
Using an additional set-top box and their remote control, viewers can utilize several different features that go beyond simply watching a television show. - interacts through a ticker
what reduced the audiences at movie theaters?
VCR