Communications and Media

Media is considered to be any form of mass communication as well as all the people involved in it.  In recent years, mass media included journalism, broadcast media like television and radio, as well as the World Wide Web. Now, many other forms of mass communication have been included as mass media.  Film is now considered mass media as well.  However, with these various forms of media delivering information on a daily basis to the second, and even sometimes to the millisecond, it cannot be avoided that one media will influence another.  In many cases, the way news is delivered on television is influenced by print media, for instance, a television show is formatted according to a format known as a news-magazine-show, which as the name connotes is based on the actual news magazine of print media.  This influence between the various media of mass communication is currently widespread.  Another example of this intermingling is glossy magazines that are laid-out to look like internet web pages.  The influence of one media on another is on various elements of media in general.  It is on this premise that the assumption is made that media influences the content, the format, and the theme of television and film.

Understandably, the creation of television shows and movies involves many processes of which the collection or the decision of content is one.  Producers and network big bosses have to first decide what to show.  This particular process involves research the studies of what would sell to an audience at a certain period of time.  Television and film are both very commercial forms of media and in most cases the objective of creation of these two media would be for television, to boost ratings and attract advertisers, and for film, to sell in the box office.  As such, both of these media have to put extra attention into deciding what content should go into their shows or their movies.  The process involves painstaking research and surveys that determine if the product they are marketing, in this case, the television shows or the movies, are products that the general public would want seen on TV or on the widescreen.  Aside from just research and studies, producers also need to consider the type of audience that the content will be shown to or otherwise, would have to contend with regulatory boards of all sorts and result to their product not being sold to the largest audience possible.

Another process involved in the creation of television shows and movies is deciding what format to use.  For television, the format is quite like the lay-out of a newspaper and the editors and creative staff of any television show will have to decide on what format to use to make the show consistent its content.  For instance, if the content is mostly informative instead of entertaining, preferred formats are talk shows and documentaries.  In any case, the element of entertainment has to be considered anyway.  In movies, the format is often translates into cinematography which involves how the content is presented.  For example, if the film is a very early period film, then it could be presented in black and white, or if it is ultra modern, then perhaps heavy use of computer generated images (CGI) may be used.  Then, there is also the matter of whether all or part of the film is presented in CGI, or straightforward animation, or classic actor-driven moviemaking.  Finally, the third process that is essential to television and film is the decision of the theme of the show or the film.  This means that although the content and the format have been decided, the creative team should also consider consistency throughout the entire show and determine what the theme of the content is.  For instance, if the television show is about movie stars, the theme could be about their pets or their houses.  In film, most of the time, the theme precedes the content, so if a producer decides to produce a love-themed film, then the content may be the stories of many other things, such as Romeo and Juliet or Cinderella.  These are love themed stories, and the story is the content, while the theme is what drives the story.  All these three processes involved in television and film are now currently heavily influenced by other forms of media and even influenced by the identical media as well hence, other movies can influence other movies and other television shows can influence other television shows.

Medias influence on the content of television and film is steadily increasing.  Print media has had various influences on television in the past.  The coverage of the domestic woes of high profile people like Bill Clinton and other Hollywood celebrities have spurred the creation of talk shows that feature ordinary couples battling with their own domestic problems, to the point of even yelling at each other on national television in the last decade or so a good example of this would be the David Letterman Show (CBS)  Recent advancements in technology featured in science journals and magazines have resulted to numerous television documentaries that feature technological and medical breakthroughs such as the Popular Science Television Show (Marcott)  Even the proliferation of web cams and the marketability of live feeds on the internet have given rise to what is now known as reality TV.  In film, media has influenced content in more ways than one as well.  About ten years ago, a film which was based on e-mail (IMDB) was released to the public.  It was called Youve Got Mail (IMDB) starring Meg Ryan.  Only five years ago a film entitled, Must Love Dogs (IMDB) was about the proliferation of internet dating ads, (IMDB) then there is the more recent, Julie and Julia (IMDB) which is a true story based on an actual internet blog. (IMDB)   All these are films with content based on a recent addition to the family of mass media  the internet.  Prior to these films, there have also been films based on television shows like Quiz Show (IMDB) in 1994 which is a movie about joining television game shows, (IMDB) then there is The Truman Show (IMDB) which is a full length movie starring Jim Carrey (IMDB) based on reality television shows.  Pleasantville, (IMDB) another hit movie happens to be about television shows.  In Pleasantville, there is a journey which starts with materializing a TV-series into life and ends up with materializing the life into this TV-series. (Vercan)  Other films with content influenced by other media are those that are based on books and novels like the Harry Potter series, the Star Wars Trilogy, Dracula, as well as animated films that are based on fairy tales like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty.

Books are considered mass media and when these are made into movies, they go from one media to another, and more than just influencing the latter, these materials get reinvented and presented in a different way.  In effect, what most of us would consider as other media influencing other media is in fact an intermingling of media, which of course begins with one media influencing the content of the other.  On the matter of media presentation, it is mostly the format that is influenced by other media and not the content.
Medias influence on the format of television shows and movies is also significant because people are more hooked on the internet now, television formats have been modified to become interactive.

Telecommunications have also influenced television in that nowadays, certain shows have formats that allow immediate communication or polls through text messaging.  Of the most popular of these is American Idol.  In film, the influence of other forms of media is also evident.  Video games, which are a popular form of mass media among young people is also beginning to invade Hollywood with such movies as Super Mario Bros., (IMDB)   Dungeons and Dragons and Mortal Kombat (IMDB)  all these films have formats that are similar to playing the game on a console.  The formats of these films have been designed to mimic the format of video games as accurately as possible so that they would appeal to the console gaming crowd.  There are even films with formats based on comic books like Sin City (IMDB) and Cool World(IMDB)  which employ graphics that remind one of reading comic books or comic strips.  There are movies as well that are based on popular book formats called anthologies.  These books feature a number of stories compiled in one collection, often intended for the impatient reader.  So, for the impatient moviegoer, there are also movie anthologies which are films that are formatted in such a way to accommodate three or more short films.  Among the most popular of these are the Amazing Stories (IMDB) series, Creepshow (IMDB) series, and the Urban Legend series.  Film formats can also be based on television shows like the television series The Twilight Zone which was based on a popular anthology by Rod Serling, and is now a basis for Twilight Zone  The Movie which is formatted in exactly the same was as its television cousin.

The theme of television and movies is also influenced by other media.  In television for instance, cookbooks have influenced the bumper crop of cooking shows and food-themed documentaries such as Discovery Channels Food Safari (Discovery Asia) and Glutton for Punishment (Discovery Asia) then with the slew of environmental awareness and protection media campaigns, television has come up with hour after hour of environment-themed shows like Living with Ed   The movies are no different when it comes to theme.  With war always on television, it has also become the inevitable theme of many movies to include the remake of Platoon. (IMDV)  Then, when it comes to the greenhouse effect, good films to watch would be 2010 (IMDB) and The District. (IMDB) These movies merely demonstrate how other forms of media can cause the production of television shows and films that are based on relevant themes that are tackled in some other media except television and film.

What has to be understood in the field of mass communication is that it will continually grow and consistently influence other forms of media.  A unidirectional influence however, is not the kind of influence that is most likely to develop in media.  As mentioned earlier, what happens is an intermingling of elements of the various media, in this case, the content, theme, and format of other forms of media carried over to other, distinctly different media.  It is very interesting to notice how media, in its own right is not only able to influence people but other media as well.  This makes the fourth estate exceptionally powerful.  Our lives nowadays are influenced by media in its many forms and the fact that this influence seems to be able to pervade everything from the toothbrush that we use to the breakfast that we eat can be both disturbing and amusing.

Often, we tell ourselves never to be slaves to the media.  However in a world where every move is an act to become acceptable in society, media has the upper hand.  If media is carefully analyzed it is actually like a virus that has contaminated every aspect of our existence.  The way we perceive our selves is influenced by media through the establishment of stereotypes that result from media, our faith is a result of the proliferation of the bible, the Quran, and other religious documents our lifestyles are dictated upon by advertisements and the internet  practically everything that we do, we hope for, and we envision is a product of the influence of media.  Being a slave to media means not being able to maintain individuality because individualism is probably the first thing that will disappear if media is allowed to overrun society and the public at large.

Fortunately, there are many things one can do to ensure that media does not gain the upper hand.  Each of us should learn how to deal with media in a way that we get from it instead of media stealing from us  yes, media, in its most harmful form can cause use to make unwise investments, waste valuable money on things we dont really need, and even give up our perfectly normal human lives for things that we probably did not even think about only five years ago.  The one danger that media has on us is its ability to create a need.  As humans we have basic needs and if we are able to prioritize our needs according to their degree of importance, then perhaps we can be able to beat the media in claiming the unique us.

Imagine a world where the media rules  this would probably be a world where globalization begins to destroy the cultural and social constructs of every nation.  We are individual, just as our countries are diverse and it is within us to protect this individualism as much as we can from the influences and temptations of media.  Beauty is not always the glossy picture of some skinny model on a celebrity magazine  in some parts of the world, beauty is dark skinned, filed teeth, or circumcised clitori these are indications that apart from geographical distances, individualism can be due largely to the diverse cultural landscape, the landscape that we should protect from the harsh and undesirable effects of slavery to the media.

Media does have positive effects to include its main purpose which is mass communications but in this world where the only constant is change, there is a very real risk of media being able to do more than what it should and such is entirely dependent on how it is perceived individually.  If it is perceived as something that should be the basis of every single life decision, then everybody should stay home when the weather report says that there would be heavy rains.  With media totally controlling humans, there is no reason to elect a president.
Let us put media in its rightful place, as a means of mass communication.  Medias influence on television and film is precedented it is an occurrence that has existed for many decades in the past.  The sad fact is when we allow media to influence not only television or film but us.  Let us learn from media and not derive our lives from it.  After all, learning from media is something that will build for us a society that is intellectually strong, individually aware, and psychologically stable.  Let media influence other media, but let not media influence our uniqueness.