Blog 3: The Medium is the Message

Noted educator Marshall McLuhan long ago quoted a phrase that remains extremely relevant to the study of multicamera production: the medium is the message.

One way of applying it is to consider that the medium a message is conveyed through (say multicamera video) actually adds additional meaning to the message it emits (say “eighties”).

Explain how various production processes influence the content of television stories. Multicamera, Single Camera, Hybrid Camera, Film, Video and HD should factor into your discussion. As usual, your article should contain specific examples from television we watched in class together.

READING MATERIALS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU ON THIS TOPIC:

• Carter, Bill: “Thanks to YouTube Fans, ‘ Nobody’s Watching’ May Return from the Dead,” New York Times, July 3, 2006: carter_times.pdf
• Friend, Tad: “Laugh Riot,” The New Yorker, September 28, 1998: friend_nyer.pdf
• Goodman, Tim: “‘Earl’ and ‘Chris’” Rescue Sitcoms from Mediocrity,” SFGate.com, Jan 30 2006: goodman_sf.pdf
• Hagan, Joe: “Funny Business,” Wall Street Journal, Jan 21 2006: hagan_wsj.pdf
• Kukienski, Valerie: “TV Comedies Get a Makeover,” LA Daily News, Nov 10 2005: kukienski_ladn.pdf
• Levy, Don “How Different Is Posting HD?” Film & Video, May 2004: levy_filmvideo.pdf
• McDowell, Joanne: “Evenings at the Improv,” Time, October 2002: mcdowell_curb.pdf
• Rice, Lynette: “TV Comedy is Broken,” Entertainment Weekly October 6, 2006: rice_ew.pdf
• Rosen, Lisa: “It’s Such a Deal; For an inside showbiz peek, TV show tapings are hard to beat — and your only investment is time,” Los Angeles Times, Sept 28, 2006: rosen_latimes.pdf
• “Sony’s 24P Cinealta Production Format Stars in 2002-2003 Television Season,” Sony Cinealta News, October 2002: sony_24p.pdf
• Swidey, Neil: “Family !@%$#%’ Ties,” Boston Globe, November 27, 2005: swidey_bostonglobe.pdf

—On reserve in the the Newhouse 3 reading room—
Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb,
A collection of essays about television criticism and culture.

• Excerpt: Timberg, Bernard: “The Unspoken Rules of Television Talk”: newcomb.pdf

Blog 3: The Medium is the Message

Noted educator Marshall McLuhan long ago quoted a phrase that remains extremely relevant to the study of multicamera production: the medium is the message.

One way of applying it is to consider that the medium a message is conveyed through (say multicamera video) actually adds additional meaning to the message it emits (say “eighties”).

Explain how various production processes influence the content of television stories. Multicamera, Single Camera, Hybrid Camera, Film, Video and HD should factor into your discussion. As usual, your article should contain specific examples from television we watched in class together.

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READING MATERIALS THAT MIGHT HELP YOU ON THIS TOPIC:

• Carter, Bill: “Thanks to YouTube Fans, ‘ Nobody’s Watching’ May Return from the Dead,” New York Times, July 3, 2006: carter_times.pdf
• Friend, Tad: “Laugh Riot,” The New Yorker, September 28, 1998: friend_nyer.pdf
• Goodman, Tim: “‘Earl’ and ‘Chris’” Rescue Sitcoms from Mediocrity,” SFGate.com, Jan 30 2006: goodman_sf.pdf
• Hagan, Joe: “Funny Business,” Wall Street Journal, Jan 21 2006: hagan_wsj.pdf
• Kukienski, Valerie: “TV Comedies Get a Makeover,” LA Daily News, Nov 10 2005: kukienski_ladn.pdf
• Levy, Don “How Different Is Posting HD?” Film & Video, May 2004: levy_filmvideo.pdf
• McDowell, Joanne: “Evenings at the Improv,” Time, October 2002: mcdowell_curb.pdf
• Rice, Lynette: “TV Comedy is Broken,” Entertainment Weekly October 6, 2006: rice_ew.pdf
• Rosen, Lisa: “It’s Such a Deal; For an inside showbiz peek, TV show tapings are hard to beat — and your only investment is time,” Los Angeles Times, Sept 28, 2006: rosen_latimes.pdf
• “Sony’s 24P Cinealta Production Format Stars in 2002-2003 Television Season,” Sony Cinealta News, October 2002: sony_24p.pdf
• Swidey, Neil: “Family !@%$#%’ Ties,” Boston Globe, November 27, 2005: swidey_bostonglobe.pdf

—ON RESERVE—
Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb,
A collection of essays about television criticism and culture.

• Excerpt: Timberg, Bernard: “The Unspoken Rules of Television Talk”: newcomb.pdf