MEDIA CLASSIFICATION

CLASSIFICATION OF MEDIA

There are different ways to classify media.

1.      Print media, non-print media, electronic media

•    Print media. They include: books, journals, magazines, newspapers, workbook, textbooks
•   Non-print media: they include: projected and non-projected media
•  Electronic media: they include: Audio media, Visual media and Audio-Visual

2.      Projected media & non-projected media

•   Projected media: they require light source for projection. E.g. film projector slides etc.
•   Non-projected media: they do not require light source. They include 3dimensional objects, 2dimensional objects, prints, charts, models etc.

3. Audio media, Visual media & Audio-visual

•     Audio media:  this form of media carry sounds alone. E.g. audio tapes, record player,
•    Visual media: These are the ones that can be seen. E.g.  TV, computer, white board
•    Audio-Visual: this term refers to those instructional materials which provide students with audio and visual experiences by appearing to the hearing and seeing senses at the same time. E.g.  TV, video tapes, closed circuit television (CCTV).

4. Hardware and software

•        Hardware: this the classification of machines or equipment used in the instructional process. It is upon these gadgets that the software is transmitted.  E.g. Television set, tape recorder etc.
•       Software: this classification consists of all materials used with the machine. They are the real carrier of knowledge or information. They include, films, tapes transparencies.

TYPES OF FILM

Comedy

Originally, a comedy is any story that has a happy ending. It can be easily identified by its appearance and plots, and by the deliberate way that these plots are arranged so as to influence the attitude of the audience by generating laughter. The comic characters in the comedy are usually single-minded. They usually possess some peculiar character traits such as gullibility (believing everything, especially obviously impossible and outrageous things), greed (getting into trouble because they cannot be satisfied), gluttony or lust (their insatiable appetite leads them into trouble), etc. The real humour lies in the fact that those characters single mindedly pursue their foolish ambitions thereby exposing their inadequacies and foolishness from time to time. They also never suffer psychological or physical pain since they are not even aware that they are doing anything strange.

Tragedy

In this genre, the protagonist is confronted by overwhelming dilemmas and also finds himself participating in his own downfall. The image presented by tragedy is that of a human being who is forced to endure the worst, and yet not surrendering to self-defeat, but who finally is subdued and loses out completely. Tragic characters usually possess admirable traits such as ambition, patience, fortitude, self-confidence, intelligence etc. which draw audience affection to them. However, they are eventually confronted by their inadequacies. They are usually shocked at the last moment to realize that they have overestimated themselves. Their tragic overestimation usually includes a character flaw that has been carefully hidden for which they have to account. Their downfall usually affects everyone around them. It is however important to note that tragedies in this sense may not be too common in popular arts such as movies; this is because audience do not wish to regard any situation as hopeless or be burdened with misfortune. Nevertheless, they still exist. 

Melodrama

This is a broad term that is applicable to most movies. This genre stresses elements such as strong emotion, high adventure and self-sacrifice in the service of a noble cause. It usually presents a conflict between good and evil in which good finally triumphs. The characters in a melodrama are easily recognizable by their moral or social commitment to a cause.

Adventure

These films are also melodramatic in nature. Among what adventures and melodramas have in common are: action, film climaxing in physical conflict, confrontation between good and evil, experience, persistence etc. Adventure movies may have classic fairy tale structures, or they may follow traditional plots such as that of an originally helpless hero who finally locates and destroys a villain. Adventure heroes are usually full of virtues. Actions in adventure films usually take place in exotic settings such as jungles and unfamiliar of inaccessible parts of cities. A Thriller is not really a genre, rather, it is a characteristic of many adventure as well as other films. Thrillers place emphasis on suspense and fearful anticipation.

Horror film

These are films that horrify by invoking experiences that are strange and difficult to explain. They create the feeling of encountering unfamiliar circumstances within familiar environments, with the threat of the unknown destabilizing the security of the known. One of the major characteristics of horror films is the use of low-key lighting so as to intensify the contrast between the seen and the unseen as well as the known and the unknown. They also make use of dissonant music with the intention of creating the feeling of disharmony. Horror films play on the secret fears that lurk at the sub-conscious of their audience. They also give substance to the nameless fear that dwells in the minds of such audience.

Science fiction

 “Sci-fi”, as films in this category are popularly called; also specialize in offering strange and mysterious experiences. They are sometimes sub-genres of horror while at other times, they stand on their own. Their own prominent characteristic is the displacement of time into a technological future where some current tendencies of our culture have become dominant. This may include a situation in which machines become more active in the running of human lives that they (the machines) even attempt to, or actually take over. It may also be in the form of a technological invasion by more advanced cultures (mostly aliens).

Music video

A music video is a film that is predominantly musical in content and which is mostly combined with dances or some sort of movement. A musical, as it is also called, displays the performer’s and composer’s talents through singing and dancing and thereby making the music very satisfying. This type of film has become quite common in modern times. Most music videos are recorded as mini-feature films and some can even be as elaborate as feature films both in cost and in production.

Documentary

A documentary is a factual film about an event, thing or person, and it presents the facts with little or no fiction. It is a film that captures the various stages of the existence or the process by which something is achieved. This type of film is usually produced for the sole purpose of educating and enlightening its audience. Information in documentaries can be taken at face-value because it is supposed to be the product of a research. Examples of documentaries are films produced on subjects such as wildlife, historical developments, political events etc.

Biography

In biographical films, real life experiences are fictionalized so as to provide examples of virtue, bravery, perseverance, commitment etc. to the viewers. Biographies permit the audience to enjoy a feeling of intimacy with famous people, and allow them to feel a part of those personalities’ adversity as well as their triumphs.

HISTORY OF FILM

History of film is linked up with photography. In 1873 a former California governor, Leland Stanford, hired a well-known photographer, Eadweard Muybridge in order to prove and win a bet that a horse in full gallop had all four feet off the ground. In 1877, Muybridge arranged a series of still camera along a stretch of racetrack. Each still camera took its picture as the horse sprinted. The photographs won Stanford his bet while at the same time, they sparked an idea of motion pictures in Muybridge. This eventually led to the invention of zoopraxiscope by Muybridge. Zoopraxiscope is a machine for projecting slides onto a distant surface.

Muybridge met Thomas Edison in 1888 and was inspired by Muybridge segmental action photographs. William Dickson, a scientist with Edison embarked on the task of developing a better system of filming and came up with Kinetograph-a workable motion picture camera in 1889.

By 1891, Edison built a crude motion picture studio called “Black Maria”, which started the commercial motion picture industry in America. From Black Maria came a series of very short films, which were shown, on a large contraption called a Kinetoscope. The next advance on film was made by two French men the Lumiere brothers. Auguste and Louis were brothers who worked with their father’s manufacturing photographic plates and film. Using the technology they learnt from Edison’s work, they succeeded in developing a camera much more portable and less cumbersome than Edison’s own that could print and project pictures with a crude yet intermittent motion. The invention was named the cinematogrape-a device that both photographed and projected action.

Recognizing the advantage of the cinematographe over his kinetoscope, Edison acquired the patent for an advanced projection developed by U.S. inventor Thomas Armet and Francis Jenkins. The vita scope, as the device was called was premiered in New York City on April 23, 1896, and the American movie business was born.

Following this, a Frenchman, Georges Mêlées began making narrative motion pictures in about 1897. He also added special effects to film making. Mêlées most famous film, “A Trip to Moon”, showed a group of scientist and chorus girls launching a rocket to the moon. Some special effects which Mêlées incorporated in the film include the earth rising on the horizon and a trick photography scene of moon people disappearing in smoke.

Another brilliant contributor was D.W.Griffith. He introduced innovations such as scheduled rehearsals before final shooting and production based on close adherence to a shooting script. He lavished attention on otherwise ignored aspects of a film such as costume and lighting and used close-ups and other dramatic camera and angles to transmit emotions. He also displayed mastery in his editing techniques of all the films produced by Griffith; he displayed the greatest talent in “The Birth of a Nation” (1914) and in “Tolerance”.

In 1927, sound was introduced to motion pictures. This development made possible new genres like musicals. Actors and Actresses now had to really act and film production became much more complicated and expensive. Film flourished even through the Great depression of the 1930s. Profits were plowed back into bigger productions and lavish sound stages. World War II promoted the boom. Then in the 1950s, film met a new competitor- Television.

FILM AND ITS TYPES

DEFINITION OF FILM

What is Film? Film is a medium of communication which combines visual and audio (audiovisual). It contains the recording of a story, acted by people to make it as close to reality as possible. The Collins English Dictionary defines film as a sequence of images of moving objects photographed by a camera providing the optical illusion of continuous movement when projected onto a screen.