168 Moving Images: Making Movies, Understanding Mediaand expectations set up for viewers of these formats, including their length,
whether approximately two hours or in highly chopped up and interrupted
segments that add up to thirty or sixty minutes. In terms of their objectives,
they are oft en introduced by the clearly defi ned type of movie or show, whether
a comedy, thriller, romantic tale, or action-oriented motion picture.
Th ese formats, in particular the “Hollywood movie” or “American TV
show,” are familiar to people throughout the world. Th ey have been commonly
used in the production and dissemination of narrative motion pictures for
decades. However, they are probably not the only examples of moving images
you mentioned in your answers to the previous set of questions. Did you
mention commercials? Visual sequences made to accompany music? Short
subjects or snippets you may have seen streaming on the Web? Games?
Some of the forms are more diffi cult to defi ne and do not fall into a clear
category. Moving images assume a variety of arrangements and use diverse
communicative strategies.
In this unit, we will survey key forms of motion pictures and sources of
moving image production from the beginnings of the cinema to the present.
In order to organize our analysis, we need to ask simple questions about
motion pictures:- Who makes movies?
- Who controls their production and distribution to audiences?
- Why are they made?
- How are they used?
- How do we understand them?
Figure 5-1 Moving images
play on an extensive variety
of screens today, from movie
theaters to televisions to
computers, digital players,
and phones. (Courtesy of
Kendelyn Ouellette)Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).