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Contemporary Screen Culture and Television
The pioneers of cinema such as the Lumière brothers and Georges Méliès perceived the
contemporary screen culture. For numerous interconnected reasons, early Cinema has become
more crucial, regarding both theoretical and historical. A deeper understanding of the
contemporary screen culture also depends on the study of the early cinema and even it helps to
understand the possible innovations of the future such as the media culture. The Lumière
brothers, the pioneers are regarded as the inventors of the cinema who introduced the moving
photographic pictures’ projection on screen for the audience however it was not free of cost.
They are considered not the first ones who introduced contemporary screen culture because
during 1895, a few months ago than Lumière brothers, in New York, the Latham brothers were
screening boxing films for the audient that was also not free of cost and they were using their
Eidoloscope projector. However, the contribution of the Lumière brothers in the contemporary
screen culture is appreciable because their techniques of cinematography were more satisfactory
for projecting the films on screen and effective for the camera movements as a whole. The
contemporary screen culture developed with the initiatives of early pioneers of cinema to make
cinematic products such as film more realistic and interesting for paying audiences than before.
Cinema is not only a medium of entertainment however it is a potential art that is
regarded as a kind of unparalleled versatility. This artistic approach indicates illusion,
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imagination, and fantasy as a combination of the latest techniques that keep cinema alive. Early
cinema introduced storytelling, literature, dance, music, theater, and painting in harmony that
came together to create the 'magic' for the paying audience (Anderson 354). The pioneers of the
cinema played a vital role in creating such magical innovations in contemporary screen culture
such as Georges Méliès, an early pioneer of cinema who first introduced the film's fictional
narratives. Georges Méliès was the professional manager director of the theater at the time when
the Lumière brothers made their first genuine movies. These innovations at that time brought
great changes in the concepts and intentions regarding the contemporary screen culture. These
contributions contributed to the contemporary screen culture to a greater extent. With the role of
the pioneers of cinema, the film industry developed where the scenes were from real life and the
most important attribute of these scenes was that they had the novelty of motion. In addition,
Georges Méliès as a potential pioneer of cinema saw at once further possibilities in this regard
and focused on more contributions in contemporary screen culture. He aimed to introduce the
more creative uses of the camera to improve the screen culture and for this purpose, he built a
glass-enclosed studio near Paris. Moreover, he also used actors, wrote the script, and designed
insightful sets to portray the films for the audience. With these initiatives, the creative camera
tricks explored that brought innovation in contemporary screen culture. The major camera tricks
of that time include slow motion, fade-out, stop motion, superimposition, dissolve, and double
exposure.
In a nutshell, the innovation in the contemporary screen culture started by the early
pioneers of cinema who dedicated their efforts to develop the latest techniques to develop screen
culture and promoted it among the paying audience. The use of advanced camera tricks brought
innovation to the screen culture and made it the preferred culture in cinema and allowed the
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pioneers of the cinema to focus on further possibilities in this regard. In short, the contemporary
screen culture developed with the various initiatives in cinema in the 19th century however the
traditional cinema of that time encouraged the pioneers of cinema to use the latest and interesting
techniques to make films and dramas more innovative and closer to real life.
For television, the 1950s is regarded as the glorious “Golden Age of Television" and at
that time the television was "live" and at the end of the 1950s, there were different initiatives in
this regard that made television more potential than before. However, it is argued that the
innovation in television started with the rise of commercial television. In addition, live television
is still working even in our modern eras such as new shows, awards programs, sporting events,
and many other reality shows. The live television drama in the 1950s is different from
contemporary television drama in many ways regarding the narrative and formal features. In the
1950s, live television was of course the basic innovation to broadcast television drama. This
method of broadcasting the television drama needs nothing but to present the actors in front of a
camera and for the audience, transmit the images of those actors to their television sets. The live
television drama in the 1950s was quite different from the contemporary television drama that
was evolved in the 1990s and this difference is in terms of narrative and formal features of both
television dramas.
Due to the lack of film to edit in the 1950s, post-production was not available and this
lack of advanced methods made the live television drama cheaper than film. In addition, during
that time the budget of live television drama was quite low due to the insufficient shift of most of
the advertisements from radio to television (Berton and Boni). The formal and narrative features
of television drama in the 1950s were quite simple without the use of the latest technologies and
these dramas use particular traditional aspects while portraying the storyline for the audience.
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The genre of television drama in the 1950s was quite similar to the genre nowadays such as kid's
shows, news, sports, game shows, and situation comedies. However, in the 19050s, for live
television, more planning was required because there was no option to edit or even retake the
scenes. Thus, the formal features of television drama in the 1950s are different from that of the
contemporary television drama that evolved in the 1990s with the Cable TV that presented
content that was more progressive and complex than before. This difference between the formal
features of both types of television dramas exists due to the advancements of technology and
initiatives in other filmmaking and screen culture techniques.
The major narrative features of live television in the 1950s were poetry, storytelling,
series structure, and there was no fiction, which is one of the fundamental components of
contemporary television drama. However, the narrative features of contemporary television are
complex with the combination of the texts, conventional modes of episodes, and serial form.
This complex approach of the contemporary television drama presented the world in a more
complex way than before. These narrative features of both television dramas are different from
each other and vary from simple to complex. These differences were raised due to the innovation
in the technology of the television drama that presented the different content in different ways in
various decades such as in the 1950s, 60s, and 90s.
The live television drama in the 1950s was a simple form of television content that
entertained the audience. However, with the advancements in the television industry, the formal
and narrative features became advanced for contemporary television dramas that are more
complex than before. This innovation refers to the journey of the television industry from simple
to complex one where the producers, directors, actors, and other concerned people have more
options to avail and make their dramas better and remove errors such as retakes and edits.
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The contemporary prevalence and influence of social media have affected almost every
area of life including the television of the 21st century. Nowadays, social media has become one
of the fundamental needs of life that elaborate the everyday use of the individuals either for
entertainment or to be updated such as news. Additionally, popular social media platforms have
become the preference of the people when it comes to watching the news, sports, movies, and
even contact with others across the world. The fundamental feature of eth social media that
makes it more potential than many other sources of information of our modern era. Nowadays,
social media is playing a significant role in life and these platforms are web-based online tools
that allow individuals or users to learn and discover the latest information, interact with new
people, share ideas or perceptions, and engage with organizations across the world. The
contemporary prevalence and influence of social media have been influenced 21st-century
television content to a greater extent by affecting the choice of the audience.
The advanced approach of social media nowadays has been influenced the preferences of
the consumers and it has also developed high standards of content for almost every area of
entertainment, sports, news, and others. These high standards of the content and expectations of
the people across the globe have encouraged the television content of the 21st century to shift
their traditional aspects, techniques, formats, formal and narrative features to the advanced level
by using the latest techniques and technologies (Lewis et al. 54). Social media has changed the
lives of people and the ways they prefer to live and what they want to experience through media.
With the ease of communication through social media, the current era can be considered as the
most advanced era of human beings where the society and overall lifestyle is changing constantly
that demand individuals to adopt the changes and put efforts to advance themselves.
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Furthermore, the television content of the 21st century has been revolutionized with the
emergence of social media. The contemporary prevalence and influence of social media have
evolved the theme, structure, style, pre-production, use of technology, and different techniques
of television content. The dominance of social media nowadays has changed television content in
terms of the content portrayed for the audience. Nowadays, mostly the trending things are
focused on the television content of the 21st century and television channels are also using
different social media platforms to engage the audience such as YouTube. Research studies
revealed that most people use social media in their free time and they prefer to be updated
through the social media platforms due to its ability to provide constant updates in no time. The
television content of the 21st has been influenced by this aspect and the effects are reflected not
only in the changes of the content but the way the television presents it. Television channels use
different social media platforms to engage with potential audiences.
Consequently, the contemporary prevalence and influence of social media are reflected in
the advanced aspects, technologies, and techniques of television content in the 21st century.
These effects play a fundamental role in developing the new aspects in the television industry
and help to innovate the existing technologies and advance the techniques to present the content.
Social media has become the first choice of most people across the world and this encourages the
television content to be creative enough that the audience has to watch television to enjoy that
interesting and unique content. No doubt, this is challenging for television content to compete
with social media where the information is shared in no time, however, most of the television
content of the 21st century has been evolved.
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Works Cited
Anderson, Bradford A. “Seeing and Hearing the Otherness of Sacred Texts.” Teaching Theology
& Religion, vol. 14, no. 4, 2011, p. 354. Crossref, doi:10.1111/j.14679647.2011.00738.x.
Berton, Mireille, and Marta Boni. “How to Study the Complexity of Television Series? Towards
a Spatial Approach.” TV/Series, no. 15, 2019. Crossref, doi:10.4000/tvseries.4991.
Lewis, David, et al. Popular Representations of Development: Insights from Novels, Films,
Television and Social Media (Rethinking Development). 1st ed., Routledge, 2013.