Digital Media as Opposed to Film

By: Derek Bartlett

BLUE BELL, PA--Digital and film photography have been through a lot of debate over the years. Media in the twenty-first century has been dominated by digital film, getting good results from digital cameras. Although, there are still users who prefer old-fashioned film and photo methods. Christopher Nolan shooting his Dark Knight Rises movie is a good example. Movie studios today are forcing Hollywood to abandon thirty-five-millimeter film, though some people are choosing digital supposedly because it is easier to work with.

When asked, students at Mont co responded to whether or not they prefer digital or thirty-five millimeter film. Two-thirds of them said they preferred digital, saying that it’s “cheaper”, “widely used and accepted”, has “more detail” and “better production quality.” Some of the best-known digital movies they gave examples of were Avatar, Iron Man, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean.

The other students preferred film “for the aesthetic” and because it’s “old school”, with some good examples like Jaws and The Lord of the Rings.  But digital media is apparently the most popular in media today, because it’s easier to edit and has sharper picture than film. So someday, based on the surveys and current media changes, there may be no actual film left.  But there have been some really iconic movies made with it over the years, so even then people will probably still remember what film is.

Format Wars: Digital's Dominance

By: Derek Bartlett 

BLUE BELL, PA--Music videos on YouTube are as popular as radio, or maybe even more. Today, nearly two-thirds of American teenagers use YouTube for listening to music, while a lot of adults mostly listen to radio and CDs. It was also found that at one time only thirty-six percent of teens bought music on a CD as opposed to fifty-one percent of them using digital downloads.
 
In the early 1900s, about fifty percent of America’s homes had radios where they could listen to music and shows. Eventually radio shows were adapted to television in the 60s, making some people worry that, radios and movies would “become irrelevant and unnecessary” for audiences, as said in Media and Culture by Richard Campbell. Today, however, radio has been adapted for TV as well, with music videos and shows where audiences can view them.

The first ‘music video’ was made in 1895 at Thomas Edison’s studio. Edison used a device called a Kinetophone, which showed moving pictures and was fitted with a phonograph (a device used for recording and reproduction of sound recordings). In the early twentieth century, this got people’s attention, and these videos were made with painted pictures and projected from glass slides.

Today music videos are digital, and starting in 1981 they’ve aired on television networks like CMT and MTV. A lot of music has gotten people’s attention through television media or video websites like YouTube, especially for those who like to watch videos more than simply listening. A lot of videos that MTV used to play make up YouTube’s most-watched category.

Based on today’s progress it’s hard to tell just what the next mode of listening to music will be. Maybe someday people who own glass iPhones will use them for it.

Evolution of Printed Communication in the United States

By: Derek Bartlett 

BLUE BELL, PA--Printing has escalated in the United States, going back to the 1700s with Benjamin Franklin. Originally an apprentice to his brother in a printing office, he opened his own in Philadelphia and submitted a newspaper called The Philadelphia Gazette. Using the power of the press, he used it as a way of bringing news to readers.

The press’ efficiency was added into with continuous rolls of paper, and using iron instead of wood to build them. Printing quickly became central for expression, for both religion and politics.

With the production of works like magazines and pamphlets, political leaders used the printing press to distribute information and maintain social order. The press made it possible for these things along with books, newspapers and other reading materials to be published in great numbers for the public to read, and to promote literacy. Readers who followed these political figures came to rely less on them for guidance, and the printing press nourished individualism.

Also credited to Benjamin Franklin was America’s first circulating library. He founded the Library Company of Philadelphia in 1731, where people could borrow books to read even if they couldn’t afford to buy them.

When multiple copies of books written by individual authors, newspapers and magazines are read by the public, people can then share many of the same knowledge, like opinions of others and information about the world that they may not have known before reading. Newspapers cover a lot of news, and reporters can get their facts straight for them.

Over the years, the printing press has evolved massively. In 1967, computers were being used and started printed digitally. Today, newspapers are printed so fast that there are over a thousand four-hundred and fifty-six of them daily in the United States alone. And, made electronically, they still serve the same purpose of keeping people informed of important events and politics.

Other works like novels and new articles are put online as well as paper. These days there are plenty of readers who read books by getting eBooks for their iPads, serving the same purpose but electronically.  

Readers today probably wonder what will happen next, what the next invention will be for printing and reading.