Cinema History, Mass Communication Research, and the Frankfurt School
History of Cinema
In 1895, the Lumière brothers publicly introduced a device called a cinématographe. By projecting images on a screen, this invention allowed many people to witness the first movies at the same time. The films shown were: The Output of the Lumière Factory Workers and The Arrival of the Train. Those first films lasted less than a minute, had no sound, and depicted scenes of everyday life.
The person responsible for the survival of this invention was the Frenchman Georges Méliès, who linked the new device with theater and magic. He quickly discovered the potential of moving images as entertainment. Before the end of the nineteenth century, he founded the first film production company in the world and produced a hundred films. The pioneer Georges Méliès had discovered several tricks; however, he used to shoot his scenes with the camera stationary, that is, from a fixed point of view. This reproduces the look that any spectator has from his seat. For this reason, in the work of Méliès, the language of cinema had not reached its full development. It was David Griffith who finalized the language of cinema, organizing the plans to build a story and make a montage of footage. Many authors say that Griffith set up a real grammar for film language. This means that he defined how to combine images, and the grammar of a language indicates how words are put together.
Mass Communication Research
In the U.S., research on the media was driven by universities, but it was also investigated at the request of various public institutions and private research. Many fulfilled the role of instrumental responses to act upon society in a relatively efficient manner. Mass Communication Research (MCR) went through three stages:
The Hypodermic Needle Theory
The massive impact caused by propaganda allowed us to think that something similar could be happening with the messages of mass media in general. Over time, these ideas were known as the hypodermic needle theory.
The media messages were conceived as stimuli that can elicit responses in individuals, that is, the messages were intended as an injection, to which the body reacts. It was felt that there was a connection between exposure to messages and behaviors or opinions. Those who accepted the idea of the hypodermic needle believed that the responses of individuals were automatic and immediate. They had in mind a simplistic and linear model of communication with a receiver designed as a passive person and open to manipulation.
The Hypothesis of Persuasion
In the hypothesis of persuasion, unlike the theory of the hypodermic needle, a message can produce different effects, depending on the characteristics of the person and the circumstances during which they receive it. Psychologists identified four factors that put recipients involved in communication:
- Interest: motivation of the recipient to acquire information on the subject.
- Selective exposure: paying attention mainly to the messages most consistent with their attitudes and values.
- Selective perception: an interpretation of the messages depends on the bias, values, and attitudes of the recipient.
- Selective memory: the addressee best remembers what serves their own opinions and viewpoints.
The Theory of Limited Effect
According to research by Lazarsfeld, the effects of the messages are also strongly influenced by the social context of the individual. He warned that the decision to vote depended on the social group to which the citizen belonged and downplayed the influence of radio and the press. Lazarsfeld said the talks and discussions with friends and family had a much stronger influence. Thus, he postulated the existence of opinion leaders in these group members, who stood between the mass media and the recipients.
The Frankfurt School
The Frankfurt School (FS) proposed to produce a general theory that could explain the situation that had taken shape during the twentieth century. According to Enlightenment thinkers, reason critically applied to the conception of the world and of man himself banished all fears and allowed steady progress that would result in an increasing amount of the common good. However, FS theorists saw that the reason proclaimed by the Enlightenment thinkers (critical reason) had given space to an instrumental reason, not contributing to progress and welfare, but to the handling of individuals to become functional to the capitalist system. The media played an important role in this situation. One of the key concepts from studies of the FS on the mass culture industry was a concept developed to describe the system of cultural goods launched by the mass media.