Mass Communication and Academic Art in Ancient Times

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Mass Communication and Academic Art in Ancient Times

Academic art is a method of art that employed the use of ancient European cultures to convey information. Mass communication is a means of conveying information to large groups of people. This could be achieved by making films, through taking photos using cameras. Mass communication replaced academic art in the 20^th century due to three key reasons. One reason was due to inaccuracy of delivering an intended message to the audience. Academic paintings could also not relay information to an audience on time. Moreover, academic paintings were targeted at a specific group people. These reasons are crucial in that they are essential in effective communication.

Griffith’s style of filmmaking was aimed at creating tension in viewers in order to add a sense of reality. He did this by editing in crosscut, observing picture details to enhance reality and using the camera as a means of transport to express how he viewed the society. This method of film writing gave life to the images and films and brought a sense of reality. The edits of his films had accurate and dramatic viewing angles to achieve this reality. On the other hand, academic art involved using the hands to express emotions through painting pictures.

It is evident that Griffith’s style was modernized as compared to academic painting and had many advantages. It captured critical points for emphasis in each shot. Academic writing was dependent on a painter’s memory of an event. In most cases, this distorted information through failure to capture main points. Academic painting also consumed time because painting to detail using the hand was not easy. Griffith’s method involved using a camera to capture multiple events at a time. Academic art did not give a clear, visual impression on the actual event. This is because the colors used in painting were not similar to the actual event. However, Griffith’s method was accurate because the pictures were taken in real-time.

The two methods used represented the different cultural values of people in the early 20^th century. Griffith’s films were based mostly on displaying what was taking place in the U.S during the civil war. This was the time when black people were battling white Americans against freedom. Academic paintings were more focused on conveying emotional messages such as love. The two methods were used to educate an audience on the importance of cultural values. They provide the current generation with a form of understanding and appreciation of the way of life by the old generation. It also gives meaning to some of the cultures practiced by the current generation by helping them to interpret the message in a different manner.

It is evident that there is bipolar thinking according to Griffith’s photography. This is clear from the first two movies that he made. The first one was about civil war but due to criticism from black people about the film’s contents; he immediately released the second film as an apology. Griffith was born just after the civil war, and he did not understand racial segregation fully. His first film displayed high levels of discrimination, but after criticism, he released the second one as a form of apology.

Present day movies have used some of the values of academic painting to display and convey messages. Movies that employ these values mostly aim at educating viewers on the cultures of various communities in the past. The movies normally pick one theme, which forms the basis of the synopsis. An example of these films in modern day is 300, the legend of Spartacus and Rome. The structures in these movies are filled with academic paintings of various kinds. From the paintings in these movies, it is evident that the films focus on roman cultures.

Research by Dr. Brown showed that the origin of western cultures is not appreciated by mass media (3). There was a trajectory traced by four major areas, which showed the origin of academic art. It began from the southern France where images could be seen in caves over three decades ago. The path then moved to ancient Iraq during the Sumerian period, which was around 3000 BC. Afterwards, the trajectory moved Greece in the 5^th century and then, back to France with art tracing back to the middle ages. Mass media does not credit images recovered along this trajectory because they are viewed to be outdated. The media should acknowledge these images because they show developments in communication from ancient to modern cultures.

Works Cited

Dr. Brown, Betty, Ann. Art and Mass Media. Atlanta: Kendall Hunt Publishers, 2005. Print.