Describe the impact of television in the 1950s and early 1960s.

. Describe the impact of television in the 1950s and early 1960s Television had a major impact in the way that people in Britain spent their leisure time in the 1950s and early 1960s. People would spend their disposable income buying television sets. This meant people spent more time in the house than ever before. People no longer needed to go to major events, they could watch them on the television without the hassle of transportation to the event on the cost of the ticket. For example, the first scenarios of this were the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the 1953 'Matthews' FA Cup Final. People no longer paid as much attention to the radio, television was the craze. In 1954, the Independent Television Authority (ITA) was set up. People didn't have to pay a separate licence fee for the channel, instead revenue was obtained through advertisements between programmes. The television become so popular in many households that people lives were decided around the TV schedule eg. Toddlers Truce between 6pm and 7pm. Competition increased the quality and choice of the programmes on TV. Pop music shows entered the listings, impacting on the lives of young adults and teenagers. Soap operas such as Coronation Street were set up in the early 60s and situation comedies were imported from the USA. Adults took immediate liking to the shows. The programmes even changed the current

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 1478
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
Access this essay

Types of documentary

Debates of the factual program format Documentary is a factual program that presents facts and information. There are few different types of documentaries such as expository, observational, fly on the wall, interactive, reflective, poetic and dramatised. There are debates within the documentaries. Are they telling the truth? Is it just the filmmakers' opinion? Does the film represent the argument fairly? While making a documentary we should think about issues like balance, impartiality, accuracy and representation. Genres and modes of address Expository documentary is considered as a classic form of documentary in which an unseen presenter gives a voice-over commentary that explains the images that we are seeing. Interviews in this mode of address tend to be subordinated to the argument within the film. Witnesses are made to contribute to the argument. Usually, the solution would be suggested to the problem. This is the most common type of documentary. One of the examples is a documentary I watched recently about the islands completely made by human in Dubai. The project is called The World. The documentary had a narrator, who never appeared in the film, and the only people who were shown were he interviewees- architects, scientists and builders. Observational documentary is a fly on the wall type of documentary. They watch or follow events rather than construct

  • Ranking:
  • Word count: 1987
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
Access this essay