Audience Culture and the Video Screen
Rough Edits: Popular Image Video: Works 1977-1980, 1987, pp. 98-114
Halifax, Nova Scotia: The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art + Design, 1987
Norman M. Klein explores in detail the multitude of techniques applied to the building of narrative form in media. He begins by looking into the visual literacy of the typical viewer of television, discussing how messages are conveyed to them through manipulated imagery. After describing the topology of the television system, as well as the impact on its audience, Klein goes on to assess just what points are important to consider in producing a television series; mainly, this involves building a leading character with "appeal" and longevity through his/her resilience against all odds. He outlines the way TV plot conflicts are built to draw from the viewer's struggles in a consumerist environment. Varying dramatic models that are followed in television and how marketing is used to draw an audience into a narrative play a part in Klein's argument as well. To conclude, Klein describes how the viewer enters the screen through various mediums such as video games, interactive novels, cable television, and even politics.
ITEM 1987.110 – available for viewing in the Research Centre
Videos, Artworks and Artists Cited
Dara Birnbaum