The construction of meaning in Hollywood and music video editing aesthetics: A comparison between the pre-television and music television generations.
Film or television editing influences how audiences construct meaning. Since the advent of music videos, traditional Hollywood editing conventions have been evolving into a new form characterized by quickly changing, almost dizzying, images. Evidence of this evolution has surfaced in contemporary television commercials, television programs and films. This study examines the differences between the conventional Hollywood aesthetic and the music video aesthetic, with a focus on editing as a formal feature. Two versions of an original production, edited following the conventions of each of these two aesthetics, were viewed by focus groups. These groups were comprised of two generational audiences: the pre-TV generation, whose predominant cinematic influences include the Hollywood aesthetic, and the MTV generation, whose predominant cinematic influences include not only the Hollywood aesthetic, but also the music video aesthetic. By way of open-ended questions, data regarding the nature of the meaning(s) constructed by the subjects was collected and compared. Results suggest that the influence of the music video aesthetic has produced a new generation of viewers who cognitively process this medium differently than previous generations. Results also indicate that previous experience with a particular genre has an impact on audience reception. Finally, the findings suggest that editing techniques may have developed to simulate the cognitive processing of real-world stimuli.Dept. of Communication Studies. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1998 .H37. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0307. Adviser: Richard Lewis. Thesis (M.A.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 1998.
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