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New Style of Televisuality

Decent Essays

The 1980s saw a shift in the presentational style of television. John Caldwell termed this new style televisuality. Televisuality presents a type of television that flaunts style rather than just using it to communicate ideas and content (Caldwell, 5). There is more value placed in the excessive style of television programs. Through televisuality, many shows have come to establish signature production styles that set them apart from other programming on the air. Changes in the television industry brought about this new style of television. Changes in the industry's production practices as well as in the audience's expectations transformed the presentational style of television. There was now a more exhibitionist attitude to television. The “bells and whistles” of a show were constantly changing and as a result, style came to be elevated over content. Flashy graphics now took the foreground over story on MTV and Fox News (6). Emerging production tools also played a role in the growth of televisuality. Digital video technology allowed producers to fill their content with effects that would better suit the new presentational attitude found in television. Audiences began to have more aesthetic tastes and demands from the television shows they viewed. The flashier that producers made their programming, the more their audience's taste developed. Televisuality emerged in part due to these changing elements in the television industry. The two stylistic worlds within televisuality

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