Why Film and Television?

I decided to pick film and television shows as my topic. Even though I am a corporate communications major, I find myself very interested in the mass media and film portion of communications. My other option I was considering was writing about sports media and the communication that is provided by big media outlets such as ESPN and Bleacher Report. However, I found that to be a more narrow topic and I was worried I would run out of content before finishing the portfolio. I decided to go with movies/TV shows because I enjoy them and I keep up with a lot of the newest TV shows and movies as they release. I am looking to expand my knowledge by reading in-depth articles and watching more videos about the reasons behind why movies/TV shows utilize certain camera angles, certain dialogues, and certain symbols in order to communicate messages effectively.

I hope to discover more about why film makers, directors, and screen writers do what they do in order to deliver a message to audiences. I want to be able to identify communication theories within movies/TV shows because I enjoy watching them, but I do not always understand the overarching message. I find it difficult to notice the subtle camera angles and facial expressions that are in these films and TV shows that really illustrate the emotion and the tone of a scene. What I want to get out of this portfolio is that I want my study to provide me with a greater understanding of communication and, of course, I want the  portfolio so that I will be able to have it as a resource when applying for jobs. In order to achieve this goal, I want to study communication theories so that I will be able to apply them to the various movies/TV shows that I will be studying. Studying the tactics of communicating subtle messages to audiences through camera angles, expressions, and screen writing will be beneficial to my understanding of communication theories in turn. I think that I could be made a better person as a result because I could learn more about being a more expressive person. I could also learn more about how I communicate with others both in a personal and a professional setting.

As a freshman I took Intro to Mass Communications even though I was a business major at the time, and taking that class made me decide I was more interested in communications than I was in any major within the business school. I gravitated towards the digital media portion of the class, especially the film and television section of the course. The main experience I have within the subject of communications in movies/TV shows is the fact that I have watched a lot of both of them. However, I have not experienced organizational communication theories within the subject. The main factor that was in play for me was the fact that I truly enjoyed learning about it during Intro to Mass Communications, and because I watch a lot of movies/TV shows I decided that I would be engaged with my topic and I would learn a lot throughout the semester.