Audiovisual communication
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Audiovisual communication is the process through which messages are exchanged via a sound and/or visual system. It is a multiple language composed of a wide variety of constituent codes, which can be analyzed both independently and collectively.[1] Technological mediation is an essential element in this type of communication.
Traditional audiovisual communication systems include film and television. Currently, new systems of audiovisual communication have emerged, such as the internet and video games, which are increasingly being studied and recognized as such.[citation needed][when?]
Interaction with the message recipient is primarily based on visual observation—on what is seen. The functions involved in interpreting a message, as well as those behind the creation of a visual message, are related to several sciences that study development and analogy; among these are anthropology, semiotics, etc.[2]
Types of audiovisual communication
[edit]Audiovisual communication can be classified according to the type of message it conveys. It may be characterized as:[citation needed]
- Objective: Transmits information in a way that allows for only one interpretation. Useful for documenting a story or event, projecting situations, or conveying ideas.
- Advertising: Easily understandable and appealing to a specific audience. It may have commercial goals or the mission of spreading ideas for direct profit (propaganda).
- Artistic: Aims to produce various emotions and sensations in the viewer. It serves to move, disturb, or intrigue, and also has an aesthetic purpose.
Social influence
[edit]Audiovisual communication is present in every aspect of daily life. In the Information society, image and sound are the vehicles through which reality or fiction is recreated. However, legitimized media (radio, press, and TV, mainly), through their newscasts, have given the impression that everything they transmit holds the status of truth.[citation needed]
There is indeed a link between communication and reality. For example, when a photograph of a mountain is taken, one knows—due to the iconic value of the photograph—that it represents a natural object. However, it is only a representation and never the mountain itself.[citation needed]
The same process occurs when more codes are included, for example, a video, where various aspects of the mountain can be captured, including people engaging in activities on it. When this happens, the power of iconicity is reinforced due to a stronger anchoring to the source reality (the mountain captured by the camera).[citation needed]
Despite the references provided by audiovisual communication, it cannot be— as Jean Baudrillard states when speaking of television—more than a model of representation of reality. This implies that when we see an image in a photograph, hear an audio recording, or watch a television report, we should remember that it is merely a re-creation of a reality, not the reality itself. A technical medium of audiovisual support cannot, by its very nature as a mediator, be the reality itself.[3]
The experience and understanding of the receiver depend on the use that the sender can make of that communicative instrument.
Background
[edit]The study of audiovisual communication emerged with the invention of photography and moving images (cinema). Initially, these technologies made it possible to study reality captured with a more objective perspective, without the interpretation of an artist.
Over time, audiovisual anthropology has also focused on the study of the mass media (radio and television).
However, audiovisual communication encompasses a broader communicative process and is not necessarily limited to technology.
Current applications
[edit]The advancement of technology has enabled new forms of audiovisual expression such as the internet, video games, and artistic interventions like mapping. Likewise, technological development in cinema has made it possible to project films on widescreens with surround sound and 3D images.
This has led to the creation of a degree in audiovisual communication, also known as audiovisual and multimedia communication. This undergraduate program is part of the cultural and entertainment industry and offers audiovisual communication students the opportunity to learn how to create audiovisual products by applying all the stages of design, pre-production, production, post-production, and evaluation of both fiction and non-fiction or documentary content. It also allows exploration of various formats in the industry such as television, web series, animation, and music videos.
For these reasons, an audiovisual communication professional is capable of working within audiovisual production companies, television channels, mass media, publishing houses, advertising and marketing agencies, or even launching their own ventures.
Recently, and as a result of audiovisual communication, a new professional profile has emerged: digital communication and entertainment.[citation needed][when?] This profile expands the new concepts and forms of audiovisual expression such as video games, animation, mapping, special effects, augmented reality, performance, gamification processes, mobile applications, creative sound, among others. In general, it covers the development and creation of content based on technological processes and advancements.
References
[edit]- ^ Grau Rebollo, J. Antropología Audiovisual. Bellaterra, Barcelona. 2002.
- ^ Ricci Bitti, Pio E., and Zani, Bruna. La comunicación como proceso social. Grijalbo, Mexico. 1990.
- ^ Reality and advertising https://www.ipp.edu.pe/