Media is Communication

28 Minutes, 1971
Genre:
Documentary

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Directed by: Jacques Mory-Katmor
Production Company:Blue Wave Industries
Photographer: Amnon Salomon
Language: Hebrew
| Subtitles not available

An arthouse documentary about the media in the new age – at the turn of the 1970s – and its impact on the world. The film features psychology professor Shulamith Kreitler, director and animator Barak Shackhine, publicist Eliahu Tal, and artist and game designer Ivan Moscovich. Complementing their appearances in the film is a range of behind-the-scenes footage taking us into the thick of public television broadcasting, adverts, and media imagery creation. Professor Kreiter discusses the fundamental thesis of influential media scholar Marshall McLuhan who had argued that mass media, especially film and television that became known for the dissemination of fast-paced multilayered information, have fundamentally transformed the atmosphere and nature of the modern world – and will lead to greater homogeneity amongst humankind. The professor outright endorses this shift and highlights how convinced she is that mass media will enable individuals everywhere to bridge their divides and better understand and relate to each other. Professor Kreiter also predicts that in the future, mass media will facilitate far greater creativity and active involvement on the individual’s part.

Next, the film goes to a scripted scene featuring Shackhine and Tal: a meeting in which the manager of a homeware factory consults a group of ad executives on how to rebrand their products. Those in the meeting discuss the differences between various media from a marketing perspective, and also linger on the subject of sex in advertising and the way that adverts are now essentially part of one’s every waking hour.

The film also highlights the graphic designers slaving away on the ad campaign, showing viewers the behind-the-scenes of making a video advertisement. Finally, Moscovich introduces the drawing machine he invented – aka the ‘Harmonograph.’ He discusses science and technology’s impact on the art world, how they have enabled the creation of new art – and the way that art could, in turn, have a reciprocal impact on science.

Media is Communication was produced with the help of experimental artist and cultural figure Joav BarEl who served as a consultant on the film. Between 1971-1972, BarEl developed and created a series of films for Channel 1, along with filmmaker and avantgarde artist Jacques Katmor and cinematographer Amnon Solomon. Their films were steeped in the art and critical thinking of their time, focusing on a range of working artists (male and female) and their artistic oeuvre.

Related topics:
Mevo’ot - The Joav BarEl Ideas Foundation

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