UNIT 1

LESSON1

COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses about the various concepts and definitions of

Communication. Human Beings are social creature. They vary from the
lesser creatures with their characteristic and ability to communicate on
interpersonal basis and among social groups. Human beings constantly
involve in the communication process which is very much necessary in any
society and any Government. The need for communication is as basis as the
hunger for food and drink. The capacity to communicate is a God gift to
human beings which has made social cohesion and the growth of civilization
possible.

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this lesson are:

▪ To understand the concept of Communication

▪ To be familiar with certain definitions of Communication
▪ To know about the process and various elements of
Communication
▪ To analyze the various barrier of the effective communication

UNIT STRUCTURE

1.1 History of Communication

1.2 Definitions of Communication
1.3 Nature and Scope of Communication
1.4 Forms of Communication
1.5 Elements of Communication
1.6 Process of Communication
 1.7 Barriers of Communication
1.8 Key words
1.9 Answers to Check Your Progress

1.1 HISTORY AND BACKGROUND OF COMMUNICATION

“Communication” is perhaps one of the most hyped words in

contemporary culture. It encompasses a multitude of experiences, actions
and events, as well as a whole variety of happenings and meanings, and
technologies too. Thus, a conference or meeting or even a mela or
procession is a ‘communication media’, phones, pagers and email are
‘communication technologies’ and journalists, advertisers, public relations
personnel and even camera crew and news- readers are ‘communication
professionals’.

Further, the contemporary period has come to be labeled variously

the ‘Information Age’, the ‘Communication Age’, and most recently, the
‘Cyber or Networking Age’. The uses and understanding of communication
have come a long way from its original association first with ‘means of
transport’ and later with ‘transmission’. The English word ‘communication’
is derived from the Latin noun ‘Communis’ and the Latin verb
‘communicare’ which means ‘to make common’. Terms closely related to
communication and with similar etymological origins include community,
communion, communalism and communism. The closest Indian language
equivalent to the original concept is ‘sadharanikaran’.

Communication, in its simplest sense, is a human relationship,

involving two or more persons who come together to share to dialogue and
to commune, or just to be together, say at a festival or a time of mourning.
Communication is thus not so much as act or even a process but rather social
and cultural ‘togetherness’. Communion with oneself, with God, nature, the
world of spirits and with one’s ancestors is also forms of communication.
1.1.1 Communication as Social Science

The study of Communication in its multitudinous forms, whether in

its human or technological dimensions, has now taken on the characteristics
of an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary social science. To begin with,
Communication Science or Communication Studies was based in University
departments of Sociology or Psychology or Political science and it borrowed
heavily from these social science disciplines. In its turn, Communication
Studies has led to a re-orientation in the disciplines themselves, a greater
involvement with popular cultures, and with men and women as
communicators at home and in the workaday world. Studies of propaganda
by social scientists resulted in greater interest among governments and
academicians in the ‘power’ of communication strategies. Government
departments of defense provided generous funding for propaganda research,
and business and industry promoted media research so as to better exploit
communication for advertising and marketing their products and services.
The United State’s government departments, private companies and the
media themselves were the prime supporters of university courses and
research in the mass media.

Communication Studies was largely influenced by such needs and

such research, as well as the rapid growth of the press and later of the
Cinema, Radio and Television. The discipline of Communication owes its
origin to the United States of the 1930s, a time when Nazi propaganda was a
source of great concern: the US government established an Institute of
Propaganda research to develop techniques for influencing public opinion. In
Britain and France, the discipline had its roots in literacy and linguistics
studies, while in Germany the origins are traceable to the Institute of Social
Research (the Frankfurt School) and to Freudian psychoanalysis.

In India, the discipline of Communication came into its own with the
Government’s need for propagating family planning, social development and
national integration throughout the land. The Indian Institute of Mass
Communication was established in 1965 by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting to provide training and conduct research to assist in this effort.
University departments of Journalism joined in this effort as well, but
continued for the most part to be no more than the trade school for the print
media.

1.1.2 The Fact of Communication:

Communication is a fact in the world of human beings, animals and

plants, and is an ever continuing process going on all the time. It is as
necessary to human, animal and vegetable existence as life itself. The need
for communication is as basic as the hunger for food and drink perhaps even
more so. In the beginning after all was ‘AUM’ or the ‘Word’, the first sound
ever made or heard. In Indian tradition the ‘Word’ is the Shabda Brahman,
the divine word. ‘Communication is the name we give to the countless ways
that humans have of keeping in touch –not just words and music pictures and
print , nods and becks, postures and plumages; to every move that catches
someone’s eye and every sound that resonates upon another’s ear.’ This
observation is also true for animals, birds and bees and other land, sea and
air creatures too. The singing and chirping of birds, the croaking of frogs and
the many visual and olfactory signals among bird and beast are forms of
communication; some simple, others very highly sophisticated. The dance of
the honeybee, for instance, is an advanced means of communication for it
conveys to other bees the precise direction and distance of the place where
nectar will be found.

1.1.3 The Need for Communication.

A human being’s need for communication is as strong and as basic as

the need to eat, sleep and love. It is both individual and a social need. It is
both a natural individual demand and a requirement of social existence to
use communication resources in order to engage in the sharing of
experiences, through ‘symbol-mediated interaction’. The severest
punishment for a child is to be isolated, to be left alone, not to be spoken to.
North Indian children meet out this punishment when they say ‘kuttie’ to
their playmates, holding out their thumb as an accompanying gestures.
Grownups too and especially the aged need company need to communicate.
Society punishes criminals by locking them up in solitary cells, thus starving
them of the basic need and indeed the fundamental right to communicate.
Communication involves active interaction with our environments-physical,
biological and social. Deprived of this interaction, we would not be aware of
whether we are safe or in danger, whether hated or loved, or satisfied or
hungry. However, most of us take this interaction and this relationship for
granted, unless we experience some deprivation of it. When that happens we
adapt ourselves to the environment so that we don’t lose touch, in both the
literal and figurative senses. For, to lose touch is to suffer isolation.

The basic human need for communication can perhaps be traced to

the process of mankind’s evolution from lower species. Animals, for
instance have to be in sensory communication with their physical and
biological surroundings to find food, protect themselves and reproduce their
species. A loss of sensation – the inability to hear a predator, for instance –
can mean loss of life. Similarly, to be lost from primitive social
communication –from the herd or the tribe - is to be condemned to death.

Lack of communication can be as disorienting an experience as too

much of it. Indeed, the apparent effects of sensory deprivation and sensory
overload are frequently similar: anxiety, apathy, impaired judgement,
strange visions, and something akin to schizophrenia. The ‘information
explosion’ brought about by satellite television, the Internet and other
technology is an instance of this sensory overload.

1.2 DEFINITIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Certain beautiful definitions of communication are enumerated below:

 Definitions of THEO HAIMANN:

Theo Haimann simply stated that by communication we mean

“the process of passing information and understanding from one
person to another”.

Definitions of KOONTZ AND O’DONNELL:

“Communication is a way that one organization member

shares meaning and understanding with another”.

Definitions of FRED G. MEYER:

According to Fred G. Meyer “Communication is the

intercourse of thoughts or opinions. It is the act of making one ideas
and opinions known to others.

Definitions of C.G. BROWN:

C.G. Brown says communication is “the transfer of

information from one person to another, whether or not it elicits
confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable
to the receiver”

Definitions of KEITH AND GUBELLINI:

Keith and Gubellini have defined communications “in its

every day meaning communication refers to transmitting of
information in the form of words, or signals or singed from a source
to a receiver”

1.3 NATURE OF COMMUNICATION

⮚ Communication can take place only when there are at least two
persons receiver and sender. Sender must have the ability to convey
the message in clear terms. The receiver must understand the
message in the same sense in which the sender proposes to convey.
 ⮚ A communication must convey some message. If there is no message
there is no communication at all.
⮚ Communication means not only oral or written messages but also
everything done to convey meaning from one person to another.
Sometimes message is conveyed by waving the hands, shaking the
hands, moving the lips, twisting the faces etc.

1.4 FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

Communication per se depends on the context, the location, the

motivation, the type of audience and its relationship with the communicator.
There are as many different forms of communication as there are needs in
human day-to-day interaction. Some of the major forms of communication
are set out under:

i. Centralized communication – Communication in a network,

which is, mediated by a central person or a central unit.
ii. Consummatory Communication – Communication resulting from
the expression of effective or motivational states.
iii. Decentralized communication – communication in
communication network, which is, not mediated by a central
person or a central unit.
iv. Elite communication – communication from and to or amongst
members.
v. Expressive communication – communicative of affect,
communication of normative affirmative action.
vi. Face to face communication – communication involving co-
presence of communicator and the listener.
vii. Formal communication – The official transmission of
information.
viii. Horizontal communication – communication between positions
on the same organization level.
 ix. Human communication – form of communication which is
peculiar to the humans.
x. Impersonal communication – Communication by means other
than face-to-face communication.
xi. Incidental communication: Communication which is unintended
by the communicator.
xii. Informal communication – The unofficial transfer of
communication.
xiii. Instrumental communication – Communication, which is
indented by the communicator – communication of cognitive
information.
xiv. Interpersonal communication – communication between two
persons.
xv. Involuntary communication – unintended transfer of information
from one person to another person / persons.
xvi. Kinesics communication – communication through body motion
or behavior.
xvii. Mass communication – Communication through the mass media.
xviii. Multi channel communication – communication employing
several modalities, e.g. Vision, hearing etc.
xix. Non-lexical communication / non-verbal communication –
communication not by means of verbal symbols. Notably by
means of conventional signs.
xx. Paralinguistic communication: communication through gesture
and tone of voice, or signals.
xxi. Personal communication – Communication by face to face
interaction.
xxii. Preparatory communication – Any communication found in
preparatory propaganda.
 xxiii. Proxemics communication – communication resulting from the
way the communicator handles space
xxiv. Symbolic communication – communication which has
therapeutic purpose.
xxv. Verbal communication – communication by means of verbal
symbols.
xxvi. Vertical communication – communication between different
organization levels
xxvii. Voluntary communication – intentional transfer of
communication.

1.5 ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

There are different types of communication with their differences

with a central similarity i.e. they all involve messages. While speaking about
communication there are even other elements involved in every interaction
that involves messages. The elements are the source, encoder, transmitter,
channel, decoder, receiver and feedback.

1.5.1 Source:

The source is the originator of the message. The source may be a

person or several people or organization. The source may or may not have
knowledge about the intended receiver of the message, but it does have a
thought or idea to transmit to some other person, or organization.

[ENCODING: It is the process by which the source translates the

thoughts and ideas so that they can be perceived by the human senses – these
are primarily sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. A source creates or
encodes a message in anticipation of its transmission to a receiver.]

1.5.2 Transmitting

The transmitter performs the physical activity of actually sending out

the messages. In situations where a person speaks through telephone etc, the
telephone is an example of a mediating Technology or medium of
Communication.

“A medium is a part of a technical system that helps in the

transmission, distribution or reception of messages. It helps communication
take place when senders and receivers are not face-to-face. (Medium is
singular – plural is media)

1.5.3 Channel

All communication whether mediated or not, takes place through

channels. Channels are the pathways through which the transmitter sends all
features of the messages, whether they involve sight, sound, smell or touch.

1.5.4 Receiver

The receiver is the person or organization that gets the message.

Sometimes the source’s message will reach its intended receiver, sometimes
it reaches another receiver altogether. But even of someone other than the
intended receiver receives the message, communication has still taken place.

[DECODING: It is the process by which the receiver translates the

sources thoughts and ideas so that they have meaning.]

1.5.5 Feedback

Feedback occurs when the receiver responds to the message with

what the sender perceives as a message. The communication ‘episode’ ends
between the two ends when one of them sends no more feedback to the
other. Feedback doesn’t always take place immediately, especially in
mediated interpersonal communication.

1.5.6 Noise

Noise is an environmental, mechanical and semantic sound in the

communication situation that interferes with the delivery of the message.
 ● Environmental Noise – comes from the setting where
the source and receiver are communicating
● Mechanical Noise – comes from the medium through
which the communication is taking place
● Semantic Noise – involves language that one or more
of the participants doesn’t understand.

1.6 COMMUNICATION PROCESS

The communication process is relatively simple and is divided into

three basic components: a sender, a channel, and a receiver. The sender will
initiate the communication process by developing an idea into a message.
This is also known as encoding. The sender will then transmit the message
through a channel, or a method of delivery; think of things like e-mail,
phone conversations, instant messages, face-to-face discussion, or even a
text message. The message then moves through the channel to the receiver,
who completes the communication process by interpreting and assigning
meaning to the message, which is also known as decoding.

Now, since most communication exchanges involve a continued

dialogue between senders and receivers, a feedback is added to the
communication process

Communication occurs when a sender expresses an emotion or a

feeling, creates an idea, or senses the need to communicate. The
communication process is triggered when the sender makes a conscious or
an unconscious decision to share the message with another person—the
receiver.

Every communicative act is based on something that conveys

meaning, and that conveyance is the message. The message may be either
verbal (spoken or written) or nonverbal (body language, physical
appearance, or vocal tone). Messages may also come from the context—or
place and time—of the

communication. For instance, if you choose to make a critical comment to

someone, the place and the time you choose to make that comment will
make a big impact on how it will be received.

Every message is sent and received through one of our five senses—it
is seen, heard, touched, tasted, or smelled. The sensory media through which
messages are sent and received are communication channels. In a work
setting, messages may be seen through body movement, letters, memos,
newsletters, bulletin board notices, signs, emails, and so on. Messages that
are heard come through conversations, interviews, presentations, telephones,
radios, and other audio media. Sight and sound are the two most frequent
communication channels used in our society.

When the receiver gets the message (through seeing, hearing, feeling,
touching, or smelling), he or she will usually give feedback (return message)
unconsciously or consciously. Thus, the communications process is on-
going.

1.7 BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION

Barriers are any obstacles or difficulties that come the way of

communication. They may be physical, mechanical, psychological, cultural
and linguistic in nature. In business communication, for instance, the major
obstacles arise because of the set-up of an organization- the organizational
barriers. The size of the organization, the physical distance between the
employees of an organization, the specialization of jobs and activities and
the power and status relationships are the main organizational barriers.
Besides there are the barriers raised by the interpersonal relationships
between individual and groups, the prejudices of both individuals and groups
and the channels they use to communicate. In the jargon of communication
all barriers whatever their nature are clubbed under a common label noise.
A term from modern physicist denotes not only atmospheric or channel
disturbance, but all barriers that distort communication in any manner.

1.7.1 Physical Barriers

Four main kinds of distractions act as physical barriers to the

communication process these are:

1. The Competing stimulus in the form of another conversation

going on within hearing distance or loud music or traffic
noise in the background the cawing of crows or a plane
passing overhead can, for example drown out messages
altogether .
2. Environmental stress: A high temperature and humidity poor
ventilation, vibration felt, strong glare all can contribute to
distortions in the sending and receiving of messages.
3. Subjective stress: Sleeplessness ill health the effects of drugs
and mood variations give rise to forms of subjective stress
that often lead to great difficulties in listening and
interpretation.
4. Ignorance of the medium: The various media for
communication are: oral, written, audio, visual and
audiovisual. The use of a medium with which the
communicators are not familiar would turn the medium itself
into a barrier. For instance the use of visual media like maps
 and charts to instruct workers immediately: they would
“switch off” for lack of knowledge of the medium.

1.7.2 Psychological Barriers

Each of us has a certain “frame of reference”, a kind of window

through which we look out through the world, at people and events and
situations. A frame of reference is a system of standards and values usually
implicit, underlying and to some extent controlling an action, or the
expression of any belief attitude or idea. No two individuals possess exactly
similar frames of reference, even if they should be identical twins. To a large
extent our frames of reference are influenced by our experiences,
particularly our childhood experiences, and the cultural environment we
have grown up in. Heredity too has a great influence. However learning and
deeper experiences modify these ‘mental sets’ as we grow and mature and
develop diverse frame of reference to meet different needs- our own and that
of the group we identify ourselves with. This is the ‘reference group’, whose
attitudes towards religion politics education and so on we adopt as our own
without being fully aware that we are doing so.

1.7.2.1 Self Image:

Tied up with the term frame of reference is the term self image and
self concept i.e. the way an individual looks at himself, or the picture he had
of himself. It is this “self image” that makes us always defend our point of
view, to interpret messages in the way we wish to interpret them and to see
reality according to our own pre- conceived notions. We tend to listen
attentively to, and interpret favourably those message which give a boost to
our self-image, and reject or misinterpret messages which threaten that same
image. The consequence is: Communication selectivity. It is not only with
regard to the sending and receiving of messages that we are selective, but
also in the extent we remember them. For instance, we retain only that
information that is pleasant to us or reinforces our ego, and very
conveniently forget details that are unpleasant or humiliating.

1.7.2.2 Resistance to Change:

“The risk of being changed is one of the most frightening prospects

many of us can face”. No wonder we resist change in any form except where
we are convinced it is to our benefit. So new ideas that do not support our
own views are resisted outright. In fact, most of the time we do not actually
hear views which conflict with our own. But we hear with rapt attention any
communication that reinforces our beliefs, and our self image. The effective
communicator, therefore, does not wait till resistances builds up against and
intended change or innovation, but takes people into confidence even at the
planning stage. Instead of springing a surprise on them he listens to their
point of view with respect , involves them in the change; talks to them about
the benefits the change will bring ; assures them that their security will not
be affected ; and explains the reasons why the change is necessary.

1.7.2.3 Defensiveness and Fear:

Closely related to the barrier raised by our resistance to change is the

barrier of defensiveness. One of man’s most compelling needs is to justify
himself. Even when we are convinced we are wrong, few of us admit it, as it
means a loss of face. More often than not, therefore, we tend to rationalize
this mistakes we make, the attitudes and opinions we hold so dear.

Fear is an affect of great potency in determining what the individual

will perceive, think and do. Indeed, together with the allied emotions of
nervousness, anxiety and tension, fear is the most constricting of all the
effects, resulting often in ‘tunnel vision’. It also gives rise to slow and
narrow thinking which selects and distorts communication.

1.7.3 Linguistic and Cultural Barriers

 A language is the expression of the thoughts and experiences of a
people in terms of their cultural environment. When the same language is
made use of in a different culture, it takes on another colour, another
meaning. When , for instance , English is employed in India, it comes under
the influence not only of the accent of the local languages , but also of the
meanings and connotations of words , phrases and idioms of that language
and of the culture that has given rise to it. Each language shapes the
reasoning of its speakers.

1.7.3.1 Language and Meaning:

Language facilitates understanding, but there are times when it can

be a barrier to communication. In the first place, a language is ambiguous
by nature. The words of language for instance are mere symbols and by
themselves rarely represent only one meaning. Further, these symbols are
understood differently by participants in communication. And words
possess objective and subjective meanings .While objective meanings point
to objects people and events, subjective meanings point to emotional and
evolutional responses. The favorable and unfavorable association of a word
depends upon the cultural context in which it is used. Take the words fascist,
capitalist, or communist, for example: they carry different associations in
communist and non communist states. Meanings therefore exist not in words
themselves but in the minds of people who use them. Even simple words like
‘love’, ‘freedom’, ‘happiness’, and ‘tragedy’ carry numerous associations
depending upon the political and cultural situations people find themselves a
part of.

1.7.4 Mechanical Barriers:

Mechanical Barriers are those raised by the channels employed for

interpersonal, group, or mass communication. Channels become barriers
when he message is interfered with by some disturbance, which 1. Increased
the difficulty in reception or 2. Prevented some elements of the message
reaching its destination or both. The absence of communication facilities too
would be a mechanical barrier. Technically such barriers are clubbed
together under one general term ‘Channel Noise’

This type of barrier includes any disturbance which interferes with

the fidelity of the physical transmission of the message. A telephone that is
in poor working order making demands on the yelling ability of sender and
receiver is a mechanical barrier in interpersonal communication. So also is Check Your Progress
‘cross-talk’ often heard over and intercom link in a office or during long
1. Define
distance calls .Thus hearing is the physical act of receiving sound waves ,a Communication:
natural process. Listening however is a skill that has to be learned and 2. What is meant by
developed, requiring hard work and practices. encoding and decoding?

3. Define the term

In Group Communication a run down or Whistling microphone and
Noise.
the wrong placement of loudspeakers are disturbance’s which are
mechanical in nature. In mass communication, mechanical barriers would
include such disturbances as static on the radio, smeared link in a newspaper,
a rolling screen on television, a barley readable point size or a film projector
or video that does not function perfectly.

1.8 KEY WORDS

Communication - People interacting in ways that at least one of

the parties involved understands messages.

Messages - Collections of symbols that appear

purposefully organized to those sending and
receiving.

Feedback - When the receiver responds to the message

with what the sender perceives as a message.
 1.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 1.1

2) Refer Section 1.5
3) Refer Section 1.5.6

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,

Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication in India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 1
LESSON 2

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION
This unit discusses the different types of Communication. Communication is a
pervasive activity that serves many important functions in a society and in our
personal lives. The process of communication enables people to exert control over
their environment. Communication is a process that involves a shared code or codes,
of verbal and nonverbal symbols.

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this lesson are:

▪ To understand Human Communication and its characteristics.

▪ To analyze the various Types of Communication
▪ To be familiar with Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication
▪ To know about the various Types of Non-Verbal
Communication

UNIT STRUCTURE
2.1 Human Communication
2.2 Communication Types
2.3 Verbal Communication
2.4 Principles of Non Verbal Communication
2.5 Types of Non Verbal Communication
2.1 HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Some of the myths that many people believe about Human communication
have been popularized by the media, by business organization, by some educators and
in some cases by enthusiasts trying to stress the importance of communication skills.
We need to let you know what we personally believe from the outset.
i) All of the problems of this world are Communication Problems:

It would be difficult to pinpoint when this myth about human communication

became pervasive in our culture. People differ in their attitudes, beliefs and values
and that leads them to behave in different ways. Those different patterns of behavior
often cause problems in human relationships. We are not willing to concede that
people’s thinking and behaving differently are necessary a problem of
communication. All of the communication we might be able to produce may leave
one unconverted and unconvinced. We doubt that such a state of affairs would consist
a failure to communicate. People can well understand someone’s position and reject
the validity of it.

ii) All of the problems in this world can be solved by more and better
communication:

This myth is the logical corollary of the first just as all people’s problems are
not necessarily related to their communication skills. We believe that more and better
Communication is not a panacea for all the problems in the world. It is painfully
obvious in this society that more communication does not necessarily solve problems.

There are problems between people and problems in systems that have
nothing to do with the ability to communication and that, therefore, cannot be solved
by increasing the amount of communication example the quality of communication
between the product developer and the manufacturers probably had little to do with
the final outcome. It would have been impossible to improve much on the quality of
communication because the manufacturers were truly convinced of the worth of the
product.

iii) Communication without costs:

Many people believe that there are no costs associated with communicating.
So, therefore they assume that any effort to communicate is worth trying. This belief
is into really true. We would argue that communication efforts should be considered
employing a cost – benefit analysis. Attempting to communicate effectively with
other people takes a great deal of effort and energy. Communication in hard work
organization must think of costs in terms of dollars, but individuals must actively
consider how much time they are willing to invest in any given situation to maximize
communication out comes.

iv) Communication often breaks down:

Machines break down communication. All of us have probably heard

someone describe a situation in which he or she felt that communication had broken
down. The explosion of the space shuttle challenger and the tragic loss the seven lives
aboard accentuates the dangers of buying into this myth.

Communication was present but was not effective, it did not “breakdown”

Communication attempts can be successful or unsuccessful we can be

effective or ineffective in our attempts to communicate, but we simply cannot
envision communication breaking down. Communication is either good or bad.

We will possess many skills in communicating that would satisfy our notion
of what is good. Communication must be judged as a tool that can be used for good or
bad ends.

v) Communication is about producing more effective:

That any definition of the competent communication must also include

message consumption. A person who is elegant in elective but does not listen to or
understand others cannot be called an effective communicator. We must develop
skills that emphasize both message production and message consumption.

2.2 TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Communication has been classified into several types: in terms of the verbal
and non verbal; the technological and non-technological; mediated and non-mediated,
the participatory and the non participatory, and so on. Most of these typologies
however are mainly pedagogic or instructional purposes; in actual practice, there is
much overlapping and mixing of the various types. The typologies must be seen as
attempts at coming to grips with the apparently simple but really complex
phenomenon of communication.

One common typology relates to the size of a social group or the number of
communication. Such a typology ranges from the intrapersonal and interpersonal and
transpersonal to the group and mass.

2.2.1 Intrapersonal Communication

Intrapersonal Communication is defined as the communication process within
an individual. The way that society communicates in our complex daily lives may
only be understood after we are able to comprehend that communication utterly relies
on our particular perceptions.  Intrapersonal communication is the foundation for all
communication. It begins with language and thought itself, but includes our
perception of what language and thought are. Every individual may see something
and assume a particular attitude toward the subject; however, one can be certain that
each assumption made is distinctly different. Intrapersonal Communication is a
challenge because we have so many variations that arise from our perceptions at
particular moments.  Intrapersonal Communication includes: day – dreaming
speaking aloud (talking to oneself), writing one’s thoughts or observations, making
gestures while thinking etc., Conversing with the divine, with the spirits and
ancestors, may be termed ‘transpersonal’ communication. This is a vital experience in
the religious and monastic life, in ashrams and places of prayer, and among aboriginal
and tribal communities.
2.2.2 Interpersonal Communication
Interpersonal communication is direct face to face communication between
two people. It is, in otherwise a dialogue or conversation without the intervention of
another person or machine like telephone or a two way radio or television set up. It is
personal, direct and intimate allowing for maximum interaction and exchange in word
and gesture .Indeed it is the highest, the most perfect form of communication the two
people can attain. It is more persuasive and influential than any other type of
communication such as group or mass communication, for it involves the interplay of
words and gesture ,warmth of human closeness and in fact all the five senses. All
interpersonal exchange is therefore communion and sharing the most intimate and
open level. It is total communication for it takes within its compass words, body
moments, physical characteristics, body order and even cloths.
2.2.2.1 Focused and Unfocused interaction:
Interpersonal communication is conducted on the basis of focused and
unfocused interaction it takes place whenever we observe or listen to person with
whom we are not conversing, for instance in buses, train or in public places it is a
kind of activity we indulge when we are people watching without their being aware
we are doing so. Our inference may not all be valid or meaningful, at the fact remains
that we do make inferences all the time about people. The young man who passes us
by in a street dressed in Pyjama and Kurta evokes different association from one clad
in jeans and a jazzy shirts, depending off course on our own background and location
of the street.
Focused interaction on the other hand result from an actual encounter between
two persons. The persons involved are fully aware that they are communicating with
each other. Sitting or standing face to face either close or distance, they know fully
well that they are exchanging both verbal and nonverbal messages; they may not
realize how these messages are being interpreted. Also, they are generally not
conscious of the meaning they are conveying through body language. An unfocussed
interaction usually is set off by eye contact. The meeting of eyes indicates the both
parties are willing to have interpersonal exchange .The turning of the eyes on the
other hand cuts off the attempt to come together and start a conversation it shows lack
of interest. Similarly reduction in eye involvement during a conversation is a
nonverbal signal which indicates that it is the time to bring the conversion to a close.
Indeed there is no more effective way of ending a face to face interaction than
refusing to continue eye contact.
2.2.2.2 Stages of Interpersonal Communication: 
The three stages of Interpersonal Communication are:
 ▪ The Phatic stage – Initial exploratory stage of Hi/hello, handshake, smile, etc.
determines the direction conversation will take place.
▪ The Personal Stage – Called the personal stage, introduces a personal element
into the conversation. Here we generally lower the social guards a little.
▪ The Intimate stage- Reserved for friends and relatives, degree of intimacy
depends on the closeness of relationship. A stage in communication where
social barriers fall.
2.2.3 Group Communication
Group communication shares all these qualities though in a much less
measure. The larger the group the less personal and intimate is the possibility of
exchange. In fact as a group grows in size in communication tends to become more
and more of monologue, for participation become problematic .The degree of
directness and intimacy therefore depends upon the size of the group, the place where
it meets, as also the relationship of the member of the group to one another and to the
group leader. Group communication is thus more complex process than the
interpersonal communication. The level of mutual participation and understanding
among the members suffers as result. In Interpersonal communication too
understanding and participation may not be complete, especially if the non verbal
cues and the socio-cultural contexts are not paid attention to. However, the possibility
of checking up and correcting misunderstanding is much quicker and easier in much
interpersonal communication
Feedback is the keyword here while in interpersonal communication,
feedback is instantaneous, and it is not so in a group communication, it allows for
instant response to feedback received. In group communication, on the other hand
feedback is more difficult to measure and to respond to. It takes time before the
meanings are clarified and responses assessed. That explains why the art of effective
public speaking is more necessary at the group level than the interpersonal
communication
2.2.4 Mass Communication
Group communication has now been extended by the tools of mass
communication: books, the press, the cinema, radio, television, video, and the
internet. Mass Communication is generally identified with these modern mass
media, but it must be noted that these media are processes and must not be mistaken
for the phenomenon of communication itself. Exaggerated claims have been made for
the ‘power ‘of the mass media. Daniel Lerner terms them ‘mobility multiplier’s and
Wilbur Schramm consider them to be ‘magic multipliers’. Indeed both the terms mass
communication and mass media are inappropriate in the context of developing
societies.
2.3 VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal communication is the second major emphasis in the field of
communication. It deals with communication between people. Interpersonal
communication is not a single thing but rather a continuum that ranges from quite
impersonal to highly interpersonal. The more we interact with a person as a distinct
individual, the more interpersonal the communication is. For e.g. a deep
conversation with a friend is more interpersonal than a casual exchange with a clerk.
Some interpersonal researches study how gender, ethnicity and sexual
preference influence communication. Verbal communication and Non- Verbal
communication are the major classifications of interpersonal personal
communication.
Verbal communication refers to the spoken or written words, verbal
communication consists of symbols, which represent feelings, ideas, objects and
people. For example …Our name is a symbol to represent us. Dormitory is a symbol
for a particular kind of building.
2.3.1 Qualities of Symbols
Symbols have three qualities. They are
i. Arbitrary
ii. Ambiguous
iii. Abstract
i) Arbitrary:
Symbols are arbitrary, which means they are intrinsically connected to what
they represent. E.g. the word modem has no natural relationships to the instrument
that connect to the Internet and web.
Certain words seem right because as a society we agree to use them in
particular ways, but they have no natural correspondence with their referents.
Because meanings are arbitrary instead of necessary, they change overtime.
E.g. in the 1950s most people understood the word “Gay” to mean light
hearted and happy, but today it is generally understood to refer to homosexuals. E.g.
similar word such as Apple, Mouse.
Language also changes as we invent new words ‘Cyberspace’, hyperlink,
hypertext and World Wide Web or WWW are some terms we have invented to refer
to communication technologies. E.g. express feelings in online communication,
people have invented emotions such as☺ for smile and ☹ for frown etc.
ii) Ambiguous:
Symbols are also ambiguous, which means they don’t have a clear-cut, precise
meanings. Degrees of uncertainty exist about what any symbol means.
E.g. 1. “A good Friend” means someone to hangout with to one person and
someone to confide into another.
2. Christmas, Ramzan and Deepavali have distinct connotations for people
with different religious commitment.
● The meaning of these words varies as a result of cultural contexts and
individual experiences. Although verbal symbols don’t mean exactly
the same thing to everyone, within a culture many symbols have an
agreed upon range of meanings. In learning to communicate, we learn
not only words but also the meanings and values of society.
● The ambiguity of symbols can lead to the misunderstandings that
sometimes plague communication. We tend to assume that others have
the same meanings for words that we do.
 o Problems arising from the ambiguity of language are often in
surface.
E.g. A supervisor criticizes a new employee for “Inadequate
quality of work”. The employee assures that supervisor works
more productivity, but the supervisor means that the employee
should be more careful in proofing material to catch errors.
● According to counselor Aaron beck (1988) a common problem
in relationships is language that creates ambiguity.
E.g. Wife might ask her husband to be more loving, but she
and he have different understandings of what being more
loving means.
● To minimize ambiguity, we should be as clear as possible
when communicating.
E.g. It’s more effective to say “I would like for you to look at
me when I’m talking” than to say, “I wish you would be more
attentive”.
iii) Abstract:
Symbols are abstract, which means they are not concrete or tangible.
They stand for ideas, people, events, objects, feelings etc but they are not the
things they represent.
In using symbols whereby we move further away from external or
objective phenomena. The symbols we use vary in abstractness. E.g. Reading
matter is an abstract term that includes everything from philosophy books to
the list of ingredients on cereal package.
Book is a less abstract word. Textbook is even less abstract;
mentioning name of a textbook is the most concrete term, because it refers to
a specific textbook.
2.4 PRINCIPLES OF NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

2.4.1 Non-Verbal communication can be ambiguous:

We can never be sure that others understand the meaning we tend to express
with our nonverbal behavior. Conversely we can’t know whether they read meanings
into our behaviors that we do not intend. The ambiguity of non-verbal communication
also arises because meanings vary over time. E.g. spreading apart of first two fingers-
during World Wars it meant Victory and at 1960’s the meaning was Peace.

A non-Verbal behavior also reflects and perpetuates distinct organizational identities.

E.g. Dressings in Organization

Work situation – formal and informal organization

E.g. 1. Raising hands to ask a question to the lecturer but to a friend we don’t.

2. Dress differently for religious services, classes, interviews etc.

2.4.2 Non Verbal behavior interacts with Verbal Communication:

Communication researchers have identified five ways in which non verbal

behavior interact with verbal communication.

1. Non- Verbal behavior may repeat verbal messages. E.g. You might say “Yes”
while nodding your head
2. Non- Verbal behavior may highlight verbal communication as when you use
infection to emphasize certain words. E.g. this is the most serious
consequence of the policy I’m arguing against.
3. Non-verbal behaviors complement or add to words. E.g. I’m glad to see you -
☺ with a smile. Sorrow ☹ with symbol.
4. Non-verbal behavior may contradict verbal messages. E.g. nothing’s wrong –
in a hostile tone of voice.
5. We substitute non-verbal for verbal. E.g. you might roll your eyes to show
that you disapprove of something.
2.4.3 Non-verbal can regulate interaction:

Non-verbal cues more than verbal ones tell us when to speak and keep silent.
E.g., signal – don’t want to be interrupted by averting our eyes or by
increasing our speaking volume.

2.4.4 Non- verbal communication can establish relationship level – meaning:

Non – verbal communication conveys three dimensions or relationship – level

meanings a. Responsiveness b. Liking c. Power.

a. Responsiveness: We use eye contact, inflection, facial expressions and

body posture to show interest in others.
E.g. Formal presentations and casual conversations, we signal interest
by holding eye contact and assuring an attentive posture. All cultures
do not interpret eye contact in the same way.
E.g. Westerners- tend to avoid or decrease visual contact and adopt a
passive body position to turn away from another person.
Asian culture members are less likely to overtly express disinterest.
Moreover in cohesive team nonverbal behavior typically signal that
members are responsive to one another. In less cohesive group non-
verbal behavior shows less responsiveness.
b. Power: We use non-verbal behavior to assert dominance and to negotiate
status. Compared to women, men assure more space and use greater volume
and more forceful gestures assert their ideas. Silence, a powerful form of non-
verbal can also be a means to exert control.
c. Liking: Non-verbal behaviors are keen indicators of whether we feel
positive or negative about others.
E.g. Women sit closer together and engage in more eye contact and
friendlier touching than men.
2.4.5 Non-verbal communication reflects cultural values:

Like verbal communication non verbal patterns reflect rules of specific

cultures. This implies that most nonverbal communication isn’t instinctual but is
learned in the process of socialization. eg. Dressing pattern for women varies across
culture.

Cultures vary in the interpretations attached to many non verbal behaviors

including eye contact, comfortable distance between people etc.,

E.g. Brazilians routinely stand close to one another in shops and buses and
elevators and when they bump into each other they don’t apologize as U.S.
citizens do.

Non-verbal behavior is a major dimension of human communication. It

includes all aspects of communication other than words. In addition to gestures and
body language non-verbal communication includes.

⮚ How we utter words (inflection, volume)

⮚ Features of environment that affect meaning (temperature, lighting)
and
⮚ Objects that affect personal images and interaction patterns (dress,
jewellery, furniture)

Nearly 65% to 93% of the total meaning of communication is communicated

through non-verbal. This suggests that non-verbal behaviors makeup more of our
overall communication than verbal ones.

2.5 TYPES OF NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

There are nine forms of non-verbal behaviors, we shall discuss about this, how
we use each to create and interpret meaning.

I. Kinesics (face and body motion)

II. Haptics (touch)
 III. Physical appearance
IV. Artifacts (personal objects)
V. Proxemics (personal space)
VI. Environment factors
VII. Chronemics (perception and use of time)
VIII. Paralanguage (vocal qualities)
IX. Silence

2.5.1 Kinesics

It is technical term that refers to body position and body motions including the
face expressions.

E.g: A speaker who stands erectly and appears confident announces self-
assurance. Body postures and gestures may signal whether we are open to
interaction.
⮚ Speakers who stay behind podiums and read notes are often perceived as less
open than speakers who interact more actively with audiences.
⮚ Sits with arms crossed and looks downward seems to say “Don’t bother me”.

Our faces are intricate messengers. The face alone is capable of more than a
thousand distinct expressions.

2.5.2 Haptics

Is non-verbal communication involving physical touch? Touch is the first of

our five senses. Many communication scholars believe that touching and being
touched are essential to healthy life.

E.g: Babies - pushing the children

Touching communicates power and status.

Gendered pattern of touch reflect cultural views of women as more touchable than
men.
2.5.3 Physical Appearance

⮚ Western cultures place an extremely high value on physical

appearance and on specific aspects of appearance.
⮚ We first notice obvious physical qualities like sex, skin, colour and
size. Based on physical qualities we may make inferences about
other’s personalities,

E.g. Thin and angular physiques reflect – youthful, hard driven,

stubborn, Athletics body type - - - - - strong, adventurous, self – reliant
personalities.

Physical appearances includes both physiological characteristics, such as eye

color, height, ways that we manage our physical appearance as dying hair, having
plastic surgery wearing colored contact lens etc.

2.5.4 Artifacts

Artifacts are personal objects we use to announce our identities and personalize
our environments.

⮚ Clothing is one of the most communication forms of artifactual

communication. E.g. Women - makeup, dresses may have lace and softening
touched, high heeled shoes etc.

Men - with pockets, jeans etc.,

Artifacts announce professional identity - Nurses and doctors wear white and
oxygen drape stethoscope.

Executives - white-collar professionals.

2.5.5 Proxemics and Personal Space

⮚ Are elements of settings that affect how we feel, think and act? For instance,
we feel more relaxed in rooms with comfortable chairs than ones with stiff
furniture.

E.g. Candle light rooms - romantic feelings, churches etc

Restaurants use environment features to control how long people spend eating.

Upscale restaurants - low lights, comfortable chairs or booths, with light music.

Fast food - wants to get people in and out as quickly as possible.

2.5.6 Chronemics

Refers to how we perceive and use time to define identities and interaction.
Non-verbal communication scholar Nancy Henley (1977) reports that we use time
to negotiate and convey status. She had identified a cultural rule that stipulates
that important people with high status can keep others waiting, conversely people
with low status are expected to be punctual.
E.g. Doctors, students, bosses and subordinate for a meeting - - - - -
a) Chronemics expresses cultural attitudes toward time:
⮚ Western societies value time
E.g. Computer instead of typewriters
Software programs and modems for faster versions to hit the market.
Often try to do several things at once to get more done.
⮚ Many other cultures have far more relaxed attitudes toward time and
punctuality:
E.g. In many South American countries, it’s normal to come late to
meetings or classes.

b) The length of time we spend with different people reflects our priorities:

E.g. Manager spends more time with the potential personal than who
seems less impressive.

Speaker - reporter than audience, staff and students.

 Chronemics also involves expectations of time which are influenced
by social norms:

E.g. 1. We except class for 40 to 50 minutes, but several minutes by

the end of class period students often close their notebooks and start
gathering their belongings, signaling the teacher that time is up.

2. Business meeting and religious meeting.

These expectations reflect our culture’s general orientation towards time,

suggests that it is a precious commodity to be hoarded.

2.5.7 Paralanguage

Paralanguage is a communication that is vocal but is not actual words. It

includes sounds such as murmurs and gasps and vocal qualities such as volume,
rhythm, pitch and inflection.

⮚ Our voices are versatile instruments that tell others how to interpret us and
what we say.
⮚ Vocal cues signal others to interpret what we say as a joke, treat, statement of
fact, question and so forth.
⮚ Effective public speakers know how to modulate inflection, volume and
rhythm to enhance their verbal messages.

Vocal cues like whispering, signals confidentiality or intimacy, whereas shouting

conveys anger or excitement.

Men - Strong volume, low pitch

Women – High pitch, softer volume

2.5.8 Silence

A final type of non-verbal behavior is silence, which is lack of communicated

sound. Although silence is quiet it can communicate powerful messages.
 2.6 VERBAL Vs NON VERBAL

Non verbal communication, like verbal communication can be misinterpreted.

The following two guidelines should reduce nonverbal misunderstandings in your
interactions.

i) Monitor your Nonverbal communication:

Think about the preceding discussion of ways we use nonverbal behaviors to

announce our identities. Are you projecting the image you desire? Do others interpret Check Your Progress

your facial and body movements in ways consistent with the image you want to 1. What is meant by
transpersonal
project? Do friends ever tell you that you seem uninterested when you’re really Communication?

interested? If so, you can monitor your nonverbal actions so that you more clearly 2. What are the three
communicate your involvement and interest in conversations. To reduce the chance stages of interpersonal
Communication?
that work associates will think you’re uninterested in meetings, use nonverbal 3. Define the term
artifact.
behaviors that others associate with responsiveness and attention.
4. What are the qualities
ii) Be tentative when interpreting other’s nonverbal communication: of Symbols?

We can never be sure what a particular behavior means to specific people in

given context. For instance, we’ve said that satisfied couples tend to sit closer
together than unhappy couples. As a general rule this is true. However, sometimes
contented couples prefer autonomy and like have distance. Partners may also avoid
physical closeness when one has a cold or flu. People socialized in non Western
cultures learned distinct rules for Proxemics. Because non verbal communication is
ambiguous and personal, we should not assume we can interpret it with precision. An
ethical principle of communication is to quality interpretations of non verbal behavior
with awareness of personal and contextual considerations.

iii) Personal Qualifications:

Generalizations about non verbal behavior state what the case is generally,
they don’t tell us about the expectations to the rule. Although eye contact generally is
a sign of responsiveness, some people close their eyes to concentrate when listening.
 Because non verbal behavior are ambiguous and vary among people, we need
to be cautious about how we interpret these behaviors.

iv) Contextual Qualification:

Like the meaning of verbal communication, the significance of non verbal

behaviors depends on the contexts in which they occur. Our nonverbal
communication reflects the various settings we inhabit at. Immediate physical settings
are not the only factor that affects nonverbal communication. All communication
reflects the values and understandings of particular cultures. We are likely to
misinterpret people from other cultures when we impose the norms and rules of our
culture on them. An ethical responsibility not to assume that our interpretations apply
to the behavior of others.

2.7 KEY WORDS

Haptics - Non-verbal communication involving physical touch
Transpersonal - Conversing with the divine, with the spirits
Communication and ancestors
Artifacts - These are personal objects we use to announce our
identities and personalize our environments
2.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 2.2.1

2) Refer Section 2.2.2.2
3) Refer Section 2.5.4
4) Refer Section 2.3.1
Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction To Mass Communication, MC Graw

Hill, New Delhi.
2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,
Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication in India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.
4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,
London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 2
LESSON 3

COMMUNICATION AS A PROCESS

INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses about the various variables involved in communication

process. It also deals with the connotative and denotative meaning of any messages.
Communication as a process brings us closer to an understanding of its complexity. In
contrast to the technical view, considering communication as process means that it is
not a fixed, static thing; rather it is dynamic, never-ending and ever-changing. It does
not have a beginning or an end, nor does it follow fixed sequences of events

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this lesson are:

▪ To analyze Communication as a Process

▪ To be familiar with the functions of Communication
▪ To know about the Connotative and Denotative
▪ To analyze levels of Communication

UNIT STRUCTURE
3.1 Communication Process
3.2 Functions of Communication
3.3 Connotation and Denotation
3.4 Codes
3.5 Levels of Communication
3.6 Key words
3.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
3.1 COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The use of the term ‘process’ tells us that communication is characterized by
continuous evolution and change. We change others and are changed by them when
we communicate. All the communication encounters you have heard in the past, as
well as all the information, ideas and opinions you have gathered gradually change
you and your behavior, and consequently the way you communicate with others.

A process is also irreversible, which means that each communication

encounter you have influences the one that follows. How you communicated with
someone in the past can help or hinder your communication with them in the future.
Should you have an argument with your partner before going to work, for example,
your feelings may cause you to lash out at a colleague who asks an innocent question.
The problem is that the next day, you and your colleague are unable to communicate
as comfortably as before. Your reaction to the argument of the previous say has had
an effect on your future communication and with your colleague.

The progression of transmission and interchange of ideas, facts, feelings or

actions is known as “Process of Communication”. Process of Communication is a full
cycle of events from sender to the receiver and back to the sender. Communication is
a two way process.

Sender: The process of communication starts with a sender, the person who
has an idea and wants to convey it to the receiver. In other words, we can say that the
person with ideas to share is called sender. The formation of idea is the first step of
communication. So, Communication process begins with the sender.

Encoding: The conversion of the idea into a message by verbal or nonverbal

method is called encoding. While encoding a message, one needs to consider what
will be interpretation of the message. This process of converting the thought of the
sender into message is encoding.

Message: It is an important part of communication. Message is the content

that sender wants to convey. A message could be verbal or non-verbal. The thought,
idea, emotion or anything that the sender wants to convey is called message.

Channel: The way or the medium of sending the message is called channel.
Medium or channel can be oral, written or it can be non-verbal
 Receiver: The receiver is the person who receives encoded message. In the
best way, if it reaches to the receiver then there is no problem to the receiver to
understand the message properly.

Decoding: It is a process where the received message is being understood. It

is not necessary that the message reached to receiver will be understood by the
receiver but decoding is a process which converts the message into understanding.
There are chances of misinterpretation of the message.

Feedback: This is the last part of communication process. After receiving the
message, the receiver reacts or responds to the sender. The response can be based on
the perfect understanding of the message or it can be based on the misunderstanding
or misinterpretation of the message. This reply from receiver to sender is called
feedback. Feedback has its own importance as the success or failure of
communication is decided by feedback only.
3.2 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

i. Instrumental function – To achieve or to obtain something.

ii. Control function – To get someone to behave in a particular way.
iii. Information function – To find out or explain something.
iv. Expression function – To express your feeling or put yourself over in
a particular way.
v. Social contact Function – To make enjoyable company.
vi. Alleviation of anxiety function – To sort out a problem to ease a
worry about something.
vii. Stimulation Function– To create interest.
viii. Role related Function – because the situation required it.
ix. Motivational Function – the stimulation of personal choice and
aspiration.
x. Educational Function – transmission of knowledge.
xi. Cultural promotion Function – To reinforce cultural ties.
xii. Entertainment Function – To provide leisure time activity.
xiii. Integration Function – To bring about greater cohesion between
diverse social groups.

3.3 CONNOTATION AND DENOTATION

Connotation and Denotation are two principal methods of describing
the meanings of words. Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and
negative associations that most words naturally carry with them, whereas
denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a
dictionary.
Connotation and denotation are not two separate things/signs. They
are two aspects/ elements of a sign, and the connotative meanings of a word
exist together with the denotative meanings.

− Connotation represents the various social overtones, cultural implications,

or emotional meanings associated with a sign.

− Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign. For example, the
name ‘Hollywood’ connotes such things as glitz, glamour, tinsel, celebrity, and
dreams of stardom. In the same time, the name ‘Hollywood’ denotes an area of Los
Angeles, worldwide known as the center of the American movie industry.

The denotation of this example is a red rose with a green stem. The

connotation is that it is a symbol of passion and love – this is what the rose represents.
 The denotation is a brown cross. The connotation is a symbol of religion,
according to the media connotation. However, to be more specific this is
a symbol of Christianity.

The denotation is a representation of a cartoon heart. The connotation is

a symbol of love and affection.
3.4 CODES

Codes are not simply 'conventions' of communication but rather

Progress procedural systems of related conventions which operate in certain domains. Codes
organize signs into meaningful systems which correlate signifiers and signified.
Process:
Codes transcend single texts, linking them together in an interpretative framework.
different
Codes are interpretive frameworks which are used by both producers and
mean by interpreters of texts. In creating texts we select and combine signs in relation to the
codes with which we are familiar in order to limit the range of possible meanings
levels of
? they are likely to generate when read by others .Codes help to simplify phenomena
in order to make it easier to communicate experiences. In reading texts, we
interpret signs with reference to what seem to be appropriate codes. Usually the
appropriate codes are obvious, 'over determined' by all sorts of contextual cues.
Signs within texts can be seen as embodying cues to the codes which are
appropriate for interpreting them. The medium employed clearly influences the
choice of codes. Pierre Guiraud notes that 'the frame of a painting or the cover of a
book highlights the nature of the code; the title of a work of art refers to the code
adopted much more often than to the content of the message' .In this sense we
routinely 'judge a book by its cover'.

Semioticians seek to identify codes and the tacit rules and constraints which
underlie the production and interpretation of meaning within each code. They have
found it convenient to divide codes into groups. The primary and most pervasive
code in any society is its dominant 'natural' language, within which (as with other
codes) there are many 'sub-codes'. A fundamental sub-division of language into
spoken and written forms - at least insofar as it relates to whether the text is
detached from its maker at the point of reception - is often regarded as representing
a broad division into different codes rather than merely sub-codes. One theorist's
code is another's sub-code and the value of the distinction needs to be
demonstrated. Referring to the codes of film-making, Stephen Heath argues that
'codes are not in competition with one another...; there is no choice between, say,
lighting and montage. Choice is given between the various sub-codes of a code,
they being in a relation of mutual exclusion'. Stylistic and personal codes
(or idiolects) are often described as sub-codes. The various kinds of codes overlap,
and the semiotic analysis of any text or practice involves considering several codes
and the relationships between them. A range of typologies of codes can be found in
the literature of semiotics. Those which are most widely mentioned in the context
of media, communication and cultural studies are:

a) Social Codes:
[In a broader sense all semiotic codes are 'social codes']
▪ verbal language (phonological, syntactical, lexical, prosodic
and paralinguistic subcodes);
▪ bodily codes (bodily contact, proximity, physical
orientation, appearance, facial expression, gaze, head nods,
 gestures and posture);
▪ commodity codes (fashions, clothing, cars);
▪ behavioural codes (protocols, rituals, role-playing, games).
b) Textual codes:
[Representational codes]
▪ scientific codes, including mathematics;
▪ aesthetic codes within the various expressive arts (poetry,
drama, painting, sculpture, music, etc.) - including
classicism, romanticism, realism;
▪ genre, rhetorical and stylistic codes: narrative (plot,
character, action, dialogue, setting, etc.), exposition,
argument and so on;
▪ mass media codes including photographic, televisual, filmic,
radio, newspaper and magazine codes, both technical and
conventional (including format).
c) Interpretative codes:
[There is less agreement about these as semiotic codes]
▪ perceptual codes: e.g. of visual perception (note that this
code does not assume intentional communication);
▪ ideological codes: More broadly, these include codes
for 'encoding' and 'decoding' texts - dominant (or
'hegemonic'), negotiated or oppositional. More specifically,
we may list the 'isms', such as individualism, liberalism,
feminism, racism, materialism, capitalism, progressivism,
conservatism, socialism, objectivism, consumerism and
populism; (note, however, that all codes can be seen as
ideological).
These three types of codes correspond broadly to three key kinds of knowledge
required by interpreters of a text, namely knowledge of:
 ● the world (social knowledge);
● the medium and the genre (textual knowledge);
● the relationship between (1) and (2) (modality judgments).
3.5 LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION
There are three levels of communication.

3.5.1 TECHNICAL

It includes the quality of the content and how accurately the signs have
been transmitted.

3.5.2 SEMANTIC

A major branch of linguistics in which meaning of language is analyzed.

An exploration of change, how the context of usage, historical, social cultural etc
alters the meaning of words and expressions used, how accurately the transmitted
signals convey the intended meaning.

3.5.3 PRAGMATIC

The study of language from the view point of the user especially the choices
he/she makes the constraints he/she deals with in employing language in social
situations and the effects the use of this language has upon others in the
communication situation, how effectively, does the received meaning effect
conduct in the intended manners.

3.6 KEY TERMS

Encoding - conversion of the idea into message by verbal or nonverbal

method is called encoding
Decoding - It is a process where the received message is being
understood.
Connotation - It is the emotional and imaginative association
surrounding a word.
Denotation - It is the strict dictionary meaning of a word
3.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS
1) Refer Section 3.1
2) Refer Section 3.4
3) Refer Section 3.3
4) Refer Section 3.5

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction To Mass Communication, MC Graw

Hill, New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass

Communication, Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the

21st Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 2
LESSON 4

MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses the different Models of Communication A model is a

mechanistic perspective of Human Communication that effectively tells at a glance
how it works. A model is an abstracted representation of reality. Being abstract a
model is not reality it is just an representation. (e.g. Architectural model of a house).
Since communication is transmission process, the mechanistic interpretation is a
convenient way of viewing the relationship among the variables of human
communication and of explaining how communication flows from one stage to the
next and so on. Models are based on assumption that theorists make as to how
communication functions and what effect it has upon individual society.

UNIT OBJECTIVES

After studying this unit you should be able to:

● examine the various models of communication;

● delineate the process and elements of communication;

● Suggest strategies for effective communication.

UNIT STRUCTURE

4.1 Purpose of Communication Models

4.2 Functions of Communication Models

4.3 Models of Communication Process

4.4 Key Words

4.5 Answers to Check Your Progress

4.1 PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION MODELS

A graphic representation of any reality helps us visualize the relationships

among various elements of a structure, system or process; an object, event or act. Mc
Quil and Windhal say that a model is a consciously simplified description in graphic
form of a piece of reality. No single model can be expected to present a holistic
picture of reality. Communication models help us to visualize, analyze and discuss
various complex processes and issues that would be otherwise difficult to explain.

4.2 FUNCTIONS OF MODELS

a) Organizing function: Models help us by ordering and relating systems to each

other by providing with images of whole that might not otherwise perceived.

b) Explaining function: Models help us study communication by providing

simplified version which would otherwise be complex. Yet another function of
communication is heuristic in nature. It means that in the study of communication,
models guide researchers to the key points of the process or system. Thus
communication models help

a. to assign probabilities to formulate hypothesis in research

b. to predict outcomes

c. to describe the structure of a phenomenon

4.3 COMMUNICATION MODELS

The main aim communication is to convey information and the understanding

of that information from one person or group to another person or group. The
communication process is divided into three basic components: A sender transmits a
message through a channel to the receiver.  The sender first develops an idea, which
is composed into a message and then transmits it to the other party, who interprets the
message and receives meaning. Information theorists have added somewhat more
complicated language. Developing a message is known as encoding. Interpreting the
message is referred to as decoding. There is a interdependence of relationship among
these variables of Human Communication.

4.3.1 Aristotle’s Model of Communication

Aristotle, a great philosopher initiative the earliest mass communication

Model called “Aristotle’s Model of Communication”. He proposed the model before
300 B.C who found the importance of audience role in communication chain in his
communication model. This model is more focused on public speaking than
interpersonal communication. Aristotle Model of Communication is formed with 5
basic elements (i) Speaker, (ii) Speech, (iii) Occasion, (iv) Audience and (v) Effect.

Aristotle advises speakers to build speech for different audience on different

time (occasion) and for different effects.

Speaker plays an important role in Public Speaking. The speaker must prepare
his speech and analysis audience needs before he enters into the stage. His words
should influence in audience mind and persuade their thoughts towards him.Example:

Alexander gave brave speech to his soldiers in the war field to defeat Persian Empire.

Speaker           -    Alexander

Speech            -    about his invasion

Occasion        -    War field

Audience        -    Soldiers

Effect              -    To defeat Persia.

In 1950s the models became more elaborate and adequate.

4.3.2 Harold. D. Lasswell’s Model (1948)

Harold Dwight Lasswell, the American political scientist states that a convenient

way to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions

▪ Who -Identification of Source

▪ Says What-Analysis of Message Content

▪ In Which Channel-Choice of the Channel

▪ To Whom – Characteristics of Audience

▪ With what effect?- Evaluation of effects

This model is about process of communication and its function to society,

According to Lasswell there are three functions for communication:

1. Surveillance of the environment

2. Correlation of components of society

3. Cultural transmission between generation

Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with

multiple audiences. The flow of message is through various channels. And also
this communication model is similar to Aristotle’s communication model.

In this model, the communication component:

Who refers the research area called as “Control Analysis”,

Says what refers to “Content Analysis”,

 In which channel refers to “Media Analysis”,

To whom refers to “Audience Analysis”

With What Effect refers to “Effect Analysis”

Example:

CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami – crippled nuclear power

station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing
into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.

Who – TEPC Operator

What – Radioactive material flowing into sea

Channel – CNN NEWS (Television medium)

Whom – Public

Effect – Alert the people of Japans from the radiation.

4.3.2.1 Advantage of Lasswell model:

▪ It is Easy and Simple

▪ It suits for almost all types of communication

▪ The concept of effect

4.3.2.2 Disadvantage of Lasswell model:

● Feedback not mentioned

● Noise not mentioned

● Linear Model

4.3.3 Claude Shannon and Weaver Model (1949)

In 1949, Shannon  was an American mathematician, Electronic engineer and

Weaver was an American scientist both of them join together to write an article in
“Bell System Technical Journal” called “A Mathematical Theory of Communication”
and also called as “Shannon-Weaver model of Communciation”.

This model was specially designed to develop the effective

communication between sender and receiver. Also they found factors which affect the
communication process called “Noise”. At first the model was developed to improve
the Technical communication. Later it’s widely applied in the field of
Communication. The model deals with various concepts like information source,
transmitter, Noise, channel, message, receiver, channel, information destination,
encode and decode.

● Sender:  The originator of message or the information source selects

desire message.

● Encoder: The transmitter which converts the message into signals. (The
sender’s messages converted into signals like waves or Binary data which
is compactable to transmit the messages through cables or satellites. For
example: In telephone the voice is converted into wave signals and it
transmits through cables.)

● Decoder: The reception place of the signal which converts signals into
message. A reverse process of encode. (The receiver converts those binary
data or waves into message which is comfortable and understandable for
 receiver. Otherwise receiver can’t receive the exact message and it will
affect the effective communication between sender and receiver)

● Receiver: The destination of the message from sender.(Based on the

decoded message the receiver gives their feed back to sender. If the
message distracted by noise it will affect the communication flow between
sender and receiver.)

● Noise:  The messages are transferred from encoder to decoder through

channel. During this process the messages may get distracted or affected
by physical noise like horn sounds, thunder and crowd noise or
encoded signals may distract in the channel during the
transmission process which affect the communication flow or the receiver
may not receive the correct message.

4.3.3.1 Practical Example of Shannon-Weaver model of communication:

` Thomson made call to his assistant “come here I want to see you”. 
During his call, noise appeared (transmission error) and his assistant received “I
want” only. Again Assistant asked Thomson (feedback) “what do you want
Thomson”.

⮚ Sender       :   Thomson

⮚ Encoder     : Telephone (Thomson)

⮚ Channel     :   Cable

⮚ Noise          :   Distraction in Voice

⮚ Reception  :   Telephone Assistant

⮚ Receiver     :   Assistant.

Due to transmission error or noise, Assistant can’t able to understand Thomson’s

messages.

*The noise which affect the communication flow between them.

 4.3.3.2 Criticism of Shannon-Weaver model of communication:

i) One of the simplest model and it is generally applied in various

communication theories.

ii) The model which attracts both academics of Human

Communication and Information theorist to leads their further
research in communication.

iii) It is more effective in person-to-person communication than group

or mass audience.

iv) The model based on “Sender and Receiver”. Here sender plays the
primary role and receiver plays the secondary role (receive the
information or passive).

v) Communication is not a one way process.  If it’s behaved like that,

it will lose its strength. For example: Audience or receiver who
listening a radio, reading the books or watching television is a one
way communication because absence of feedback.

vi) Understanding Noise will helps to solve the various problems in

communication.

4.3.4 Charles E.Osgood’s Model (1954)

The Osgood and Schramm circular model is an attempt to remedy for the
conventional (traditional) pattern of Communication. The model emphasizes the
circular nature of communication. The participants swap between the roles of
source/encoder and receiver/decoder. The model is particularly helpful in reminding
us of the process of interpretation which takes place whenever a message is decoded.
The more mechanical models, particularly those concerned primarily with machine
communication, tend to suggest that fidelity will be high as long as physical noise is
reduced to a minimum or strategies (such as increasing channel redundancy) are
adopted to counter the noise. This circular model reminds us that receiving a message
is not simply a matter of decoding, but also of interpreting the message. Whenever we
receive data from the world around us, even in, say, the apparently very simple act of
seeing what's in front of us, we are engaged in an active process of interpretation, not
simply taking in information, but actively making sense of it. An important question
is what criteria are we using to make sense of what we are receiving? Since the
criteria we use will inevitably differ from one person to another, there will always be
semantic noise. If we can answer that question about our audience, then we stand a
chance of communicating successfully.

4.3.4.1 Advantage of Osgood- Schramm model of communication

1. Dynamic model- Shows how a situation can change

2. It shows why redundancy is an essential part

3. There is no separate sender and receiver, sender and receiver is the same person

4. Assume communication to be circular in nature

5. Feedback – central feature.

4.3.4.2 Disadvantage of Osgood- Schramm model of communication

This model does not talk about semantic noise and it assume the moment of
encoding and decoding.
4.3.5 Berlo’s SMCR Model

The Berlo’s model follows the SMCR model, this model is not specific to any
particular communication. Berlo’s model lives a number of factors under each of the
elements:

Source: The source is where the message originates.

Communication skills – It is the individual’s skill to communicate (ability to read,

write, speak, listen etc…)

Attitudes  – The attitude towards the audience, subject and towards oneself for e.g. for
the student the attitude is to learn more and for teachers wants to help teach.

Knowledge- The knowledge about the subject one is going to communicate for e.g.
whatever the teacher communicates in the class about the subject so having
knowledge in what you are communicating. (It is not talking about the general
knowledge it is all about the knowledge of the subject, so it is the familiarity of what
you are communicating).

Social system – The Social system includes the various aspects in society like values,
beliefs, culture, religion and general understanding of society. It is where the
communication takes place. For e.g. class room differs from country to country
like behaviors, how we communicate etc. (We can communicate only to
the extent that the social system allows, when we communicate take social system
into account).

Culture – Culture of the particular society also comes under social system.

All to this model, only if you have the above in the proper or adequate proportion we
can communicate.

Encoder –The sender of the message (message originates) is referred as encoder, so

the source is encoding the message here.

Message:

Content – The beginning to the end of a message comprises its content for e.g.  from
beginning to end whatever the class teacher speaks in the class is the content of the
message.

Elements  – It includes various things like language, gestures, body language etc, so

these are all the elements of the particular message. Content is accompanied by some
elements.

Treatment – It refers to the packing of the message. The way in which the message is
conveyed or the way in which the message is passed on or delivered.( When it is too
much treatment also the communication will not happen properly).

Structure- The structure of the message how it is arranged, the way you structure the
message into various parts.(Message is the same but if the structure is not properly
arranged then the message will not get to the receiver).

Code - The code of the message means how it is sent, in what form it could be e.g.
language, body language, gestures, music and even culture is a code. Through this
you get/give the message or through which the communication takes place or being
reached.(  Only when the code is proper, the message will be clear, improper use may
lead to misinterpretation).

Channel -   It is nothing but the five senses through which we do, the following:
▪ Hearing

▪ Seeing

▪ Touching

▪ Smelling

▪ Tasting

Whatever communication we do we use either of these channels.

Hearing -The use of ears to get the message for e.g. oral messages, interpersonal etc.

Seeing – Visual channels for e.g. TV can be seen and the message is delivered.

Touching - The sense of touch can be used as a channel to communicate for e.g. we

touch and buy food, hugging etc.

Smelling - Smell also can be a channel to communicate for e.g. perfumes, food,
charred smell communicates something is burning, we can find out about which food
is being cooked etc.

Tasting -The tongue also can be used to decipher e.g. Food can be tasted and
communication can happen.( Despite not mentioning a medium we need to assume
that as communication is taking place channels can be any of the 5 senses or
combination).

Decoder - Who receives the message and decodes it is referred to as decoder.

Receiver - The receiver needs to have all the thinks like the source.

This model believes that for an effective communication to take place the
source and the receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source and receiver
are on the same level communication will happen or take place properly. So source
and receiver should be similar

For e.g. Communication skills on source side is good then the receiver should
equally have good listening skills. We cannot say the entire message passed doesn’t
reach the receiver as it is because the receiver may not be good in listening, so only
for the effective communication the source and the receiver have to be in the same
level. Self image differs from person to person, for communicating the person should
consider the receiver. Keep the receiver in mind, speak accordingly and give them
what they need.

4.3.5.1 Criticism of Berlo’s SMCR model of communication:

1. No feedback / don’t know about the effect

2. Does not mention barriers to communication

3. No room for noise

4. Complex model

5. It is a linear model of communication

6. Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but not true in real
life

7. Main drawback of the model is that the model omits the usage of sixth sense as a
channel which is actually a gift to the human beings (thinking, understanding,
analyzing etc).

4.3.6 Dance’s Helical Model of Communication (1967)

In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the Communication model called Dance’s

Helix Model for a better communication process. The name helical comes from
“Helix” which means an object having a three-dimensional shape like that of wire
wound  uniformly around a cylinder or cone. He shows communication as
a dynamic and non-linear process. Dance’s model emphasized the difficulties of
communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a Helix to describe communication
process. He developed this theory based on a simple helix which gets bigger and
bigger as it moves or grows. The main characteristic of helical model of
Communication is that it is evolutionary.

Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix

structure and compares it with communication. In the Helix structure, the bottom or
starting is very small then it gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular
motion which form the bigger circle in the top and it still moves further. The whole
process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the
communication process starts very slowly in a defined
small circle. Communicators share information only with
small portion of themselves to their relationships. It
gradually develops into next level but which will take
some time to reach and expands its boundaries to the
next level.  Later the communicators commit more and
share more portions themselves.

Example: When a child is born the only means of

communication is crying, he/she cries for everything like hunger, pain, cold etc. As
the child grows the means of communication become wider and broader. He learns to
makes noises then he learns language to obtain attention and to fulfill his needs. As a
Helix the process of communication in this case started from crying and later it
developed into a complex and compound means.

The Helical model of communication is largely dependent on its past. A child

learns to pronounce a word in his elementary classes and throughout his life he uses
that word in the same way he learnt. Just like that we used to react to certain things in
a certain way in our childhood and such reactions and habits lasts with us forever.
The communication evolves in the beginning in some simple forms then the same
process of communication develops based on the past activities. It develops further
with modifications.

4.3.6.1 Criticism Dance’s Helical Model of Communication:

Frank Dance included the concept of time in his theory. Something happens
over the other will always be based on the first event according to him. According to
this theory a communication process is the product of what we learnt.

4.3.7 Theodore M.Newcomb Model of Communication (1953):

 The New Comb’s model of Communication was introduced by Theodore M
Newcomb of the University of Michigan in 1953. He gives different approach to the
communication process. The main purpose of this theory is to introduce the role of
communication in a social relationship (society) and to maintain social equilibrium Check Your Progress

within the social system. He does not include the message as a separate entity in his 1. Define purpose
Models:
diagram, implying it only by use of directional arrows. He concentrates on the social
2. What are the functions
purpose of communication, showing all communication as a means of sustaining of communication
according to Lasswell’s
relationships between people. Sometimes it’s called as an “ABX” model of
Model?
communication.
3. Explain Helical
Model?

The Newcomb’s model works in a triangular format

or A-B-X system A – Sender

B – Receiver

X – Matter of Concern

The relationship between A and B is like student and teacher, government and
public or newspaper and readers. Sender and Receiver may work in a same flow but
the same time some factor like “X” may affect their flow of relationship.  “X” it may
be third persons, issue, topic or policy.

For Example: Teacher introduces a new policy to increase the college timing from 6
hours to 8 hours. A – Teachers     B – Students    X – Policy or issue If both students
and teachers are satisfied with this policy then the communication maintains its
equilibrium status between them. Otherwise the flow of communication between “A”
and “B” becomes trouble in the social system. If “A” or “B” is not ready to accept the
policy then it will directly affect the social system and can’t maintain the equilibrium
status. So Teachers “A” can convince students “B” as much as possible. Otherwise
they have to make some adjustments in the Policy “X” and convince them towards
the policy.

4.4. KEY WORDS

Model - A model is a mechanistic perspective of Human Communication that
effectively tells at a glance how it works
SMCR - Source Message Channel Receiver
4.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 4.1

2) Refer Section 4.3.2
3) Refer Section 4.3.6
Reference Books:
1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction To Mass Communication, MC Graw
Hill, New Delhi.
2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,
Routledge, Newyork.
3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing
House, Mumbai.
4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,
London.
5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.
6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS
Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 3
LESSON 5

MASS COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses the basic concept of Mass Communication, Mass

Audience etc., The study of Mass Communication is one among the many of the
social sciences and it is the only one part of wider field of enquiry into human
communication. In the history of Mass media we deal with four main elements: 1.
Technology, 2. The political, Social, Economic and cultural situation of a society 3. A
set of activities, functions or needs; and 4. People.

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The followings are the objectives of this unit

⮚ Understanding the meaning of Mass Communication

⮚ Explaining the social role of Mass Communication

UNIT STRUCTURE

5.1 Definition of Mass Communication

5.2 From Communication to Mass Communication

5.3 The ‘Mass’ Concept

5.4 The ‘Mass’ Audience

5.5 Keywords

5.6 Answers to Check Your Progress

5.1 DEFINITION OF MASS COMMUNICATION

Mass Communication is imparting and exchanging of information on a large

scale to a wide range of people. Mass communication is the study of how individuals
and entities relay information through mass media to large segments of the population
at the same time. It is usually understood to relate to newspaper, magazine and book
publishing, as well as radio, television and film, as these mediums are used for
disseminating information, news and advertising. Mass communication differs from
the studies of other forms of communication such as interpersonal communication or
organizational communication, in that it focuses on a single source transmitting
information to a large group of receivers. The study of mass communication is chiefly
concerned with how the content of mass communication persuades or otherwise
affects the behavior, attitude, opinion or emotion of the person or people receiving the
information.

Mass Communication is the process by which a person, group of people, or

large organization creates a message and transmits it through some of medium to a
large, anonymous, heterogeneous audience. Mass communication is regularly
associated with media influence or media effects, and media studies. Mass
communication is a branch of social science that falls under the larger umbrella of
communication studies or communication.

5.2 FROM COMMUNICATION TO MASS COMMUNICATION

The way to understand Mass Communication is to show its similarities to and

differences from other forms of communication. One similarity is that Mass
Communication takes place through media. Small groups can come together in virtual
chat rooms that are connected by wire networks, organization can connect their far-
fund employees via video conference facilities that are linked through cables and
satellites, and professor who delivers public lectures can record them for projection
from a computer server to different classes at different times. In other words, the
channels used in edited form of interpersonal group, organization and public
communication are sometimes similar to those used in Mass Communication.

Yet, another similarity between these other form of communication and Mass
communication is that we can describe Mass Communication using the same terms of
source, Encoder, Transmitter, Channel, Decoder Receiver, Feedback and Noise.
 But the difference can be seen from here. The important differences related to
the source of the message, its transmitter and the way Feedback later place.

5.2.1 Differences in the Source

In other forms of communication the individual are the source of the message.
In Mass Communication, by contrast, complex Organizations, often companies, take
responsibility for the activity. The source is an organization such as a company not a
single person.

5.2.2 Differences in Transmission

In Interpersonal, small group and public communication an individual sender

or a committee takes responsibility for transmitting the message, perhaps using
telephone when speaking at a distance. In Mass Communication, however,
Transmission is too complex to be accomplished by an individual or even a few
people. That is because transmission involves distributing the material to several
locations and presenting the material at those locations. Instead of few individuals a
number of organizations are involved in the process.

5.2.3 Differences in Feedback

The third major differences between Mass Communication and other

communication forms relates to feedback. The feedback can be dealt in two ways 1.
Whether it is immediate or delayed and 2. Whether or not it goes directly to the initial
message creator or to someone else who may or may not pass it on to the creator.

In other forms of communication feedback from the people receiving the

message goes directly to the individual who created the message, either immediately
or in a delayed form. In unmediated interpersonal communication, group
communication organizational communication and public communication, Feedback
is often both immediate and direct. In Mass media organizations, however, feedback
is not only often delayed, it is indirect.

5.2.4 Differences in Noise

 Mechanical noise in Mass Communication situation can take place in the
sending and receiving technologies. Breakdown in cable or satellite receivers, for
example can create mechanical noise problems for large audience.

With all the above we can define Mass Communication as the industrialized
production and multiple distribution of message through technological devices.

5.2.5 Meaning of Mass Communication

We have seen that communication is the process of transmitting message from
the source to the receiver. Mass Communication is the process of transmitting
message from the source to a large number of diversified audiences (in other words
“Mass”) via, a mass medium, which is a technology devised for this purpose. In Mass
communication, the communicator thinks in terms of the majority and their likes and
dislikes, so, naturally the individuality of the individual listener/reader/viewer
becomes causality. In their endeavor to take a safe course, the mass communicators
go by lowest common denominators. As a result stereotyped, standard raised formula
message emerge. So much of the refined tastes of the selected minority are not take
care of.

In mass communication not only the individuality of the receiver but the
individuality of the sender also suffers. The sender here does not communicate to
express his/her individual taste or the inner self. He/ She is not an independent
communicator but professionally employed to carry out the interest and instructions
of the institution in mass communication. The relationship between the sender and the
receiver is unidirectional. The sender does not assume any moral responsibility for
the contents produced in views of the mass products. The content of the mass media
are very often referred to as cultural products and the culture revealed in them is
considered as mass culture. Mass culture is identified with those products produced
primarily for entertainment rather than initiative worth. The products of mass culture
are produced in response to mass taste rather than by patronage.

Denis McQuail says that Mass communication comprises a set of activities,

carried out by people occupying certain roles according to rules and shared
understanding. The activities include knowledge in the form of information, ideas and
culture as to suit the mass audience. The concept of mass media is more associated
with leisure and free time than with work and duty. The sender-receiver relationship
is impersonal in mass communication.

In Mass communication three types of relationship between the source and

receiver is possible: command mode, service mode and associational mode. The
command mode is in certain in propaganda of various types. Here the receiver is
considered to be subordinate and dependent. In the service mode the sender caters to
the interest of the receiver and supplies news, entertainment. Most of the popular
media fall under this category. The associational mode is based on the shared beliefs
and behaviors. Here the sender and the receiver enjoy an equal status. The extent of
interaction is very high in this mode. The media efforts of communal and professional
organizations belong to this group.

5.2.6 Basic Constituents of Mass Communication

Marry B. Cassatta and Mollify K. Assent identifies five basic constituents in

any mass communication. They are

1. Reproduction

2. Circulation

3. Feedback

4. Support

5. Ownership

The reproduction of information by signs, voice, visuals and printed matter

constitute one of the basic elements of mass communication. For instance you may
tell your friends that you want the same enough number of buses during peak hours.
If you want the same message to be conveyed to more number of people, it needs to
be reproduced. Your voice may be reproduced in radio. Television may reproduce
your voice along with your facial expression. If you put it in writing, a newspaper
may reproduce it by printing. In short without reproduction mass communication may
not be possible.

By reproducing, one may have multiple copies of a message. However, until

these copies reach the target audience, the mass communication process is not
complete. Circulation is the method adopted to reach the desired audience. When
print was the only available mass medium, circulation was limited to the literates.
Books, magazines and newspapers widened the gap between the literates and
illiterates. The coming of radio and later television smashed the literacy barrier by
taking the word of mouth to all and sundry. Cultural acceptability, portability,
reviewability and instantaneous transmission are the four features on which
circulation depends.

The society’s response to a given medium is termed cultural acceptability.

Since the mass medium is a technological device involving a large number of the
people, the choice and the support of any medium have to depend on the Government
in power. If the government considers that a particular medium can contribute, to
national development, it goes all out to improve it. The emphasis given for
telecommunications by the represent government is bound to influence our
communicative behavior to a great extent.

The ability to read, listen or view again is termed as reviewability of a

medium. For radio and television one has to make special efforts to record and review
the broadcast contents. On the contrary, in the case of books, magazines, newspapers
and recorded video and audio cassettes review ability is built in the system.

Instantaneous transmission is a factor, which differentiates the print media

from its electronic counterparts (viz, radio and television). The print media have time
lag from the actual happening of an event to the circulation of message. On television,
audience can see the events as they are happening. Radio enables a person to know
what is happening at the other end. The radio and television instantaneously transmit
‘what happened’. The newspapers and magazines have taken to interpretative and
investigative reporting dealing with the ‘how’ of a story.
 Feedback is the communicate response of the receiver to the message.
Subscribing to a magazine or newspaper regularly it is a means of feedback in
continuous mode. Feedback in mass communication requires either the receiver or the
communicator to make conscious efforts leading media organizations have a research
department each, through periodic surveys and assessments they gather feedback
information. The other feedback mechanism popular in India is the letters written by
the receivers to the source. Letters to the editor column is a regular feature in almost
all the magazines. Letters of different kinds are appreciative, objective, faultfinding
and find a place in these columns. However, the letters to the editor column of the
newspaper is different. Hence the reader expresses opinion and exchange views on
issues of public importance. AIR and Doordharshan too depend primarily on the
letters written by the viewers and listeners. They do have the Audience Research Unit
at various regions. But they are invariably under staffed and the research findings are
usually kept confidential.

5.2.7 Differences between Communication and Mass Communication

1. Mass communication makes use of technical devices or intermediate

transmitters to disseminate the news to a larger, scattered audience. The media
may be electronic or technical like newspaper, radio, television, film or a
combination of these.
2. The sender and the receiver of the communication act in mass communication
do not know each other personally. Mass communication attempts to share
meaning with millions of unknown audience. The audiences of mass
communication differ from the audience of other communication in this
respect.
3. The message is public in mass communication. The intention is to reach as
many receivers as possible and be accepted by them
4. Mainly, the mass communications are not individuals. Generally they are
groups organizations like networks, chains etc., which are run on a profit
motive.
 5. Mass communication is controlled by gate – keepers, in other types of
communication like person, group or public communication the persons who
sends the message controls it. As mass communication, involves a group, a
number of individuals can exercise control over the message that has to travel
through a medium to reach the receiver. Any person, who has the ability to
limit or expand, emphasize or deemphasize, interpret or reinterpret the
information sent over or received from a mass medium may be thought of as a
gate keeper. A new reporter, a network censor or even a film editor performs
the gate keeping function.
6. Feedback is more delayed than in other types of communication. The potential
for the feedback is the latest in mass communication and this, in turn reduces
both the sender’s and the receiver’s ability to know whether the message
received is the same as the message ‘sent’.

5.3 THE ‘MASS’ CONCEPT

Mass generally means ‘quantity of matter without regular shape’. In physical

mass means ‘quantity matter in a body measured by its resistance to acceleration by
force’. Mass has both positive and negative connotations. Mass implies strength and
solidarity. Mass also implies lack of individuality. According to Oxford English
Dictionary mass is ‘aggregate in which individuality is lost’. In order to understand
the concept of mass, Herbet Blummer compares it with other forms of collectivity
viz., public and crowd.

In a small group, the members are known to each other. They share same
values and attitudes. Public refers to the members of a community having common
interest. Public usually will form around an issue concerning public life. Its main aim
is to promote the purpose for which it is formed. Here the members may not be
known to each other. Still they are united by a common issue or problem.

Crowd is a large group and is defined only by the physical boundaries of the
place where they assemble. The members of the crowd may differ by age, interest,
education and like. In spite of such difference they are driven by the same mood and
their behavior is under predictable.

Like group, public and crowd, mass is also a collection. It is larger than the
crowd and the public. As in the crowd, the members of mass are diversified. Its
members are widely dispersed. Unlike the small group, the members of mass are
unknown to each other. They lack self identity and self awareness. Though mass is
heterogeneous their behavior is homogeneous. However the members of mass are
incapable acting together to achieve the desired goals. Usually the mass does not act
for itself but is rather acted upon.

5.4 THE ‘MASS’ AUDIENCE

Our definition of a ‘media audience’ would depend on our perspective of the

role of communication in society. If for instance, we look upon communication as
commodity of merchandise and media as tools for selling that commodity, a ‘media
audience’ for us would be better than a potential market for products and services. On
the other hand, if we consider communication to be a social good and a public
service, a ‘media audience’ would be a participative and dialectic community, and the
media as serving the educational, informational and cultural needs of the community.
Further, if communication to us is a tool for persuasion and propaganda to promote
certain political, religious or moral views, then a ‘media audience’ is ‘the masses’ that
need to be indoctrinated.

A ‘Media audience’ is unlike say an audience for a political meeting, a

theatrical performance, a street performance, a mela or lecture. Sociologist likes to
define an audience as a ‘conventionalized crowd’ assembled together. A media
audience, however, is not a conventionalized crowd, but a collectivity, an aggregated
of persons who are readers, listeners, and viewers of different media or their various
components. However, this ‘collectivity’, is not collected together at one place or
even at one time. Though in most cases, members of the audiences are attending
components of one medium or another. At the times, time self recording (audio and
video) has made it possible to listen to radio or to watch television at one’s own
convenience. Hence what makes a media audience? A conventional group is the fact
that they are attending to the same components. That audience has come together (not
in time and space) but in the common act of reading, listening or viewing. The
composition of the group is predicable in some way unpredictable in other, so is the
reception of the audience. The quality and nature of the response too is largely
unknown. While it is true that a particular component or a medium has ‘caused’ the
audience. The audience too has in a way caused the medium/ further the audience has
launched the substance of the medium, its genres and its components. Indeed, the
various genres and components/programmes are part of and have often been taken
from the socio-cultural experience of the audience. Audience therefore, ‘read’ the
message of the media in terms of that experience. The ‘negative’ it’s various
meanings, accepting or rejecting or re-reading the open and the latent (explicit and
implicit) layers of meaning. Audience generally do not interact with media messages
as a ‘mass’ (as Raymond Williams observed the ‘mass’ exists only in the minds of
elite) but rather as a family, a culture group, a social class, a caste or tribal group. The
media, therefore, are not out the unrelated to their audience, but an integral part of the
social history and cultural values of the audience.

5.4.1 Characteristic of Mass Audience

In the first place, the large number of members who make up ‘the mass from
various walks of life. They are, therefore, a heterogeneous group or groups with little
interaction among themselves. If they are organized at all, the organizations are loose
and flexible. Further, the members comprising ‘the mass’ are anonymous not only to
each other, but also to the communicator himself. They are united only by the
medium and the message. It is in the other words, a ‘mass audience’ – yet another
indefinite concept in the infant discipline of mass communication.

A ‘mass audience’ is large than an audience for a lecture, or for a musical or

theatrical performance . But, what about a ‘mass meeting’ or ‘mass rally’ addressed
by a political leader in Mumbai or Delhi? The term ‘mass’, therefore ‘lacks precision
in meaning and becomes intelligible only when used in a specific context and related
to certain kinds of behavior, institution or structure. It sis the fact and elastic epithet
devoid of any precise scientific content and more likely to reveal the point of view of
the person using its, than to clarify the phenomenon in question.

A ‘mass’ audience is, consequently, a very large (another imprecise world)

audience that is the creation of the modern electronic mass media. It is result of new
technology that is directed at mass production and wide dissemination of
communication. The exact size of audience or readership which gives rise to mass
communication cannot be specified, but it must be large relative to audience for other
means of communication such as a lecture or a play, and large in relation to the
number of communications.

5.4.2 Nature of Mass Audience

Indeed audience is collectivity unknown prior to the age of electronics. It is as

Mc’Quail write an ‘aggregate of individuals united by a common focus of interest,
engaging in an identical form of behavior and open to activation toward common
ends; yet the individuals involved are known to each other, have only a restricted
amount of interaction, do not orient their actions to each other and are only loosely
organized or lacking in organization. The composition of the audience is continually
shifting it has no leadership or feeling or identity’.

Such ‘very large national mass media audiences’ exist in the countries of the
developed world, but have yet to take shape in developing countries like India, what
we do have, however, are ‘local audience’ which are largely urban in character, and
which function as social groups, the smaller groups within the amorphous larger
groups directly influence the interactions with the mass media.

The ‘local audience’ in India has dynamic of their own. Their pulls ad
pressures of the family, the caste, religion, community, language, and profession are
much stronger than any power of the mass media to institute a new way of thrilling
life, expect perhaps at a superficial level.

5.4.3 The Duality of the Audience

 Audience originates either in people and society or in media and their
contents. Media provision may be respected to demands from community and society
– for instance, the needs of a local community or a political party or to the assumed
individual content preferences of particular sectors of the audience demand for sports
or comedy or financial news.

Both represent communication needs which arise out of pre-existing social

experience. The difference between ‘social’ and ‘individual’ is also a macro-micro
distinction, relating on one hand to complete groups or social categories (a class, a
community , a political, public, etc) and on other to overlapping subsets of individuals
within the total media audience which express this or that requirements from mass
communication.

On the ‘media side’, there is also a division according to the source of an

audience. Audiences can be created by the media, brought into being by some
innovation of technology or some completely new channel or title. In this sense we
can speak of the ‘television’ audience or the audience for music video. The term
audience also refers to those who choose some particular kind of content, some
performance or compelling presentation (possible of limited duration). The media are
continuously seeking to develop and hold new audience for particular types of
content, publications or show. In doing so they may anticipate what might as yet have
not been expressed.

5.4.4 Typology of Audience

In the continual flux of media audience formation and change the distinction
media between people – originated and media-originated audiences cannot be very
strictly and empirically applied, since overtime, media-created needs become
indistinguishable from ‘spontaneous’ needs, or both fuse inextricably, with few
potential social or personal communication needs which are not already mentioned
some way or another. Nevertheless, the theoretical distinction between receiver and
sender – created demand is a useful one for mapping out the different versions of
audience that we may encounter. The distinction is set out
 1. Public
2. Gratification set
3. Fans or taste culture
4. Channel or medium audience

The four type of audience can be characterized as follows, with indications of

further subdivisions within each main category. These categories are not, of course,
mutually exclusive, and the primary character of a given audience exist not easy to
determine empirically. The assessment has to make on the basis of wider knowledge
of a media system and a society. The following remarks explain more fully, why and
how the types of audience to be differentiated.

i) Public

Basically this will correspond within existing social grouping(such as a

community or membership of a political, religious or ethnic minority) and with
shared social characteristics of place, social class, politics, culture etc. It also
exemplifies the concept of audience as a public in the sense of an active, interactive
and relatively autonomous social group, formed on the basis of some common
interest, purpose or experience. Public in this sense are often formed on the basis of
some cause or issue. Publics are often marked by a consciousness of identity and
some potential for mobilization for chosen ends. There are likely to be some
normative lies between audience and media source and between members of the
audience mutually. Such audiences are likely to be more stable over time than others,
with continuity of membership, and are likely to respond actively to what their chosen
media provides.

ii) The Gratification Set

This forms on the basis of some individual purpose of need existing

independently of the media, relating, for instance, to a political or social issue or
general need for information or for some emotional effectual satisfaction. It is also
likely to be fairly – homogeneous in terms of the composition, active in expressing
demands which shape supply and also selection. Such audiences are, however, not
social groups but aggregates of individuals engaged in essentially the same consumer
behavior.

iii) Fans or Tast Culture

This kind of audience will be formed on the basis of an interest in a particular

author, director or type of content (genre, or through attraction to a particular
personality for a particular cultural or intellectual taste. Otherwise, it lacks any clear
social definition or categorization. Its composition will change over time, although
some such audience may also be stable. Its existence is owned entirely to the content
offered, and when this changes (as, for instance, at the end of a long-running show or
the death or decline of a star), the audience has to disperse or reform in other ways.
Occasionally such kinds of audience are encouraged by the media to form into
social groups, with characteristic pattern of dress, behavior ad speech. This type of
audience is normatively ambiguous. Attempts at exploitation are common and often
associated with merchandising of products linked to media images, characters,
themes, etc.

iv) Channel or Medium Audience

These types of audience are loyal to particular media source (either recruited
to or hold by media like newspaper, magazine or radio or TV channel). Such audience
are numerous and changing. Often they are encouraged to form by the media for
commercial reasons. Whether formed spontaneously, gradually over time or by
deliberate attempt at market management, such loyalty can give this kind of audience
some characteristics of the public or social group – stability overtime, boundaries and
awareness of identify. For most commercial media, however, audience of this kind
are more like aggregate or markets; and relationships between audience and source
are likely but non-moral and calculative.

The contrast which lies between society – origination and media – origination
is described as the former goes with strong social and normative ties and mutual
benefit, while the latter is mainly characterized by manipulation from above and the
other views from the media. The former is associated with stronger social control and
the later with more individual choice in a free market for information and culture.

For research into society originated audience, it requires more qualitative and
intensive methods and more study of social and political contexts. The research needs
in respect for the media – originated audience are easier to satisfy by extensive
quantitative survey research in which precise behavior measures of attention – giving
play an important part.

5.4.5 Types of Audience

The audience can be distinguished on their demographic characteristic and

mental make-up

i) Elite Audience: They are composed of the people who are decision makers and
Check Your
trend setters in the society. They are economically well to do and are highly educated. Progress
Their number is small but their influence is strong. 1. Define Mass
Communication.
ii) General Audience: They are very large and highly diverse groups that represent
2. What are differences
the broad cross – section of the society. Majority of the people belong to the category. between
Communication and
Mass Communication.
iii) Specialized Audience: These are composed of individuals who possess similar
3. Write about the
characteristics. They are relatively smaller in number. characteristic of Mass
Audience.
Starting on the media side, we should first take not of the different realities to
which the term media audience refers. To some extent these are result of different
media types and distribution systems, but some distinctions apply across different
media. The main alternative terms are:

The potential Audience: All those who are able to be reached,

depending on several factors, especially having the receiving or play-back
equipment; location, and some social factors such as income, level of
education, age and gender, depending on how the medium is defined.
The paying Audience: This takes several different forms, but
 especially the purchase of copies of newspapers, books, records, video
recordings etc., those who pay admission to the cinema and subscribers to
particular media services like cable or satellite channel.

The Audience Reached: This varies from medium to medium, but for
print media it means the numbers who actually read each newspaper,
magazine etc., and while for TV or radio it measures the numbers tuned into a
particular channel or programme usually expressed as the ratings.

There are many variants of each and an increasing complexity of

possibilities. But in general, these three basic types identify various
populations which form the audience from the point of view of media
suppliers. There are a number of other relevant concepts of audience to note.
One is that of density of circulation or reach. This refers to the proportion of a
given population of people or households in an area who are reached by a
particular channel or publication. It is also spatial measure of media impact.

5.5 KEYWORDS:

Mass Communication - process of transmitting message from the source to a

large number of diversified audiences
Feedback - communicate response of the receiver to the message.

5.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS:

1) Refer Section 5.1
2) Refer Section 5.2.7
3) Refer Section 5.4.1

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.
2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,
Routledge, Newyork.
3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing
House, Mumbai.
4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,
London.
5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.
6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS
Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 3
LESSON 6

MASS COMMUNICATION AND ITS FUNCTIONS

INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses the basic functions and Characteristics of Mass

Communication. It also discusses about the nature and types of Mass
Communication. It also helps us to analyze the ways to understand our
responsibilities and opportunities in the mass communication process are to view the
mass media as our cultural story tellers and to conceptualize mass communication as
a cultural forum

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The followings are the objectives of this unit

⮚ Understanding the Characteristic of Mass Communication

⮚ Analyze Mass Communication and culture
⮚ Explore the functions of Communication

UNIT STRUCTURE

6.1 Characteristic of Mass Communication

6.2 Nature of Mass Communication
6.3 Types of Mass Communication
6.4 Functions of Mass Communication
6.5 Mass Communication and Culture
6.6 Keywords
6.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
6.1 CHARACTERISTIC OF MASS COMMUNICATION

i) Mass Medium:
 A mass medium makes it possible for the message to reach for beyond the
immediate proximity of the sender. A few hundred feet may be all the distance the
human voice can project to a crowd without the aid of public address system. A mass
medium can take that same message around the world.

ii) Limited Sensory Channels:

The presence of a mass medium also limits the number of sensory channels
upon which we can draw when we sit with the auditorium and listen to the politician,
all of our senses could take part in the communication process. For Ex. After the
speech we might have shaken hands with the politician. We might be able to hear and
see the politician.

iii) Interpersonal vs. Personal communication:

Mass communication is largely interpersonal with mass communication

became participants is communication are usually unknown to each other, messages
are more impersonal.

iv) Gatekeeper concept:

The process of mass communication requires addition persons, most often

complex social organizations and institutions, to carry messages from the speaker to
the audience. Such persons are called gatekeepers.

Eg. In newspaper – reporter and editors are gatekeepers.

Definition of Gatekeeper is any personal or formally organized group directly

involved in relaying or transferring information from one individual to another
through mass medium.

Functions of Gatekeeper:

⮚ To limit the information we receive by editing this information before it is

disseminated.
⮚ To expand the amount of information we receive by giving us additional facts
or views.
 ⮚ To reorganize or reinterpret the information.
6.2 NATURE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

From the above model of mass communication, it is easy to identify the following
features of mass communication.

● Mass communication experience is public one. It means that anybody can be a

part of this communication process at any time without much effort or
permission.
● It is a mediated communication act. Nature of the media involved in the
process defines the mediation in mass communication. For example,
television can transmit news instantly as it is a fast medium, newspaper takes
to bring the same news report to the public because of its limitations. This is
how nature of the media defines the mediation process in mass
communication.
● Mass communication is filtered communication. This filtering processing is
called gate keeping. For example, a news report in a newspaper or on a
television channel filtered or controlled at different level by reporter, sub
editor, news editor, and editor.
● It is the most complicated form of communication as it involves complex
technology like satellites digital networks, management structure, marketing
chain etc.
● Mass communication can alter the way the society thinks about events and
attitudes.
● Mass communication experience is transient. It means that once you used a
message (for example, a news report) you may not use it again. The message
is meant to be used once and it is gone. Who will read yesterday’s newspaper?
● Mass communication is most often remains as one-way communication. As
receivers, how many of us write letters to editor (sender)? A very few. But, in
interpersonal communication, senders and receivers are in active conversation
sending feedback to each other.
 ● Unlike other communicators, mass communicators can’t see their audience.
Karan Tapar or Pranoy Roy, the leading television personalities in India know
that their programmes are watched by millions of Indians. But, they can’t see
how people respond or react while watching their presentations. That’s why
they can’t change the style of presentation or mode of communication
instantly as we do in interpersonal or group communication.

6.3 TYPES OF MASS COMMUNICATION

Mass media can be categorized according to physical form, technology

involved, nature of the communication process etc. Given below are the major
categories of mass media.

i) Print Media:

Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable metallic type in the fifteenth century

paved the way for proliferation of the print media. The printing press using moveable
types introduced the method for mass production of texts. Before the invention of the
printing press, books were expensive materials affordable only for the aristocrats and
royal families. Printing reduced the cost of books and made them available to the
common men also. Rapid duplication of multiple copies of handy texts led to the
innovation of modern newspapers.

Print Media include

 Newspapers

 Magazines

 Books

 Other textual documents

ii) Electronic Media:

The history of electronic mass media starts with the invention of radio by
Marconi. The first radio station was set up in Pittsburg, New York and Chicago in the
1920s. Following the USA, European countries also started radio stations for
broadcasting news and entertainment content. The colonial powers like Briton and
France set radio stations in Asian and African countries in the early years of 20th
century. The next step in electronic communication media history was the invention
of cinema. Following cinema, television broadcasting was initiated in the US on
experimental basis during 1920s. But, the dramatic impact of television as a mass
medium began in 1950s. Parallel to these, recording industry was also boomed in the
western countries.

In short, the term electronic media mainly include:

 Radio

 Movies

 Television

 Audio and Video records

iii) New Media:

Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages

are called new media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication
technology. It implies the use of desktop and portable computers as well as wireless
and handheld devices. Every company in the computer industry is involved with new
media in some manner.

The forms of communicating in the digital world include

 CD-ROMs

 DVDs

 Internet facilities like World Wide Web, bulleting boarding, email etc.

6.4 FUNCTIONS OF MASS COMMUNCIATION:

⮚ Surveillance: It refers to what we popularly call the news and information

role of the media. The media have taken the place of sentinels and lookouts.
 Surveillance is apparently an important function and the degree of audience
dependence on the media for news supports this observation. The surveillance
function can be divided further into two main types. Beware Surveillance
occurs when the media inform us about threats from hurricanes, erupting
volcanoes, depressed economic conditions, increasing inflation, or military
attack. Instrumental surveillance has to do with the transmission of
information that is useful and helpful in everyday life. News , about what
films are playing at the local theaters , stock market prices , new products ,
fashion ideas , receipies , and so on are examples of instrumental surveillance.
The mass media carry out this function by keeping us posted about the latest
news in our own region and around the world.
⮚ Interpretations: The mass media do not supply facts and data. They also
provide information on the ultimate meaning and significant of those events.
One form of interpretation on is so obvious that many people overlook it. Not
everything that happens in the world on any given day can be includes in the
newspaper or in a TV or radio newscast. Interpretation, comment and opinion
are provided forth reader so that he or she gains an added perspective on the
news stories carried on other pages. Perhaps an elected official has committed
some impropriety. An editorial might call for that person’s resignation, thus
demonstrating that the management of the newspaper considers this
impropriety to be serious. Interpretations are not confined to editorials.
Articles devoted to an analysis of the cause behind a particular event or a
discussion of implications of a new government policy are also examples of
the interpretation function.
⮚ Linkage: Mass media are the bridge between our past and present. They
report day to day affairs which will become history of tomorrow. The best
records of modern history are newspapers of yesteryears. We get our cultural
tradition from history and we follow the best of them. In keeping our culture
flowing, media play a vital role. It advises us which part of our culture is good
and to be followed and which is bad and not to be followed.
 ⮚ Entertainment: The most obvious of all media functions is that of
entertainment. Even though most of the newspaper is devoted to covering the
events of the day, comic, puzzles, horoscopes ,games , advice gossip, humor,
and general entertainment features usually account for 20 percent of a typical
content in a daily paper The entertainment content of radio varies widely
according to station format. Television is primarily devoted to entertainment,
with about three quarters of a typical broadcast day falling into this category.
Some magazines may have little entertainment, while others may be almost
entirely devoted to it.

6.5 MASS COMMUNICATION AND CULTURE

Culture defines realities but who contributes to the construction and

maintenance of culture? Because culture is constructed and maintained through
communication, it is communication that cultural power resides. And because mass
media are such a significant part of the modern world, more and more attention is
he
Mass being paid to the interaction between mass communication and culture. Because
.
culture can limit and divide or liberate and unite, it offers us infinite opportunities to
types of
cation.
use communication for good – if we choose to do so. Everyone involved has an
obligation to participate responsibly. For people working in the media industries, this
unctions
means professionally and ethically creating and transmitting content. For audience
.
members, it means behaving as critical and thoughtful consumers of that content.
think
Two ways to understand our responsibilities and opportunities in the mass
and
communication process are to view the mass media as our cultural story tellers and to
conceptualize mass communication as a cultural forum.

6.5.1 Mass Media as Cultural Storytellers:

A culture’s value and beliefs reside in the stories it tells. Our stories help
define our realities, shaping the ways we think, feel, and act. Storytellers have a
remarkable opportunity to shape culture. They also have a responsibility to do so in a
professional and ethical a way as possible. At the same time as audience of the story
we also have opportunities and responsibilities. We should use these stories not only
to be entertained but also to learn about the world around us and to understand the
values, the way things work and how the pieces fit together. We have the
responsibility to question the tellers and their stories and to interpret the stories in
ways consistent with larger or more important cultural values and truths, to be
thoughtful, to reflect on the stories meanings and what they say about us and our
culture. To do less is to miss an opportunity to construct our own meanings and
thereby, culture.

6.5.2 Mass Communication as Cultural Forum:

Mass Communication has become a primary forum for the debate about our
culture. Logically, then, the most powerful voices in the forum have the most power
to shape our definitions and understandings. Where should the power reside with the
mass industries or with the audiences? If it is media industries we must demand that
the members of these industries act professionally and ethically. If it is mass
audiences we must insist that individual audience members be thoughtful and critical
of the media messages they consume. The forum would be as good, fair, and honest
as those participate in it.

6.6 KEYWORDS:

Gatekeeper - Any personal or formally organized group directly involved

in relaying or transferring information from one individual to
another through mass medium.
6.7 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS:

1) Refer Section 6.1

2) Refer Section 6.2
3) Refer Section 6.3
4) Refer Section 6.4

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.
2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,
Routledge, Newyork.
3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing
House, Mumbai.
4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,
London.
5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.
6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS
Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 4
LESSON 7

VISUAL COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses about the various concepts of visual communication, the
various principles of Visual design etc. Visual communication takes place
through pictures, graphs and charts, as well as through signs, signals and symbols. It
may be used either independently or as an adjunct to the other methods of
communication. Communicating effectively in the visual age Visual communication
is everywhere today, from electronic media like Web pages and television screens to
environmental contexts such as road signs and retail displays.
UNIT OBJECTIVES
This unit helps to learn about
▪ What is Visual Communication?
▪ What is Image Analysis?
▪ To help to learn about Visual Culture, Visual
Literature and Elements.
▪ To know about Designs.

UNIT STRUCTURE
7.1 Visual Communication
7.2 Image Analysis
7.3 Visual Culture
7.4 Design
7.5 Key words
7.6 Answers to Check Your Progress
7.1 VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communication is the most natural form of human interaction. Long

before writing was invented people were painting pictures on cave walls, and telling
stories through these pictures. Throughout human history, paintings - and later
photographs - captured the key events of humanity in much more powerful way than
any writing can do. Television and moving images captured the imagination of people
in the 20th century. With every new generation of technology, visual communication
became more powerful and true to reality. Today’s high definition video is the
pinnacle of communications technology and the result of progress over centuries.

7.2. IMAGE ANALYSIS

Visual communication contains image aspects. The interpretation of images is

subjective and to understand the depth of meaning, or multiple meanings,
communicated in an image requires analysis. Images can be analyzed though many
perspectives, for example these six major perspectives presented by Paul Martin
Lester:

7.2.1 Personal Perspective:

When a viewer has an opinion about an image based on their personal

thoughts. Personal response depends on the viewer’s thoughts and values
individually. This might be sometimes in conflict with cultural values. Also when a
viewer has viewed an image with a personal perspective, it is than hard to change the
view of the image on the viewer, even the image also can be seen in other ways.

7.2.2 Historical Perspective:

An image’s view can be arising from the history of the use media. Through
times sort images have been changed, because the use of different (new) media. For
example: The result of using the computer to edit images (e.g. Photoshop) is quite
different when comparing images that are made and edited by craft.

7.2.3 Technical Perspective:

When the view of an image is influenced by the use of lights, position and the
presentation of the image. The right use of light, position and presentation of the
image can improve the view of the image. It makes the image looks better than the
reality.

7.2.4 Ethical Perspective:

From this perspective, the maker of the image, the viewer and the image itself
must be responsible morally and ethically to the image. This perspective is also
categorized in six categories: categorical imperative, utilitarianism, hedonism, golden
mean, golden rule and veil of ignorance.

7.2.5 Cultural Perspective:

Symbolization is an important definition for this perspective. Cultural

perspective involves identity of symbols. The uses of words that are related with the
image, the use of heroes in the image, etc. are the symbolization of the image. The
cultural perspective can also be seen as the semiotic perspective.

7.2.6 Critical Perspective:

The view of images in the critical perspective is when the viewers criticize the
images, but the critics have been made in interests of the society, although an
individual makes the critics. This way this perspective differs from the personal
perspective.

7.3 VISUAL CULTURE

Visual culture is concerned with events in which information, meaning or

pleasure is sought by the consumer in an interface with visual technology. By Visual
technology we mean that any form of apparatus designed either to be looked at or to
enhance natural vision, from oil painting to television and the internet.
Postmodernism has often been defined as the crisis of modernism, that is to say, the
wide – ranging complex of ideas and modes of representation ranging from over
arching beliefs in progress to the theories of the rise of abstract painting or the
modern novel. Postmodern is the crisis caused by modernism and modern culture
confronting the failure of its own strategy of visualizing. In other words, it is the
visual crisis of culture that creates postmodernity, not its texuality.

Visual culture has gone from being useful phrase for people working in art
history, film, and media studies, sociology and other aspects of the visual to a
fashionable. The Human experience is now more visual and visualized than ever
before. In many ways, people in industrialized and post- industrial societies now live
in visual cultures to an extent that seems to divide the present from the past. Popular
journalism constantly remarks on digital imagery on cinema, the advent of post –
photography and developments in medical imaging, not to mention the endless tide of
comment devoted to the internet. This globalization of the visual, taken collectively,
demands new means of the interpretation.

7.3.1Visualizing:

One of the most striking features of the new visual culture is the visualization
of things that are not in themselves visual. Rather than myopically focusing on the
visual to the exclusion of all other senses , as is often alleged , visual culture
examines why modern and postmodern culture place such premium on rendering
experience in visual form. Visual culture does not depend on pictures but on this
modern tendency to picture or visualize existence. This visualizing makes the modern
period radically different from the ancient and medieval world in which the world
was understood as a book. More importantly, pictures were seen not as
representations, artificial constructs seeking to imitate an object, but as being closely
related, or even identical to the object. One of the important tasks of visual culture is
to understand how complex pictures come together .They are not created from one
medium or in one place. A visual culture directs our attention away from structured,
formal viewing settings like the cinema and art gallery to the centrality of visual
experiences in everyday life. At present, different notions of viewing and
spectatorship are current both within and between all the various visual sub
disciplines. It does, of course, make sense to differentiate. Our attitudes vary
according to whether we are going to see a movie, watch television, or attend an art
exhibition. However most of our visual experience takes place aside from these
formally structures moments of looking. Visual culture prioritizes the everyday
experience of the visual from the snapshot to the VCR and even the blockbuster art
exhibition.

7.4 VISUAL LITERACY

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from
information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy,
which commonly signifies interpretation of a written or printed text. Visual literacy is
based on the idea that pictures can be “read” and that meaning can be communicated
through a process of reading. In 1969 Debes offered a tentative definition of the
concept: “Visual literacy refers to a group of vision-competencies a human being can
develop by seeing and at the same time having and integrating other sensory
experiences. Visual literacy is the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual
visual representations. Skills include the evaluation of advantages and disadvantages
of visual representations, to improve shortcomings, to use them to create and
communicate knowledge, or to devise new ways of representing insights.

7.5 VISUAL ELEMENTS

Visual elements are the elements that we perceive and respond to when we
look at a work’s form. The various visual elements, known as elements of
design, formal elements, or elements of art, are the vocabulary with which the visual
artist composes. These elements in the overall design usually relate to each other and
to the whole art work.

1. Line
2. Color
3. Shape
4. Size
5. Direction
6. Space
 7. Texture
8. Photographs
I. Line:
Sets a mood to guide the reader’s eye
Vertical line convey a sense of dignity
Horizontal line convey sense of calm
Curved line convey a sense of grace
II. Colour:
Most powerful visual elements
Sets mood
Attention is more
Highlights a product, texture, picture etc
Copy prints are done
III. Shape:
It can be realistic abstract
No harmful effect
Stunning visual impact
Formed by the line area of tones and colour
IV. Size:
Size influences an advertisement/ commercialization.
Effectiveness: size of ad, size of front type, set weight, body etc.,
Smaller type speaks normal voice
V. Direction:
Line and shape imply motion
Direction by element is sequence
VI. Space:
Plays a vital role in art direction
For overall design of a copy
VII. Texture:
Physical texture in a print can improve the smooth feel of glossary paper
 Expensive feel of embossed paper raised lettering
Physical texture – key design, direct mail
Visual texture – platens, visuals
VIII. Photographs:
Present the message in a codified form
Gives the factual documentation of the subject
● Special effects can be brought about to convey a message more
effectively.
● Makes design production quicker, simpler and economic
● Can vividly and directly translate the idea from picture to the
minds of the viewer.
● Enlargement, reduction, special effects, tinting etc., are made
possible in design production

7.6 DESIGN

o Design is an organized plan for a definite purpose or functions. It is a

mental activity to create an idea for communication.
o The creative process underlying the fabrication of a satisfactory
pattern in visualizing an idea is called a design.
o Design is the process of creating, evaluation, selecting and arranging
the elements which make up a printed page. It is an artful scheming of
ideas.
o Design is a complex combination of many forces; the designer’s taste,
talent, experience and his knowledge.
o Design is an intellectual, technical and creative activity concerned not
simply with the production of image but analyze, organize and method
of presentation of visuals to communicate.

7.6.1 Stages of Design

● Analyzing
 ● Planning
● Organizing
● Presenting

7.6.1.1 Analyzing

It is an evaluation of the author, the type of reader the whole content etc.,
analyzing the matter and planning it appropriate is a very important set as far as
preparation of the job is concerned, for maximum result and effective
communication. A designer must have a clear idea of what he wants to do before he
can do it.

There are 3 steps in analyzing a piece for printing.

1. What is the purpose of the piece?

2. What type of persons you are trying to interest?
3. How can the job best serve its intended purpose?
1. Purpose of the job:

According to the purpose of the job, the format, size, shape and the
appearance of the job will change.

If it is a mailing piece, the postal regulations will have to be taken into

considerations

If it is an enclosure, the envelope or enclosure will help to determine both size

and bulk, or weight.

If it is intended to be filed, standard file sizes will be important.

If the job is expected to sell, explain, instruct, or inform in detail, it must be

large enough in size and number of pages to accomplish that purpose effectively.

Therefore, analyzing the purpose of a job is of course, the main consideration

in planning a layout.

2. To whom it is aimed at?

 Answer to this question will determine the format style, the weight and style
of type to be used, and the quality of the piece etc., it may also influence the decision
as to which words are to be emphasized and the manner in which they should be
emphasized.

3. How can it serve its intended purpose?

Format, size, quality, quantity, printing, process, paper and editorial content
are to be considered.

It is designer’s job to decide or to choose the job be printed in two or more

colours or that silk screen or gravure process would be the best manner of
production.

The form which is best suited for a particular job should be the dominating
factor.

If the copy is an announcement or some similar piece where beauty, taste and
sentiment are paramount considerations, stress should be placed on neatness,
simplicity and attractiveness.

If the copy is based on the price appeal, stress is placed on utmost sales
effectiveness through the vigor and selling punch of big, bold type, unusual type,
illustrations and all become legitimate selling fact if they serve to strengthen the
presentation of subject.

7.6.1.2 Planning

In planning stage, both the aesthetic and technical side should be considered:

1. The purpose of the job

2. The type of reader (he will do the physical appearance and content)
3. The style (Modern/orthodox in selection of types and illustration)
4. The format (as a book, booklet)
5. The quantity
 6. The size (considering the practice of the tem such as mailing cost,
machines available etc)
7. The process (plan for the most and economic process to get the
design effect at a reasonable cost)
8. Desired quality within the budget, after examining the samples
9. The finish (Specify the type of binding and other operations if need
to be)
10. The delivery (Packing, wrapping, drying, mailing etc.,)
Improper planning may lead to all sorts of waste of time, material
and effort resulting in higher costs. Good judgement used in
planning and analyzing the job, to satisfy the requirements to
create a mood and to make an impact on the reader.

7.6.1.3 Organising:

Graphic reproduction requires planning in two aspects – the technical aspect

and the aesthetical aspect. Technical aspect means the selection of the process of
reproduction, the method of casting and setting, type of imposition, printing and
binding etc., . The technical aspect includes all the steps that are connected in
visualizing the matter, sketches, layouts, dummy preparation, colour schemes, all
these are particular steps for touching the aesthetic preparation of the job.

7.6.1.4 Presenting

The Final stage is the presentation. Depending on the nature, scope of the
job and economy, both the technical and aesthetic steps of the job have to be adopted.
So a designer has to organize all these aspects to come out with a best product.

7.6.2 Principles of Design

● Proportion:

It may be defined as the relation of width to length or area to area as

applied to typographic design. Good proportion is important at the start, in
 planning the shape of the page or nay job. Good proportion can again be
defined as a pleasing inequality in the parts of a whole.

● Harmony:

In printing, harmony is achieved when types, initials, decorative

elements broadens, illustrations and all the other elements in the design
including the stock on which the job is printed, combine to form a unity. Eg.
Condensed type face looks best in narrow page, expanded type required wider
page.

Harmony exists in the mutual characteristic of the elements, tone,

shape, size and texture, harmony is classified into two: Harmony of tone and
Harmony of Shape.

Harmony of Tone: Tone Harmony applied to combining of typography

materials that harmonize without too much of contrast.

E.g. Small light type used with a large or heavy border would have the
effect that a small light picture would have if placed in an elaborate and
decorative picture frame. The picture would be lost. The opposite is true of a
small or light border placed around lines that are set in bold type the types
effectively strike out of the sheet.

Harmony of Shape: Any job printed in one type face with variations in size,
the use of italics for files and headings and borders and decorations matching
the weight and balance of a design are harmonized in shape.

● Contrast:

In many forms of communication, some parts must be stressed more than

others. Contrast is an emphasis factor. IT is the most potent tool for brining
meaning into sharp focus. Contrast can be achieved by applying polarities.
Polarities of size, shape, tone, texture and direction give contrast in size, tone,
texture and direction.
 It relieves monotony and allows for inflection and stress to impart the proper
meaning of a matter. If there is no contrast, there would be no display, because the
entire piece would be dry or monotonous without contrast. So we can say that
contrast is display.Contrast has other dimensions such as contrast in tone, contrast
in values, contrast in chroma and contrast in spreading effect.

1. Contrast in Tone: The dullness of a figure is brightened by total accent,

giving greater contrast. For example contrast in texture, contrast in direction.
The major aim of contrasting direction is to guide the reader’s eye through the
message.
2. Contrast in Values: Obtained when light colours are placed by the side of a
dark colour. Because value says how strongly a colour is coloured.
3. Contrast in Chroma: A dull colour placed by the side of a bright color.
Chroma is that properly explaining the brilliance or brightness of a color.
4. Contrast in spreading effect: It is achieved when a colour is placed against a
black background or when a colour is seen against a white background.
Because colour is affected also by its immediate surroundings.
● Balance:

Balance exists when the elements are placed with a sense of

equilibrium. Two styles of balance are:

i. Symmetrical balance: It is attained when all units are placed at

the centre. It is the equal balance of eight, shape and colour
form about a central axis. All lines are centered.
ii. Asymmetrical balance: It is informal, dynamic. Unequal forces
or elements are placed at unequal distance from the centre to
get asymmetrical balance. It is obtained by accentuating the
display elements properly or either side of the vertical axis, in
unequal distances and unequal forces. Unequal forces,
elements, shapes and colours are positioned and balanced
aesthetically.
 ● Repetition:

It shows difference in space only. Repetition is a common principle as a

background or tint of the name of a firm, product or even on tickets, currencies Check Your
Progress
and band notes. In advertisement, it is a common principle for attracting the
1. Define Visual
viewer and to emphasis eth main idea. In a book the name is repeated on every
Communication
page as running head for maintaining the identity. On packages and cartons also
2. Write note on any two
the name of the product is repeatedly used to attract the readers and the Visual Elements
prospective buyer. Repeated vision or request definitely creates an impact on the 3. What are the stages of
reader. Thus the idea will remain longer in the minds and later prompts him to Design.

action, i.e to buy a product or to follow an idea or message. 4. What do you mean by
Harmony? Write its
● Movement: types.

Every act of reading involves a sense of movement. The eye moves from
left to right and from top to bottom. The reader tends to scan the total layout for
an overall impression. It is important to consider the eye movement tendencies of
the reader as he scans a page, a spread of pages or advertisement. Intermingling of
units of varying shape, size, tone, colour etc., causes movement of eye from one
position to the other; and the prominent units striking the reader than the less
important ones. It is up to the designer to place and position the units creating
effective movements.

7.7 KEY WORDS

Visual culture - concerned with events in which information, meaning or
pleasure is sought by the consumer in an interface with
visual technology.

Design - organized plan for a definite purpose or functions.

7.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 7.1

2) Refer Section 7.5
3) Refer Section7. 6.1
4) Refer Section 7.6.2

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction To Mass Communication, MC Graw

Hill, New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,

Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 4
LESSON 8

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

INTRODUCTION
This unit analyses about the color psychology, it also deals with the process of
sensation and perception. Colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding
in humans to the categories called red, blue, yellow, green and others. Color derives
from the spectrum of light (distribution of light power versus wavelength) interacting
in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors.
UNIT OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this lesson are:
▪ To understand the Psychology of colour.
▪ To be familiar with the process of sensation and
perception.
UNIT STRUCTURE
VIII.1 Colour
8.2 Perception and Sensation
8.3 Key words
8.4 Answers to Check Your Progress
8.1 COLOUR
Color categories and physical specifications of color are also associated with
objects or materials based on their physical properties such as light absorption,
reflection, or emission spectra. By defining a color space, colors can be identified
numerically by their coordinates.
Because perception of color stems from the varying spectral sensitivity of
different types of cone cells in the retina to different parts of the spectrum, colors may
be defined and quantified by the degree to which they stimulate these cells. These
physical or physiological quantifications of color, however, do not fully explain the
psychophysical perception of color appearance. The science of color is sometimes
called chromatics, chromatography, colorimetry, or simply color science.
8.1.1 Functional Use of Colour:
Colour is a physiological sensation produced by white light by optic nerves on
the eye. Colour gives emphasis, grace, charm, life and richness.
1. Colour is a close companion of written word. Today, even the newspaper are
printed in colour
2. It amplifies communication giving the information that black and white
cannot give
3. Colour tells and colour sells
4. Colour compels to read and reflect
5. It provided accent and contrast that makes reading pleasing.
6. Colour also identifies.
We use red label to indicate poison or warning of electric shock or danger. Red
attracted to post offices and police stations for ready recognition.
In a map blue colour indicates attitudes and depths of ocean.
In offices, colour files indicate particular subject.
In production chart, colours indicate the stage of job.
8.1.2 Division of Colour:
Chromatics: All true colours (Without combination, natural)
Achromatics: No colour. Black and white are theoretically no colours. They
are called achromatic. Black represents absence of all colours.
White represents the presence of all colours
Cool Colours: These colours which tend towards blue are called cool. Cool
colours are calm and collected. They show things far away
E.G. Blue
Warm Colours: These colours which tend towards red is considered warm
colour. Fire and sunshine that are warm naturally give red light.
So red and its shades, yellow, orange etc., are considered warm
colours in natural association. It is gay and exciting.
 Advancing Colours: Warm colours project things closer to
the viewer. In this relation of distance,
warm colours are advancing colours.
Receding Colours: Cool colours show things far away. So they
are receding colours.
8.1.3 Colour Combination:
a) Primary Colours: Red, yellow and Blue
b) Secondary Colours: They are products of primary colours
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Purple violet
c) Tertiary Colours: By mixing two secondary colours we get a tertiary
colours
Green + Violet = Olive
Violet + Orange = Russet
Blue + Red=Purple Violet
d) Intermediary Colours: Primary and secondary colours mix together to
give Intermediary colour on a colour wheel.
Colour wheel is traditionally used as a device to
show the arrangement of the seven colours of the
spectrum in proper relation to each other.
e) Monochromatic Combination: This is the use of two or more tones of one
and the same colour. E.g. Deep value of a
colour printed on a paper with the lighter
value of the same colour.
f) Analogous Harmony: Agreeing/ resembling colour any two neighboring
colours on the wheel constitute an analogous harmony.
E.g. Red and Red – orange.
g) Complimentaries: Complimentary combinations are made from colours
that are directly opposite to each other on the colour
 wheel. E.g. Red and Green and Blue and orange. This
combination always, consists of a cool and warm colour,
giving a dramatic contrast.
h) Split Compliments: These are found by selecting any colour on the wheel,
determine to compliments and then choose a colour
adjacent to it. E.g. Yellow – Orange and Red –
Orange and the split compliments of blue, since
orange is the complimentary of blue.
8.1.4 COLOUR THEORY
i) Additive Colours
  Additive color synthesis is the creation of color by mixing colors
of light. Human vision relies on light sensitive cells in the retina of the eye. There are
two basic kinds of sensors. These are rods and cones. Rods are cells which can work
at very low intensity, but cannot resolve sharp images or color. Cones are cells that
can resolve sharp images and color, but require much higher light levels to work. The
combined information from these sensors is sent to the brain and enables us to see.
There are three types of cone. Red cones are sensitive to red light, green cones are
sensitive to green light, and blue cones are sensitive to blue light. The perception of
color depends on an imbalance between the stimulation levels of the different cell
types.
Additive color processes, such as television, work by having the capability to
generate an image composed of red, green, and blue light. Since the intensity
information for each of the three colors is preserved, the image color is preserved as
well. The spectral distribution of the image will probably be wrong, but if the degree
of intensity for each of the primary colors is correct, the image will appear to be the
right color. The three primaries in light are red, blue, and green, because they
correspond to the red, green, and blue cones in the eye. Example 1 shows how the
light from red, green and blue flashlights would appear if shone on a dark wall.
                  Red + Green = Yellow
Red + Blue = Magenta
 Green + Blue = Cyan
Printers' primaries—yellow, cyan, and magenta—are typically used by
professional designers and printing presses.
 When all of the colors of the spectrum are combined, they add up to white light.
2 parts Red + 1 part Green = Orange
2 parts Green + 1 part Red = Lime
4 parts Red + 1 part Blue + 1 part Green = Brown
 ii) Subtractive Color
  Subtractive color synthesis is the creation of color by mixing colors
of pigment, such as paint or ink in your computer’s printer. This type of color is what
is used in the art and design world. When learning basic color theory, art students
typically use familiar colors like red, yellow, and blue.
  Subtractive color processes work by blocking out parts of the spectrum. The
idea of subtractive color is to reduce the amount of undesired color reaching the eye.
If, for example, you had a yellow image, you would want to have a dye that would let
red and green reach the eye, and block out blue. The additive secondaries become the
printers’ subtractive primaries, because each of the additive secondaries will reflect
two of the additive primaries, and absorb one of the additive primaries.
  The three primaries on the artists’ color wheel are red,
blue, and yellow. Example 2 illustrates subtractive color by showing how primary
colors mix on a piece of white paper.
           Yellow + Blue = Green
Yellow + Red = Orange
Blue + Red = Violet
When all of the colors are combined, they create black pigment.
 8.1.5 Color Psychology
The meaning of colors can vary depending on culture and circumstances. Each
color has many aspects to it but you can easily learn the language of color by
understanding a few simple concepts which I will teach you here.Color is a form of
non verbal communication. It is not a static energy and its meaning can change from
one day to the next with any individual. For example, a person may choose to wear
the red one day and this may indicate they are ready to take action, or they may be
passionate about what they are going to be doing that day, or again it may mean that
they are feeling angry that day, on either a conscious or subconscious level.
a) RED: The color red is the color of energy, passion and action. This color is a warm
and positive color associated with our most physical needs and our will to survive. It
exudes a strong and powerful masculine energy. Red is energizing. It excites the
emotions and motivates us to take action. It signifies a pioneering spirit and
leadership qualities, promoting ambition and determination. It is also strong-willed
and can give confidence to those who are shy or lacking in will power. Being the
color of physical movement, the color red awakens our physical life force. It is the
color of sexuality and can stimulate deeper and more intimate passions in us, such as
love and sex on the positive side or revenge and anger on the negative. It is often used
to express love, as in Valentine’s Day, however it relates more to sexuality and lust,
rather than love – love is expressed with pink. At its most positive it can create life
with its sexual energy, or use its negative expression of anger and aggression to fuel
war and destruction. The color red can stimulate the appetite, often being used in
restaurants for this purpose. It also increases craving for food and other stimuli. Being
surrounded by too much of the color red can cause us to become irritated, agitated
and ultimately angry. Too little and we become cautious, manipulative and fearful.
In Eastern cultures such as China red is the color for good luck. Although times are
changing and many Chinese brides now wear white, it is traditionally the color for
weddings. In Indian culture it symbolizes purity and is often used in their wedding
gowns. The color orange radiates warmth and happiness, combining the physical
energy and stimulation of red with the cheerfulness of yellow.
b) ORANGE: Orange relates to 'gut reaction' or our gut instincts, as opposed to the
physical reaction of red or the mental reaction of yellow. Orange offers emotional
strength in difficult times. It helps us to bounce back from disappointments and
despair, assisting in recovery from grief. The color psychology of orange is optimistic
and uplifting, rejuvenating our spirit. In fact orange is so optimistic and uplifting that
we should all find ways to use it in our everyday life, even if it is just an orange
colored pen that we use. Orange brings spontaneity and a positive outlook on life and
is a great color to use during tough economic times, keeping us motivated and helping
us to look on the bright side of life. With its enthusiasm for life, the color orange
relates to adventure and risk-taking, inspiring physical confidence, competition and
independence. Those inspired by orange are always on the go! In relation to the
meaning of colors, orange is extroverted and uninhibited, often encouraging
exhibitionism or, at the very least, showing-off! The color orange relates to social
communication, stimulating two way conversations. A warm and inviting color, it is
both physically and mentally stimulating, so it gets people thinking and talking!
c) YELLOW: This color relates to acquired knowledge. It is the color which
resonates with the left or logic side of the brain stimulating our mental faculties and
creating mental agility and perception. Being the lightest hue of the spectrum, the
color psychology of yellow is uplifting and illuminating, offering hope, happiness,
cheerfulness and fun. In the meaning of colors, yellow inspires original thought and
inquisitiveness. Yellow is creative from a mental aspect, the color of new ideas,
helping us to find new ways of doing things. It is the practical thinker, not the
dreamer. Yellow is the best color to create enthusiasm for life and can awaken greater
confidence and optimism.
The color yellow loves a challenge, particularly a mental challenge. Within
the meaning of colors, yellow is the great communicator and loves to talk. Yellow is
the color of the networker and the journalist, all working and communicating on a
mental level. Yellow is the scientist, constantly analyzing, looking at both sides
before making a decision; methodical and decisive. Yellow is the entertainer, the
comic, the clown. Yellow helps with decision making as it relates to clarity of thought
and ideas, although it can often be impulsive. Yellow helps us focus, study and recall
information, useful during exam time.
The color yellow can be anxiety producing as it is fast moving and can cause
us to feel agitated. Yellow has a tendency to make you more mentally analytical and
critical - this includes being self critical as well as critical of others. Yellow is non-
emotional, coming from the head rather than the heart. Yellow depends on itself,
preferring to not get emotionally involved. Yellow is related to the ego and our sense
of self worth, to how we feel about ourselves and how we are perceived by others.
Yellow is the most highly visible of all colors which is why it is used for
pedestrian crossings. Take note of the crossings which are marked in white - they are
less easy to see than those marked yellow, particularly on wet and cloudy days. If you
are going through a lot of change in your life you may find you can't tolerate the color
yellow very well - this will usually pass. It just means that you are having trouble
coping with all the changes at the moment and yellow vibrates too fast for you,
making you feel stressed. Introduce green or a soft orange into your life for a while to
balance and restore your energies. Many older people don't respond well to large
amounts of yellow because it vibrates too fast for them.
d) GREEN: This is the color of balance and harmony. From a color psychology
perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium
between the head and the heart. From a meaning of colors perspective, green is also
the color of growth, the color of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores
depleted energy. It is the sanctuary away from the stresses of modern living, restoring
us back to a sense of well being. This is why there is so much of this relaxing color on
the earth, and why we need to keep it that way. Green is an emotionally positive
color, giving us the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally.
A natural peacemaker, it must avoid the tendency to become a martyr. It loves to
observe, and therefore relates to the counselor, the good listener, the social worker. It
loves to contribute to society. It is the charity worker, the good parent and the helpful
neighbor. Being a combination of yellow and blue, green encompasses the mental
clarity and optimism of yellow with the emotional calm and insight of blue, inspiring
hope and a generosity of spirit not available from other colors. This is a color that has
a strong sense of right or wrong, inviting good judgment. It sees both sides of the
equation, weighs them up, and then usually takes the moral stand in making
appropriate decisions. On the negative side, it can be judgmental and over-cautious.
Green promotes a love of nature, and a love of family, friends, pets and the home. It
is the color of the garden lover, the home lover and the good host. It is generous and
loves to share, but it also looks for recognition. It is friendly and can keep
confidences. This color relates to stability and endurance, giving us persistence and
the strength to cope with adversity. Green is the color of prosperity and abundance, of
finance and material wealth. It relates to the business world, to real estate and
property. Prosperity gives a feeling of safety to green. On the negative, the color
green can be possessive and materialistic, with a need to own people and things.
e) BLUE: This color is one of trust, honesty and loyalty. It is sincere, reserved and
quiet, and doesn't like to make a fuss or draw attention. It hates confrontation, and
likes to do things in its own way. From a color psychology perspective, blue is
reliable and responsible. This color exhibits an inner security and confidence. You
can rely on it to take control and do the right thing in difficult times. It has a need for
order and direction in its life, including its living and work spaces. This is a color that
seeks peace and tranquility above everything else, promoting both physical and
mental relaxation. It reduces stress, creating a sense of calmness, relaxation and order
- we certainly feel a sense of calm if we lie on our backs and look into a bright blue
cloudless sky. It slows the metabolism. The paler the blue the more freedom we feel.
In the meaning of colors, blue relates to one-to-one communication, especially
communication using the voice - speaking the truth through verbal self-expression - it
is the teacher, the public speaker. The color blue is idealistic, enhancing self-
expression and our ability to communicate our needs and wants. It inspires higher
ideals. Blue's wisdom comes from its higher level of intelligence, a spiritual
perspective. Blue is the color of the spirit, devotion and religious study. It enhances
contemplation and prayer. On the other hand, blue's devotion can be to any cause or
concept it believes in, including devotion to family or work. Blue is the helper, the
rescuer, the friend in need. It's success is defined by the quality and quantity of its
relationships. It is a giver, not a taker. It likes to build strong trusting relationships
and becomes deeply hurt if that trust is betrayed. Blue is conservative and predictable,
a safe and non-threatening color, and the most universally liked color of all, probably
because it is safe and non-threatening. At the same time blue is persistent and
determined to succeed in whichever endeavors it pursues. Change is difficult for blue.
It is inflexible and when faced with a new or different idea, it considers it, analyzes it,
thinks it over slowly and then tries to make it fit its own acceptable version of reality.
Blue is nostalgic. It is a color that lives in the past, relating everything in the present
and the future to experiences in the past. If blue is your favorite color, it will reflect in
your personality! Personality color blue will give you more information on this
f) WHITE: White is color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. The
color meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion. In color
psychology white is the color of new beginnings, wiping the slate clean, so to speak.
It is the blank canvas waiting to be written upon. While white isn't stimulating to the
senses, it opens the way for the creation of anything the mind can conceive. White
contains an equal balance of all the colors of the spectrum, representing both the
positive and negative aspects of all colors. Its basic feature is equality, implying
fairness and impartiality, neutrality and independence. It is interesting to note that
babies come into the world with a perfect balance of white, ready to imprint their
lives with all the colors of the spectrum (hopefully!) from all their life experiences.
White is totally reflective, awakening openness, growth and creativity. You can't hide
behind it as it amplifies everything in its way. The color white is cleanliness
personified, the ultimate in purity!! This is why it is traditionally worn by western
brides, and the reason why doctors wear white jackets. White is a color of protection
and encouragement, offering a sense of peace and calm, comfort and hope, helping
alleviate emotional upsets. It creates a sense of order and efficiency, a great help if
you need to declutter your life. White offers an inner cleansing and purifying of your
thoughts, emotions and, ultimately, your spirit, refreshing and strengthening your
entire energy system. While there are very few negative connotations to white,
particularly in western culture, too much white can be cold, isolating and empty. It
implies a feeling of sterility, detachment and disinterest, providing little stimulation
for the senses. In other cultures it is traditionally related to death and mourning. In
these cultures death usually means the end of one life and the beginning of another,
moving forward to a new life, so the color psychology meaning of new beginnings
still holds. White may indicate the completion of a cycle in your life - you may find
you have a desire for white clothing or white in your surroundings at a time when you
are moving in a new direction in your life - for example, planning an overseas trip for
the first time, or moving house after a long time in one place, or in seeking a new
relationship or a new career direction. Many people use white as a recall of their
youth and innocence. It reminds them of a time when their lives were easier and less
complicated. White is used in many medical practices such as dental surgeries and
doctors' rooms as an indication of cleanliness and efficiency; however it also can give
the feeling of sterility and coldness of emotions and may lead patients to think the
doctor or dentist won't relate to them on an emotional and personal level. It can be too
clinical and sterile. Too much white can cause feelings of isolation and emptiness; it
can be too pristine and immaculate, making you feel as though you can't make a move
for fear of upsetting it or creating a mess.
8.2 PERCEPTION AND SENSATION
In formal terms, sensation is the activation of the sense organs by a source of
physical energy. Perception is the sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration
of stimuli carried out by the sense organs and brain. A stimulus is any passing source
of physical energy that produces a response in a sense organ. Stimuli vary in both
type and intensity. Different types of stimuli activate different sense organs. For
instance, we can differentiate light stimuli -which activate the sense of sight and
allow us to see the colors of a tree in autumn) from sound stimuli -which, through the
sense of hearing, permit us to hear the sounds of an orchestra).How intense a light
stimulus needs to be before it can be detected and how much perfume a person must
wear before it is noticed by others are questions related to stimulus intensity.
8.2.1 Perceptual Process
Some of the most basic perceptual processes can be described by a series of
principles that focus on the ways we organize bits and pieces of information into
meaningful wholes. Known as gestalt laws of organization, these principles were set
forth in the early 1900s by a group of German psychologists who studied patterns, or
gestalts. Those psychologists discovered a number of important principles that are
valid for visual (as well as auditory) stimuli.

a. Closure: We usually group elements to form enclosed or complete

figures rather than open ones. We tend to ignore the breaks
concentrate on the overall form.

b. Proximity: We perceive elements that are closer together as grouped

together. As a result, we tend to see pairs of dots rather than a row of single dots.

c. Similarity: Elements that are similar in appearance we perceive as grouped

together. We see, then, horizontal rows of squares instead of vertical mixed columns.
 d. Simplicity: When we observe a pattern, we perceive it in the most basic,
straightforward manner that we can. For example, most of us see a square with lines
on two sides, rather than as the block letter W on top of the letter M. If we have a
choice of interpretations, we generally opt for the simpler one.
Although Gestalt psychology no longer plays a prominent role in
contemporary psychology, its legacy endures. One fundamental gestalt principle that
remains influential is that two objects considered together form a whole that is
different from the simple combination of the objects. Gestalt psychologists argued,
quite convincingly, that the perception of stimuli in our environment goes well
beyond the individual elements that we sense. Instead, it represents an active,
constructive process carried out within the brain. There, bits and pieces of sensations
are put together to make something more meaningful than the separate elements.
8.2.3 Types of Perception
o Depth perception is the ability to perceive distance and view the
world in three dimensions even though the images projected on our
retinas are two-dimensional. We are able to judge depth and distance
as a result of binocular disparity and monocular cues, such as motion
parallax, the relative size of images on the retina, and linear
perspective.
o Motion perception depends on cues such as the perceived movement
of an object across the retina and information about how the head and
eyes are moving.
 o Subliminal perception refers to the perception of messages about
which we have no awareness. The stimulus could be a word, a sound,
or even a smell that activates the sensory system but that is not intense
enough for a person to report having experienced it.
8.2.4 Visual Illusions
Visual illusions are physical stimuli that consistently produce errors in
perception. For example, the New Orleans Superdome makes use of several visual
tricks. Its seats vary in color throughout the stadium to give the appearance, from a
distance, that there is always a full house. The carpeting in some of the sloping halls
has stripes that make people slow their pace by producing the perception that they are
moving faster than they actually are. The same illusion is used at toll booths on
superhighways. Stripes painted on the pavement in front of the toll booths make
drivers feel that they are moving more rapidly than they actually are and cause them
to decelerate quickly. The implications of visual illusions go beyond design features.

Poggendorf illusion: The illusion that the two ends of a straight line

segment passing behind an obscuring rectangle are offset when, in fact, they are
aligned. The Poggendorff illusion was discovered in 1860 by physicist and scholar
J. C. Poggendorff, editor of Annalen der Physik und Chemie, after receiving a letter
from astronomer F. Zöllner. In his letter, Zöllner described an illusion he noticed on a
fabric design in which parallel lines intersected by a pattern of short diagonal lines
appear to diverge (Zöllner's illusion). Pondering this illusion, Poggendorff noticed and
described another illusion resulting from the apparent misalignment of a
diagonal line; an illusion which today bears his name (IllusionWorks).

Muller Illusion

Check Your
Progress

1. What are the

principles of gestalt?

2. Define Perception:

3. What are the

An optical illusion in which the orientation of arrow heads makes one line characteristics of White
Colour?
segment look longer than another. In the above figure, the  line segments on the left and
right are of equal length in both cases. 4. What are the tertiary
colours?
The misinterpretations created by visual illusions are ultimately due, then, to
errors in both fundamental visual processing and the way the brain interprets the
information it receives. But Visual illusions, by illustrating something fundamental
about perception, become more than mere psychological curiosities. There is a basic
connection between our prior knowledge, needs, motivations, and expectations about
how the world is put together and the way we perceive it. Our view of the world is
very much a function, then, of fundamental psychological factors. Furthermore, each
person perceives the environment in a way that is unique and special—a fact that
allows each of us to make our own special contribution to the world.
8.3 KEY WORDS

Warm Colours - These colours which tend towards red is considered warm colour.
Visual illusions - Physical stimuli that consistently produce errors in perception.
8.4 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 8.2.1

2) Refer Section 8.2
3) Refer Section 8.1.5
4) Refer Section 8.1.3

Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,

Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 5
LESSON 9

ANIMATION
INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses about the various concepts Animation, the various types of
Animation. It also analyses the history of animation. Animation is the process of
creating a continuous motion and shape change. Illusion by means of the rapid
display of a sequence of static images that minimally differ from each other. The
illusion—as in motion pictures in general—is thought to rely on the phenomenon.
Animations can be recorded on either analogue media, such as a flip book, motion
picture film, video tape, or on digital media, including formats such as animated
GIF, Flash animation or digital video. To display it, a digital camera, computer,
or projector are used.

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this lesson are:

1. To Know about Animation

2. To get informed about History of Animation

3. To know about the various Animation Techniques.

UNIT STRUCTURE

9.1 Animation
9.2 History of Animation
9.3 Types of Animation
9.4 Mechanical Animation
9.5 Other Styles and Approaches
9.6 Key words
9.7 Answers to Check Your Progress
9.1ANIMATION
Animation is the process of creating a continuous motion and shape
change. Illusion by means of the rapid display of a sequence of static images that
minimally differ from each other. The illusion—as in motion pictures in general—is
thought to rely on the phi phenomenon. Animations can be recorded on either
analogue media, such as a flip book, motion picture film, video tape, or on digital
media, including formats such as animated GIF, Flash animation or digital video. To
display it, a digital camera, computer, or projector are used.

Animation creation methods include the traditional animation creation method

and those involving stop motion animation of two and three-dimensional objects,
such as paper cutouts, puppets and clay figures. Images are displayed in a rapid
succession, usually 24, 25, or 30 frames per second

9.2 HISTORY OF ANIMATION

Early examples of attempts to capture the phenomenon of motion into a still

drawing can be found in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are often depicted
with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting to convey the
perception of motion.

A Chinese zoetrope-type device had been invented in 180 AD. The Voynich

manuscript that dates back to between 1404 and 1438 contains several series of
illustrations of the same subject-matter and even few circles that – when spun around
the center – would create an illusion of motion. These devices produced the
appearance of movement from sequential drawings using technological means, but
animation did not really develop much further until the advent of cinematography.
The cinématography was a projector, printer, and camera in one machine that allowed
moving pictures to be shown successfully on a screen which was invented by history's
earliest film makers, Auguste and Louis Lumière, in 1894.

The phenakistoscope (1832), zoetrope (1834) and praxinoscope (1877), as
well as the common flip book, were early animation devices to produce movement
from sequential drawings using technological means, but animation did not develop
further until the advent of motion picture film. The first animated projection
(screening) was created in France, by Charles-Émile Reynaud, who was a French
science teacher. Reynaud created the Praxinoscope in 1877 and the Théâtre Optique
in December 1888. On 28 October 1892, he projected the first animation in
public, Pauvre Pierrot, at the Musée Grévin in Paris. This film is also notable as the
first known instance of film perforations being used. His films were not
photographed, but drawn directly onto the transparent strip. In 1900, more than
500,000 people had attended these screenings.

The first film that was recorded on standard picture film and included
animated sequences was the 1900 Enchanted Drawing, which was followed by the
first entirely animated film - the 1906 Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by J. Stuart
Blackton, who, because of that, is considered the father of American animation.

In Europe, the French artist, Émile Cohl, created the first animated film using
what came to be known as traditional animation creation methods - the
1908 Fantasmagorie. The film largely consisted of a stick figure moving about and
encountering all manner of morphing objects, such as a wine bottle that transforms
into a flower. There were also sections of live action in which the animator’s hands
would enter the scene. The film was created by drawing each frame on paper and then
shooting each frame onto negative film, which gave the picture a blackboard look.

The author of the first puppet-animated film (The Beautiful Lukanida (1912))

was the Russian-born (ethnically Polish) director Wladyslaw Starewicz, known
as Ladislas Starevich. The more detailed hand-drawn animations, requiring a team of
animators drawing each frame manually with detailed backgrounds and characters,
were those directed by Winsor McCay, a successful newspaper cartoonist, including
the 1911Little Nemo, the 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur, and the 1918 The Sinking of the
Lusitania.

During the 1910s, the production of animated short films, typically referred to
as "cartoons", became an industry of its own and cartoon shorts were produced for
showing in movie theaters. The most successful producer at the time was John
Randolph Bray, who, along with animator Earl Hurd, patented the cel
animation process which dominated the animation industry for the rest of the decade.

El Apóstol (Spanish: "The Apostle") was a 1917 Argentine animated film

utilizing cutout animation, and the world's first animated feature film. Unfortunately,
a fire that destroyed producer Frederico Valle's film studio incinerated the only
known copy of El Apóstol, and it is now considered a lost film.

Computer animation has become popular since Toy Story (1995), the first

animated film completely made using this technique.In 2008, the animation market
was worth US$68.4 billion.

9.3 TYPES OF ANIMATION

9.3.1Traditional Animation:

Traditional animation (also called cel animation or hand-drawn animation)

was the process used for most animated films of the 20th century. The individual
frames of a traditionally animated film are photographs of drawings, first drawn on
paper. To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one
before it. The animators drawings are traced or photocopied onto transparent acetate
sheets called cels, which are filled in with paints in assigned colors or tones on the
side opposite the line drawings. The completed character cels are photographed one-
by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film.

The traditional cel animation process became obsolete by the beginning of the
21st century. Today, animators' drawings and the backgrounds are either scanned into
or drawn directly into a computer system. Various software programs are used to
color the drawings and simulate camera movement and effects. The final animated
piece is output to one of several delivery media, including traditional 35 mm film and
newer media such as digital video. The "look" of traditional cel animation is still
preserved, and the character animators' work has remained essentially the same over
the past 70 years. Some animation producers have used the term "tradigital" to
describe cel animation which makes extensive use of computer technology.

Examples of traditionally animated feature films include Pinocchio (United

States, 1940), Animal Farm (United Kingdom, 1954), and L'Illusionniste (British-
French, 2010). Traditional animated films which were produced with the aid of
computer technology include The Lion King (US, 1994), Akira (Japan, 1988), Sen to
Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away) (Japan, 2001), Les Triplettes de
Belleville (France, 2003), and The Secret of Kells (Irish-French-Belgian, 2009).

● Full animation refers to the process of producing high-quality traditionally

animated films that regularly use detailed drawings and plausible movement.
Fully animated films can be made in a variety of styles, from more realistically
animated works such as those produced by the Walt Disney studio (Beauty and
the Beast, Aladdin, Lion King) to the more 'cartoon' styles of the Warner Bros.
animation studio. Many of the Disney animated features are examples of full
animation, as are non-Disney works such as The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982), The
Iron Giant (US, 1999) and Nocturna (Spain, 2007).

● Limited animation involves the use of less detailed and/or more stylized drawings
and methods of movement. Pioneered by the artists at the American studio United
Productions of America, limited animation can be used as a method of stylized
artistic expression, as in Gerald McBoing Boing (US, 1951), Yellow
Submarine (UK, 1968), and much of the anime produced in Japan. Its primary
use, however, has been in producing cost-effective animated content for media
such as television (the work of Hanna-Barbera, Filmation, and other TV
animation studios) and later the Internet (web cartoons).

● Rotoscoping is a technique patented by Max Fleischer in 1917 where animators

trace live-action movement, frame by frame. The source film can be directly
copied from actors' outlines into animated drawings, as in The Lord of the
Rings (US, 1978), or used in a stylized and expressive manner, as in Waking
 Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (US, 2006). Some other examples
are: Fire and Ice (US, 1983) and Heavy Metal (1981).

● Live-action/animation is a technique combining hand-drawn characters into live

action shots. One of the earlier uses was in Koko the Clown when Koko was
drawn over live action footage. Other examples include Who Framed Roger
Rabbit (US, 1988), Space Jam (US, 1996) and Osmosis Jones (US, 2001).

IX.3.2 Stop- Motion

● Stop-motion animation is used to describe animation created by physically

manipulating real-world objects and photographing them one frame of film at
a time to create the illusion of movement. There are many different types of
stop-motion animation, usually named after the medium used to create the
animation. Computer software is widely available to create this type of
animation; however, traditional stop motion animation is usually less
expensive and time-consuming to produce than current computer animation.

● Puppet animation typically involves stop-motion puppet figures interacting in

a constructed environment, in contrast to real-world interaction in model
animation. The puppets generally have an armature inside of them to keep
them still and steady as well as to constrain their motion to particular joints.
Examples include The Tale of the Fox (France, 1937), The Nightmare Before
Christmas (US, 1993), Corpse Bride (US, 2005), Coraline (US, 2009), and the
TV series Robot Chicken (US, 2005–present).

● Puppetoon, created using techniques developed by George Pal, are puppet-

animated films which typically use a different version of a puppet for different
frames, rather than simply manipulating one existing puppet.

● Clay animation, or Plasticine animation (often called claymation, which,

however, is a trademarked name), uses figures made of clay or a similar
malleable material to create stop-motion animation. The figures may have an
armature or wire frame inside, similar to the related puppet animation (below),
 that can be manipulated to pose the figures. Alternatively, the figures may be
made entirely of clay, such as in the films of Bruce Bickford, where clay
creatures morph into a variety of different shapes. Examples of clay-animated
works include The Gumby Show (US, 1957–1967) Morph shorts (UK, 1977–
2000), Wallace and Gromit shorts (UK, as of 1989), Jan
Švankmajer'sDimensions of Dialogue (Czechoslovakia, 1982), The Trap
Door (UK, 1984). Films include Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-
Rabbit, Chicken Run and The Adventures of Mark Twain.

● Cutout animation is a type of stop-motion animation produced by moving

two-dimensional pieces of material such as paper or cloth. Examples
include Terry Gilliam's animated sequences from Monty Python's Flying
Circus (UK, 1969–1974); Fantastic Planet (France/Czechoslovakia,
1973) ; Tale of Tales (Russia, 1979), The pilot episode of the TV series (and
sometimes in episodes) ofSouth Park (US, 1997).

● Silhouette animation is a variant of cutout animation in which the characters

are backlit and only visible as silhouettes. Examples include The Adventures
of Prince Achmed (Weimar Republic, 1926) and Princes et
princesses (France, 2000).

● Model animation refers to stop-motion animation created to interact with and

exist as a part of a live-action world. Intercutting, matte effects, and split
screens are often employed to blend stop-motion characters or objects with
live actors and settings. Examples include the work of Ray Harryhausen, as
seen in films such Jason and the Argonauts(1963), and the work of Willis
O'Brien on films such as King Kong (1933 film).

● Go motion is a variant of model animation that uses various techniques to

create motion blur between frames of film, which is not present in traditional
stop-motion. The technique was invented by Industrial Light &
Magic and Phil Tippett to create special effects scenes for the film The
 Empire Strikes Back (1980). Another example is the dragon named
"Vermithrax" from Dragonslayer (1981 film).

IX.3.3 Object Animation

Object animation refers to the use of regular inanimate objects in stop-motion

animation, as opposed to specially created items. Graphic animation uses non-drawn
flat visual graphic material (photographs, newspaper clippings, magazines, etc.),
which are sometimes manipulated frame-by-frame to create movement. At other
times, the graphics remain stationary, while the stop-motion camera is moved to
create on-screen action.

● Brickfilm A sub-genre of object animation involving using Lego or other

similar brick toys to make an animation. These have had a recent boost in
popularity with the advent of video sharing sites like YouTube and the
availability of cheap cameras and animation software.

● Pixilation involves the use of live humans as stop motion characters. This

allows for a number of surreal effects, including disappearances and
reappearances, allowing people to appear to slide across the ground, and other
such effects. Examples of pixilation include The Secret Adventures of Tom
Thumb and Angry Kidshorts.

9.3.4 Computer Animation

Computer animation encompasses a variety of techniques, the unifying factor

being that the animation is created digitally on a computer. 2D animation techniques
tend to focus on image manipulation while 3D techniques usually build virtual worlds
in which characters and objects move and interact. 3D animation can create images
that seem real to the viewer.

9.3.4.1 2D Animation

2D animation figures are created and/or edited on the computer using

2D bitmap graphics or created and edited using 2D vector graphics. This includes
automated computerized versions of traditional animation techniques such
as interpolated morphing, onion skinning and interpolated rotoscoping. 2D animation
has many applications, including analog computer animation, Flash
animation and PowerPoint animation. Cinemagraphs are still photographs in the form
of an animated GIF file of which part is animated.

Final line advection animation, a technique that gives the artists and animators
a lot more influence and control over the final product as everything is done within
the same department:

In Paperman, we didn’t have a cloth department and we didn’t have a hair

department. Here, folds in the fabric, hair silhouettes and the like come from of the
committed design decision-making that comes with the 2D drawn process. Our
animators can change things, actually erase away the CG underlayer if they want, and
change the profile of the arm. And they can design all the fabric in that Milt
Kahl kind-of way, if they want to.

9.3.4.2 3D Animation

3D animation is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator. The

animator starts by creating an external 3D mesh to manipulate. A mesh is a geometric
configuration that gives the visual appearance of form to a 3D object or 3D
environment. The mesh may have many vertices which are the geometric points
which make up the mesh; it is given an internal digital skeletal structure called an
armature that can be used to control the mesh with weights. This process is called
rigging and can be programmed for movement with key frames.

Other techniques can be applied, such as mathematical functions (e.g., gravity,

particle simulations), simulated fur or hair, and effects such as fire and water
simulations. These techniques fall under the category of 3D dynamics.

● Cel-shaded animation is used to mimic traditional animation using CG

software. Shading looks stark, with less blending of colors. Examples
 include, Skyland(2007, France), Appleseed Ex Machina (2007, Japan), The
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (2002, Japan)

● Machinima – Films created by screen capturing in video games and virtual

worlds.

● Motion capture is used when live-action actors wear special suits that allow
computers to copy their movements into CG characters. Examples
include Polar Express (2004, US), Beowulf (2007, US), A Christmas
Carol (2009, US), The Adventures of Tintin (2011, US)

● Photo-realistic animation is used primarily for animation that attempts to

resemble real life, using advanced rendering that mimics in detail skin, plants,
water, fire, clouds, etc. Examples include Up (2009, US), Kung-Fu
Panda (2008, US), Ice Age (2002, US).

IX.4 MECHANICAL ANIMATION

● Animatronics is the use of mechatronics to create machines which

seem animate rather than robotic.

● Audio-Animatronics and Autonomatronics is a form

of robotics animation, combined with 3-D animation, created by Walt
Disney Imagineering for shows and attractions at Disney theme parks
move and make noise (generally a recorded speech or song), but are
fixed to whatever supports them. They can sit and stand but cannot
walk. An Audio-Animatron is different from anandroid-type robot in
that it uses prerecorded movements and sounds, rather than
responding to external stimuli. In 2009, Disney created an interactive
version of the technology called Autonomatronics.

● Linear Animation Generator is a form of animation by using static

picture frames installed in a tunnel or a shaft. The animation illusion
is created by putting the viewer in a linear motion, parallel to the
 installed picture frames. The concept and the technical solution, were
invented in 2007 by Mihai Girlovan in Romania.

● Chuckimation is a type of animation created by the makers of the

cartoon Action League Now  in which characters/props are thrown,
or chucked from off camera or wiggled around to simulate talking by
unseen hands,.

● Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance animation that involves

the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to
have originated 3000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they
all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects.
Puppetry is used in almost all human societies both as entertainment
– in performance – and ceremonially in rituals and celebrations such
as carnivals. Most puppetry involves storytelling.

9.5 OTHER TECHNIQUES AND APPROACHES

Drawn on film animation: A technique where footage is produced by creating the

Check Your
images directly on film stock, for example by Norman McLaren, Len Lye and Stan Progress
Brakhage.
1. Define Animation?

● Paint-on-glass animation: a technique for making animated films by manipulating 2. Whatdo you mean by
slow drying oil paints on sheets of glass, for example by Aleksandr Petrov. Machinima?

3. Whatis meant by
● Erasure animation: a technique using traditional 2D media, photographed over
Object Animation??
time as the artist manipulates the image. For example, William Kentridge is
4. What are the tertiary
famous for his charcoal erasure films, and Piotr Dumała for his auteur technique colours?
of animating scratches on plaster.

● Pinscreen animation: makes use of a screen filled with movable pins that can be
moved in or out by pressing an object onto the screen. The screen is lit from the
side so that the pins cast shadows. The technique has been used to create
animated films with a range of textural effects difficult to achieve with traditional
cel animation.
● Sand animation: sand is moved around on a back- or front-lighted piece of glass
to create each frame for an animated film. This creates an interesting effect when
animated because of the light contrast.

● Flip book: a flip book (sometimes, especially in British English, called a flick
book) is a book with a series of pictures that vary gradually from one page to the
next, so that when the pages are turned rapidly, the pictures appear to animate by
simulating motion or some other change. Flip books are often illustrated books
for children, but may also be geared towards adults and employ a series of
photographs rather than drawings. Flip books are not always separate books, but
may appear as an added feature in ordinary books or magazines, often in the page
corners. Software packages and websites are also available that convert digital
video files into custom-made flip books.

9.5 KEY WORDS

Rotoscoping - A technique where animators trace live-action

movement, frame by frame.

Chuckimation - A type of animation created by the makers of

the  in which characters/props are thrown, or
chucked from off camera or wiggled around to
simulate talking by unseen hands.

2D animation techniques - tend to focus on image manipulation while 3D

techniques usually build virtual worlds in which

characters and objects move and interact. 3D

animation can create images that seem real to t

he viewer.

9.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 9.1

2) Refer Section 9.3.4.2
3) Refer Section 9.3.3
4) Refer Section 9.5
Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,

Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.
 UNIT 5
LESSON 10

VISUAL COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION

This unit discusses about the various concepts of visual communication, the
various types of Visual Communication. It also discusses about the Satellite
Television and DTH etc., Visual communication takes place
through pictures, graphs and charts, as well as through signs, signals and symbols. It
may be used either independently or as an adjunct to the other methods of
communication. Communicating effectively in the visual age Visual communication
is everywhere today, from electronic media like Web pages and television screens to
environmental contexts such as road signs and retail displays. The advantages and
disadvantages of visual communication are also discussed here in this lesson

UNIT OBJECTIVES

The objectives of this lesson are:

1. To Know about Satellite Television

2. To get informed about DTH service

3. To analyze the advantage and disadvantages of Visual

Communication

4. To know about the various types of Visual Communication.

UNIT STRUCTURE

10.1 Direct To Home

10.2 Satellite Television

10.3 Visual Communication-Advantages and Disadvantages

10.4 Types of Visual Communication

 10.5 Key words

10.6 Answers to Check Your Progress

10.1 DIRECT TO HOME

DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the reception

of satellite programmes with a personal dish in an individual home.DTH does away
with the need for the local cable operator and puts the broadcaster directly in touch
with the consumer. Only cable operators can receive satellite programmes and they
then distribute them to individual homes. DTH services were first proposed in India
in 1996. But they did not pass approval because there were concerns over national
security and a cultural invasion. In 1997, the government even imposed a ban when
the Rupert Murdoch-owned Indian Sky Broadcasting (ISkyB) was about to launch its
DTH services in India.

Finally in 2000, DTH was allowed. The new policy requires all operators to
set up earth stations in India within 12 months of getting a license. DTH licenses in
India will cost $2.14 million and will be valid for 10 years. The companies offering
DTH service will have to have an Indian chief and foreign equity has been capped at
49 per cent. There is no limit on the number of companies that can apply for the DTH
license.

10.1.1 Operation of DTH

A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites, encoders,

multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers. A DTH service provider has to lease
Ku-band transponders from the satellite. The encoder converts the audio, video and
data signals into the digital format and the multiplexer mixes these signals. At the
user end, there will be a small dish antenna and set-top boxes to decode and view
numerous channels. On the user's end, receiving dishes can be as small as 45 cm in
diameter.DTH is an encrypted transmission that travels to the consumer directly
through a satellite. DTH transmission is received directly by the consumer at his end
through the small dish antenna. A set-top box, unlike the regular cable connection,
decodes the encrypted transmission.

10.1.2 DTH Vs Cable TV

The way DTH reaches a consumer's home is different from the way cable TV
does. In DTH, TV channels would be transmitted from the satellite to a small dish
antenna mounted on the window or rooftop of the subscriber's home. So the
broadcaster directly connects to the user. The middlemen like local cable operators
are not there in the picture.DTH can also reach the remotest of areas since it does
away with the intermediate step of a cable operator and the wires (cables) that come
from the cable operator to your house. As we explained above, in DTH signals
directly come from the satellite to your DTH dish.Also, with DTH, a user can scan
nearly 700 channels!

DTH offers better quality picture than cable TV. This is because cable TV in
India is analog. Despite digital transmission and reception, the cable transmission is
still analog. DTH offers stereophonic sound effects. It can also reach remote areas
where terrestrial transmission and cable TV have failed to penetrate. Apart from
enhanced picture quality, DTH has also allows for interactive TV services such as
movie-on-demand, Internet access, video conferencing and e-mail. But the thing that
DTH has going for it is that the powerful broadcasting companies like Star, Zee, etc
are pushing for it. There are four serious contenders for DTH services in India:
Doordarshan, Star, Zee, and Data Access.

10.2 SATELLITE TELEVISION

Satellite TV is the satellite broadcast of television content via communications

satellite. The signal is relayed through satellite and is received on earth by a satellite
dish. Later, the same signal is converted into audio-video content by set –top-
box.Through satellite Box TV, people can watch wide range of entertainment
channels which is not possible through cable transmission. 
10.2.1 Need of Satellite TV in India 
Nearly two decades after private and foreign bodies got the nod to start their
cable operations in India; the standard of entertainment quality stays very much the
same. Customers still feel cheated, thanks to disappointing customer-care services
and poor cable signals. Satellite cable TV is much-needed change that this industry
requires. Its arrival on domestic scene has certainly restored the long lost-confidence
of customers to large extent. 

Satellite television can bedefined as television broadcasting using satellite

technology. Television began in India on 15th September 1959 as an experiment.
There were only two one-hour programmes a week, each of one hour duration.
Imagine a television set working for only two hours a week. Can we think of such a
situation today? But, that was the case in the early years of television. All India Radio
handled these initial broadcasts.

The early programmes on these experimental broadcasts were generally

educational programmes for school children and farmers. Several community
television setswere set up in Delhi’s rural areas and schools around Delhi for the
dissemination of these programmes. By the 1970s, television centers were opened in
other parts of the country also. In 1976, Doordarshan, which was All India Radio’s
television armuntil then became a separate department.

Are there any community television sets in your area? Several community
television sets were distributed as a part of one of the important landmarks in the
history of Indian television, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE).
It was conducted between August 1975 and July 1976. Under this programme, the
Indian government used the American satellite ATS-6 to broadcast educational
programme to Indian villages. Six states were selected for this experiment and
television sets were distributed in these states.

SITE was an important step taken by India to use television for development.
The programmes were mainly produced by Doordarshan which was then a part of
AIR. The telecasts happened twice a day, in the morning and evening. Other than
agricultural information, health and family planning were the other important topics
dealt with in these programmes. Entertainment was also included in these telecasts in
the form of dance, music, drama, folk and rural art forms.

A major milestone in the history of Indian television was the coverage of the
Ninth Asian Games in 1982. Doordarshan provided national coverage for the first
time through the satellite INSAT 1A. Also, for the first time, the transmission was in
colour. In addition to the domestic transmission, Doordarshan was also providing
content for the broadcasters of many other countries. After 1982,there was a huge
increase in the live coverage of sports by Doordarshan .

By 1983, government sanctioned a huge expansion of Doordarshan. Several

new transmitters were set up throughout the country. Thus towards the end of 80s
around 75 per cent of the population could be covered by the transmitters. Many of
the programmes of Doordarshan like Hum Log, Buniyaad and Nukkad were
immensely popular.

In 1997, Prasar Bharati, a statutory autonomous body was

established.Doordarshan along with AIR was converted into government corporations
under Prasar Bharati. The Prasar Bharati Corporation was established to serve as the
public service broadcaster of the country which would achieve its objectives through
AIR and DD. This was a step towards greater autonomy for Doordarshan and AIR.
However, Prasar Bharati has not succeeded in shielding Doordarshan

from government control.

Today, about 90 per cent of the Indian population can receive Doordarshan
programmes through its network. From its humble beginning as a part of All India
Radio, Doordarshan has grown into a major television broadcaster with around 30
channels. This includes Regional Language Satellite Channels,State Networks,
International Channel and All India Channels like DD National, DD News, DD
Sports, DD Gyandarshan, DD Bharati, Loksabha Channel and DD Urdu. Which
channel of Doordarshan broadcasts in your regional language. But today we have
many channels other than Doordarshan. You may have heard the term “satellite
channels”. Generally satellites are used for communication or research purposes. Man
made satellites are objects which are launched to orbit the earth or any other celestial
body . The introduction of communication satellites has improved the situation
greatly. Star TV, Aaj Tak,NDTV, Zee etc are a few of the many television channels
available to us today. These private channels came into the IndianTelevision scene
quite recently. In the earlier days, Doordarshan had a monopoly as it was the only
channel available to the Indian television audience. This changed in the 1990s with
the arrival of private channels. The coverage of the Gulf War by the American news
channel, Cable News Network (CNN) propelled the arrival of satellite television in
India. Satellite dishes were used to catch the CNN signals and cable operators took to
satellite broadcasting immediately.

Hong Kong based STAR (Satellite Television Asian Region) entered into an
agreement with an Indian company and Zee TV was born. It became the first
privately owned Hindi satellite channel of India. The agreement between STAR and
Zee did not last long. But the Indian television audience was waiting for a shift from
the monopoly of Doordarshan and soon a number of private channels emerged. The
Supreme Court ruling of 1995 which stated that the airwaves are not the monopoly of
the Indian government boosted their growth. Several regional channels also came into
being during this period. Sun TV (Tamil), Asianet (Malayalam) and Eenadu TV were
a few of them. Today almost all major Indian languages have television channels in
them.

Apart from the regional channels, a host of international channels like CNN,
BBC and Discovery are also available to the Indian television audience. With
different categories of channels like 24 hour news channels, religious channels,
cartoon channels and movie channels, there is something for everyone to watch.

10.2.2 Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) (1975):

This project, one of the largest techno-social experiments in human
communication, was commissioned for the villagers and their Primary School going
children of selected 2330 villages in six states of India. It started on August 1, 1975
for a period of one year in six states Rajasthan, Karnataka, Orissa, Bihar, Andhra
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The main objectives of this experiment, were to study
the process of existing rural communications, the role of television as new medium of
education, and the process of change brought about by the community television in
the rural structure with following two type of telecast:

a) Developmental education programmes in the area of agriculture and allied

subjects, health, family planning and social education, which were telecast in
the evening for community viewing.
b) The school programmes of 22 ½ minutes duration each in Hindi, Kannada,
Oriya and Telugu were telecast on each school day for rural primary school
children of 5-12 years age group to make the children realize the importance
of science in their day to day life.
c) SITE experiment showed that the new technology made it possible to reach
number of people in the remotest areas. The role of television was appreciated
and it was accepted in rural primary schools as an educational force.
10.2.3 Post-SITE project (1977) 
The target group for this post SITE project was the villagers of
Rajasthan. This was a SITE continuity project and was initiated in March
1977 when a terrestrial transmitter was commissioned at Jaipur. The main
objectives of SITE continuity project were to:
● Familiarize the rural masses with the improved and scientific know
how about farming, the use of fertilizers and the maintenance of health
and hygiene;
● Bring about national and emotional integration; and
● Make rural children aware of the importance of education and healthy
environment. 
10.2.4 Indian National Satellite project (INSAT) (1982)
 The prime objective of the INSAT project was aimed at making the
rural masses aware of the latest developments in the areas of agricultural
productivity, health and hygiene. It was initially targeted at villagers and their
school going Children of selected villages in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar,
Gujrat, Maharastra and Uttar Pradesh. As a part of INSAT of Education
project, ETV broadcasts were inaugurated and continued through terrestrial
transmission from 15 August 1982 in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Later, other
states namely Bihar, Gujrat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were covered
under INSAT service using INSAT-1B in June 1983. In each state, a cluster of
3-4 districts were selected on the basis of backwardness of the area,
availability of suitable developmental infrastructure and utilization of existing
production facilities.
Besides developmental programmes for community viewing,
educational programmes (ETV) for two different age groups of school
children (5-8 years and 9-11 years) are telecast daily. A capsule of 45 minutes
duration consisting of two separate programmes - one for the lower age group
and the other for the upper age group - were telecast regularly. Each
programme runs for a duration of 20 minutes with five minutes change over
time from one age group to the other. As of today, these ETV programmes are
offered in five languages- Oriya, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi- for a
large population of primary school children. Programmes telecast in Hindi are
being received in all Hindi-speaking states in the northern belt.

10.3 VISUAL COMMUNICATION (Advantages and Disadvantages)

Visual communication is the communication of ideas through the visual

display of information or, in other words, it is creating meaning with visuals. Since
the invention of Gutenberg’s printing press, some have assumed that information is
best communicated in written formats. Words are a wonderful form of
communication, but creating meaning is not limited to words. “The most powerful,
meaningful and culturally important messages are those that combine words and
images,” according to Paul Martin Lester. The role of visual messages in
communication is expanding because of easy-to-use digital technologies, which
makes digital media an interesting field for visual communicators. With the shift
from analog to digital communication technologies, visual communication tools have
become more accessible and more integrated into business communication. When we
look at an image, we make meaning by seeing, by an “act of visual
interrogation” . The act of making images meaningful has three components.. The
act of making images meaningful has three components. First, we use images to
clarify what we want to communicate. Then, we make those images interactive so
that we engage more. And third, we augment memory by creating a visual
persistence. Thus, visual communication is all about creating meanings and making
ideas clear, interactive and persistent by visualizing them.

The communication which is done through sight is called visual

communication. Such as facial expression, gesture, eye contact, signals, map, chart,
poster etc. it also includes graphic design, illustration and animation, books, print,
magazines, screen-based media, interactive web design, short film etc 

10.3.1 Advantages of Visual Communication

Now-a-days, most of the business organizations are using visual techniques to

present the information. It is becoming very popular day by day. Visual presentation
is beneficial for many reasons. Some of them are as follows:

a) Effective for illiterate receiver: If the receivers are illiterate, the visual
communication will be more effective to exchange information. They can
easily understand the information that is presented visually.
b) Helps in oral communication: Visual techniques can be used with oral
communication. Oral communication becomes more meaningful if graphs,
pictures and diagrams are used with it.
c) Easy explanation: Everyone can explain the meaning of it very easily. Easy
explanation has made the visual techniques more popular.
 d) Simple presentation: Complex information, data and figures can be easily
presented very simply on graphs, pictures and diagrams.
e) Prevents wastage of time: Visual techniques help to prevent the wastage of
time. Written and oral communication takes much time to exchange
information. But number of receivers can be communicated at a time through
visual methods.
f) Helps in quick decision: Visual communication helps to take quick decision.
So management prefers visual techniques to communicate with others.
g) Popular: Visual communication is very much popular because people do not
like much speech and long explanation rather than a chart of a diagram.
h) Others: Artful presentation, Ads impact to the information, quicker
understanding.

10.3.2 Disadvantages of visual communication:

There are some limitations of visual communication as follows:

a) Costly: The visual methods of communication are more costly than those of

other methods. To draw maps, charts, diagram is costly. That is why only
large company or organization can use this technique.

b) Complex presentation: Sometimes visual presentation of information becomes

complex. The receivers cannot understand the meaning of the presentation.

c) Incomplete method: This technique is considered as an incomplete method.

Visual presentation is not sufficient to communicate effectively and clearly
but also it can be successfully used with oral communication.

d) Wastage of time: Sometimes visual techniques take much time to

communicate. Whereas oral communication takes no time to exchange
information.

e) Difficult to understand: Difficult to understand and requires a lot of repetitions

in visual communication. Since it uses gestures, facial expressions, eye
 contact, touch etc. for communicating with others which may not be
understandable for the simple and foolish people.

f) Problem for general readers: General people are not prefers to communicate
through visual communication with others. Sometimes it cannot create an
impression upon people or listeners. It is less influential and cannot be used
everywhere.

g) Others: Ambiguity, situational problem, delays in taking decision.

10.4 TYPES OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

10.4.1 Graphic Design

Graphic designers plan and create materials that communicate visually. They

work in a variety of settings, including publishing companies, advertising firms
and corporations where they assist with advertising campaigns and business
promotions. Graphic designers also develop brochures, press packets and
fundraising programs. Some choose to work alone and freelance for clients. Many
graphic designers earn college degrees and stay current on the latest software
programs.

10.4.2 Art

Artists work in many creative fields, such as advertising, public relations

and set design. Others are employed as cartoonists, illustrators, art directors and
interior decorators. While many artists work for someone else, many still create
their own artwork and sell it to supplement their income. Many also teach in
schools and give private lessons. Artists often specialize in sculpture, watercolor,
oil, illustration, pastels, pencils, pens, clay or computer animation.

10.4.3 Photography

Photographers tell stories with their pictures to capture and to record major
events for future generations. Photographers spend years learning their craft.
Photographers typically earn a college degree or complete specialized training at a
photography school or art institute. Many are self-employed and earn a living
photographing individuals and special family occasions, such as weddings. Others
work as photojournalists or crime scene photographers affiliated with a police
department.

10.4.4 Multimedia

Professionals skilled in multimedia have solid knowledge and

understanding of all forms of visual communication in order to produce cutting-
edge communication pieces for a client or business. For example, in order to put
together an engaging company website to attract page hits and customers, a Web
page must contain high quality photography, attractive graphic design, original
artwork and, in some cases, an attention-grabbing video.
Check Your
10.5 KEY WORDS Progress

1. Give any two

Visual communication - the communication of ideas through the visual display
advantages of Visual
Communication.
of information or, in other words, it is creating meaning
2. Write about INSAT?
with visuals.
3. When was Prasar
Satellite TV - the satellite broadcast of television content via Bharathi Established?

communications satellite.

SITE - Satellite Instructional Television Experiment.

DTH - Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the

reception of satellite programmes with a personal dish

in an individual home.

10.6 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) Refer Section 10.3
2) Refer Section 10.2
3) 1997
 Reference Books:

1) Baran.J.Stanely (2004), Introduction to Mass Communication, MC Graw Hill,

New Delhi.

2) Turow Joseph (2009), Media Today-An Introduction to Mass Communication,

Routledge, Newyork.

3) Kumar.J.Keval (2010), Mass Communication In India, Jaico Publishing

House, Mumbai.

4) Lievrow Leah (2004), The Handbook of New Media, Sage Publications,

London.

5) Sharma Diwakar (2004), Mass Communication Theory and Practice in the 21st
Century, Deep & Deep publications, New Delhi.

6) Seema Hasan (2013), Mass Communication Principles and Concepts, CBS

Publishers and Distributors.