The Fourth Wave: The Mass Media Era (1974-2000)

Authors

Randy Astle
Gideon O. Burton

Keywords

Mormon studies, cinema, mass media, Mormon film

Abstract

The Fourth Wave deserves to be known as the Mass Media Era for at least three reasons. First, it was the first period dominated by video technology and various media besides traditional film; though I shall continue to use the term filmmaking, the majority of productions were now distributed electronically, even if they did not originate that way. Second, because of electronic distribution and the inexpensiveness and ubiquity of video, this era was marked by an incredibly wide dissemination of film compared with previous eras. Television, VHS, and satellite broadcasts revolutionized distribution by making obsolete the exhibition of an individual reel of film to a physically unified audience; now media was disseminated en masse to geographically isolated individuals. Third, not only did the amount of production mushroom, but often individual films were massive, particularly within the Church, making the Fourth Wave also the age of the LDS epic.

Recommended Citation

Astle, Randy and Burton, Gideon O. (2007) "The Fourth Wave: The Mass Media Era (1974-2000)," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 46: Iss. 2, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol46/iss2/6