Take One (Apr 1967)

made little impact on the color group. The 10 students in the color group made only nine references to commentators in their reports and only one reference was by name. They had only three observations about the commentary. In startling contrast, the black and white group had 111 references to commentators, 67 by name, and 465 critical comments. A chart shows this incredible difference. B& W Color References to Commentators 111 9 References by Name 67 if Critical Comments 45 3 One could speculate that, by pure chance, one group knew the men and the othergroup did not. This conclusion seems unlikely: the group discussion made quite clear that one group simply had not noticed. Far more interesting, too, than the mere fact that the black and white group were aware of the commentators is the number ofcritical comments. Ten of the 11 students in the black and white group offered criticisms of the commentators. Only two of the colored group offered comments. A few of the black and white references were as follows:. DePoe’s voice, somewhat subdued in an effort to add solemnity to the occasion, sounded like someone with laryngitis, and his attempts to be profound were laughable, and detracted from the ceremony. CBC newsman Norman DePoe frequently interjected sometimes inane remarks. The Cardinal sprinkled holy water on the coffin and swung the incense. As Burke said, “he incenses it.’’ (Hardly the currect use of the word, I suspect. ) These comments were all from different members of the black and white group. In contrast, the colored comments were as follows: There was a suitable lack of comment at most times... . the funeral coverage did not include much emotion. The commentator seemed to dwell more on buildings and history.. . The impact of the commentators was strikingly different between the two groups. But what about the emotional impact of the program? 4. The color group appeared to have been far more moved by the funeral and their reports contained a good deal more emotional content. Emotional content is, admittedly, not aneasy thing to measure and anyone undertaking such analysis must be uncomfortably aware of som# of the difficulties in this area. However, the differences seemed clear. One. member of the black and white group wrote in his report, ‘I really wished I could have attended in person.”’ One of the color group wrote, in contrast, ‘‘the golden glow of the Basilica gave me the feeling I was really there.”’ The color reports did read as if the writer was really there. The terseness of his face reflected his sorrow and pride in his late father. His classic profile showed almost no emo tion except for a tightening of the lips. I felt surely aware of the country’s great loss. This was only a brief, introductory experiment. The group was small and the findings may be open to question. There may also be simple explanations: the color gives a more total impression so detail becomes less important; the black and white limitations force the viewer to rely on the. commentator and thus lead to irritation at anything not explained; the emotional impact is created by the fact thatsomecolors are warmer than black and white. Finally, it could be held that those involved in the experiment had not been acclimatized to color television: therefore, all results were conditioned by the initial fascination of color TV and have no validity. This challenge may be accurate and, if it is, it is, of course, devastating. But if the challenge is not correct then the hypotheses put forward in this paper and supported by this experiment may force a re-examination of all our television theories in the light of a new medium, color television. Suppose for a moment that an educational television program has the choice between color and black and white: which is more likely to leave the viewer with a knowledge of the contents of a lecture? Suppose children are allowed to watch a boxing match in color or black and white: which is more likely to be the more absorbing and have the most serious impact? Suppose the distribution of color and black and white is on economic lines and, therefore, perhaps on racial lines: does this mean that television, in its two forms, will become a divisive force? One further finding, based on the post-experiment questionnaire, leaves some further food for thought. Asked to estimate the age of Dr. Jean Vanier, the two groups averaged 10 years apart, with the color group giving the younger average estimate. Ageing politicians may get a second lease on life if color permeates fast enough. “Sr 7