Back in junior high school, I did a little bit of work with the lighting for the theater department. I didn't really know what I was doing, but it was something to do and I knew some other people who were doing it too. The actors used to wear shirts that said, "Theatre is life. Cinema is art. Television is furniture." At the time I didn't think much of it. Now however, I really have to disagree on two counts.
We all give theater more credit than it deserves. It's no better than film or television just because it is the oldest of the three professions. You don't see anyone going around saying, "Boy I just miss my Windows 94." This is because development leads to change, and no that doesn't make the original bad, but it does open up new opportunities for the art of audio-visual storytelling.
The second point I disagree with is that television is just furniture. Yes, a lot of the television out there is trash. This concept has been heightened by reality television. At its most basic level though, television is the same as film and theater. In fact what I love about television that can't be found in theater or film is that it can tell a continuous story that allows the characters to developed beyond what the limited scope of the other two mediums.
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