Guerrilla Television
Encyclopedia
Guerrilla television is a term coined in 1971 by Michael Shamberg
, one of the founders of the Raindance Foundation
; the Raindance Foundation has been one of the counter-culture video collectives that in the 1960s and 1970s extended the role of the underground press
to new communication technologies.
, Paul Ryan
and others co-founded a video collective called Raindance Corporation
. From 1967 to '69 Ryan had been a close assistant to Marshal McLuhan. While in 1970 McLuhan spoke of World War III as a "guerrilla information war," in the same year Ryan wrote for Radical Software, a journal of the Raindance foundation, the article Cybernetic guerrilla warfare. This article inspired Shamberg, in 1971, to coin the term Guerrilla television.
As early as 1967, Umberto Eco
used similar terminology in a lecture he gave in New York City, coining the term "semiological guerrilla" and using expressions like "communications guerrilla warfare" and "cultural guerrilla."
, who believed modern technology, such as television
, was creating a global village and challenging cultural values, and coined the term "Cybernetic guerrilla warfare" to describe how the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s should use communication technology to get its message to the public. Despite a bias in the counter-culture movement towards anti-technology , people like Ryan and former Time-Life
correspondent Michael Shamberg believed new technology wanted social change.
Shamberg preferred the term Guerrilla television (the title of his 1971 book), because despite its strategies and tactics similar to warfare, Guerrilla television is non-violent. He saw Guerrilla television as a means to break through the barriers imposed by Broadcast television, which he called beast television.
They urged for the use of Sony
's Portapak
video camera, released in 1965 to be merged with the documentary film
style and television. The group later became TVTV
, or Top Value Television, one of the medium's most influential video collectives.
Michael Shamberg
Michael Shamberg is an American former Time-Life correspondent and current film producer.-Life and career:His credits include Erin Brockovich, A Fish Called Wanda, Garden State, Gattaca, Pulp Fiction and The Big Chill...
, one of the founders of the Raindance Foundation
Raindance Foundation
Raindance Foundation was begun in 1969 by Frank Gillette, Michael Shamberg, Ira Schneider and Paul Ryan among others. Raindance was a self-described "countercultural think-tank" that embraced video as an alternative form of cultural communication....
; the Raindance Foundation has been one of the counter-culture video collectives that in the 1960s and 1970s extended the role of the underground press
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
to new communication technologies.
History of the term
In 1969 Michael ShambergMichael Shamberg
Michael Shamberg is an American former Time-Life correspondent and current film producer.-Life and career:His credits include Erin Brockovich, A Fish Called Wanda, Garden State, Gattaca, Pulp Fiction and The Big Chill...
, Paul Ryan
Paul Ryan (video artist)
-Bio:From 1967 till 1969, he was assistant of Marshal McLuhan.In 1969 he cofounded the Raindance Foundation. While in 1970Marshall McLuhan depicted World War III as a "guerrilla information war," in the same year Ryan wrote for Radical Software, the foundation journal, the article Cybernetic...
and others co-founded a video collective called Raindance Corporation
Raindance Foundation
Raindance Foundation was begun in 1969 by Frank Gillette, Michael Shamberg, Ira Schneider and Paul Ryan among others. Raindance was a self-described "countercultural think-tank" that embraced video as an alternative form of cultural communication....
. From 1967 to '69 Ryan had been a close assistant to Marshal McLuhan. While in 1970 McLuhan spoke of World War III as a "guerrilla information war," in the same year Ryan wrote for Radical Software, a journal of the Raindance foundation, the article Cybernetic guerrilla warfare. This article inspired Shamberg, in 1971, to coin the term Guerrilla television.
As early as 1967, Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco Knight Grand Cross is an Italian semiotician, essayist, philosopher, literary critic, and novelist, best known for his novel The Name of the Rose , an intellectual mystery combining semiotics in fiction, biblical analysis, medieval studies and literary theory...
used similar terminology in a lecture he gave in New York City, coining the term "semiological guerrilla" and using expressions like "communications guerrilla warfare" and "cultural guerrilla."
Ideas
Paul Ryan was a student and research assistant of Marshall McLuhanMarshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
, who believed modern technology, such as television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, was creating a global village and challenging cultural values, and coined the term "Cybernetic guerrilla warfare" to describe how the counter-culture movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s should use communication technology to get its message to the public. Despite a bias in the counter-culture movement towards anti-technology , people like Ryan and former Time-Life
Time-Life
Time–Life is a creator and direct marketer of books, music, video/DVD, and multimedia products. Its products are sold throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet, telemarketing, and direct sales....
correspondent Michael Shamberg believed new technology wanted social change.
Shamberg preferred the term Guerrilla television (the title of his 1971 book), because despite its strategies and tactics similar to warfare, Guerrilla television is non-violent. He saw Guerrilla television as a means to break through the barriers imposed by Broadcast television, which he called beast television.
They urged for the use of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's Portapak
Portapak
A Portapak is a battery powered self-contained video tape analog recording system that can be carried by one person. Earlier television cameras were large and relatively immovable, but the Portapak made it possible to record television images while moving around...
video camera, released in 1965 to be merged with the documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
style and television. The group later became TVTV
TVTV
TVTV was a San Francisco-based pioneering video collective founded in 1972 by Allen Rucker, Michael Shamberg, Tom Weinberg, Hudson Marquez and Megan Williams. Shamberg was author of the 1971 "do-it-yourself" video production manual Guerrilla Television. Over the years, more than thirty "guerrilla...
, or Top Value Television, one of the medium's most influential video collectives.
See also
- Lord of the Universe (documentary), won DuPont-Columbia AwardDuPont-Columbia AwardThe Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award is an American award that honors excellence in broadcast journalism. The awards, administered since 1968 by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, are considered a broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another...
, 1974 - Radical Software
- Public access television