TCF 311 Exam 3
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Style and Stylistics (Discussion)
Group 4: Be prepared to define these basic terms: "style," "stylistics". Then, pretend you are an "evaluative" and "descriptive" stylisticians. How would you study New Girl? Devise a research project that you might attempt with this TV text.
Group 1: Be prepared to define these basic terms: "style," "stylistics". Then, pretend you are a "analytic" stylistician. How would you study New Girl? Devise a research project that you might attempt with this TV text. Be sure to account for the following "functions" of style discussed in the textbook.
- symbolize
- decorate
Group 2: Be prepared to define these basic terms: "style," "stylistics". Then, pretend you are a "analytic" stylistician. How would you study New Girl? Devise a research project that you might attempt with this TV text. Be sure to account for the following "functions" of style discussed in the textbook.
- persuade
- hail or interpellate
- differentiate
Group 3: Be prepared to define these basic terms: "style," "stylistics". Then, pretend you are a "historical" stylistician. How would you study New Girl? Devise a research project that you might attempt with this TV text. Be sure to account for "craft practices" and "schemas."
All groups: Table 5.3 in "Televisuality and the Resurrection of the Sitcom in the 2000s" lists elements of the "single-camera televisual schema". Many of these will be discussed in the weeks to come, but try to identify at least three of them in the opening segment of New Girl.
External links
Mise-en-Scene (Discussion)
- Group 1: What are icons? What is iconography? Discuss examples from in-class episodes of Designing Women, Girlfriends, or New Girl.
- Group 2: What narrative impact does the economic decision to shoot on studio sets have on sitcoms (with studio audiences) and soap operas? (What differences are there between the studio set-up of these two genres?) That is, how does set design shape the way stories are told?
- Of the sitcoms we've seen in class (The Andy Griffith Show, The Cosby Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Designing Women, Girlfriends, New Girl), which are shot on studio sets with studio audiences?
- Lighting questions:
- Group 3: What are the characteristics of three-point lighting? What function does each "point" serve? Pretend you are a director of photography (DP). Describe a scene that might not use three-point lighting and explain why.
- Group 4: What is the difference between high-key and low-key lighting? And what is chiaroscuro? Pretend you are a director of photography (DP). Describe a scene that might use each of these techniques.
- Describe the mise-en-scene of the Northern Exposure scene with Joel and Jules. How are aspects of the characters (Joel, Jules, Maggie, Ed) communicated through mise-en-scene? That is, what would we know about the characters even if there were no dialogue in this scene?
- Group 1: costume design, iconography
- Group 2: set design
- Group 3: lighting design
- Group 4: blocking and figure movement
External links
- Girlfriends illustrations
- Northern Exposure images on the Television gallery.
- Northern Exposure scene.
Style and the Camera (Discussion)
Group 3
- Explain what focal length is -- using the textbook illustrations.
- How does a zoom in/out look different from a track in/out?
Group 4
- Explain what depth of field is -- using the textbook illustrations.
- What is the difference between deep focus and deep space (as in mise-en-scene)?
Group 1
- Explain what aspect ratio is -- using the textbook illustrations.
- Also explain letterbox and pan-and-scan.
Group 2
- Explain the significance of camera framing, height, and movement -- using the textbook illustrations.
- When might movement be used that does not follow a character? How is a Steadicam shot different from a handheld shot?
DP exercise
If you were a DP reshooting the Northern Exposure and New Girl shots (below), how might you change these cinematographic aspects?
- Using your group's cinematographic aspect from above, describe its use in these two frame captures. I.e., start by describing the frame's focal length (G3), depth of field (G4), aspect ratio (G1), and framing/height (G2).
- Imagine changing that aspect's use in this frame. (G1: these frames use different aspect ratios. What if they were swapped?)
- How would such a change affect the scene's impact or the viewer's understanding of it?
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External links
Editing: Single Camera Mode (Discussion)
Basic definitions
Provide a definition of these terms and describe how/if it is used in the Sopranos excerpt.
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/Sopranos.php
Group 1
- Establishing shot
- Re-establishing shot
Group 2
- The shot-counter shot editing pattern (also known as "shot-reverse shot")
Group 3
- Match cut
- Match-on-action
- Eyeline match
- Jump cut
Group 4
- 180° rule (see Peter John Ross example)
- Screen direction
- How/when might this rule be broken in a TV program?
Decoupage exercise
- Do a sample decoupage--as explained on pp. 212-214--of shots 33-44 from this Chevrolet commercial.
- Each student should start by drawing an overhead view similar to Figure 7.7.
- Each student should be prepared to answer the following decoupage questions from the textbook, although you may talk about them in your group:
- How is the scene’s space, the area in which the action takes place (i.e., the car), introduced to the viewer? Does an establishing shot occur at the start of the scene (or later in it)?
- Skip.
- Do these angles adhere to the 180° rule? Is screen direction maintained? If not, why is the viewer not disoriented? Or if the space is ambiguous, what narrative purpose does that serve?
- Skip.
- Is an alternating editing pattern used? Is shot-reverse shot used?
- How does the camera relate to the character’s perspective? Are there point-of-view or subjective shots? If so, how are those shots cued or marked? That is, what tells us that they are subjective or point-ofview shots?
- Is match-on-action used? Are there jump cuts?
- How does the last shot of the scene bring it to a conclusion?
- Skip.
External links
Editing: Multiple Camera Mode (Discussion)
Multiple camera vs. single camera
- What is the difference between the two modes of production?
- What is it about this scene from As The World Turns (password: telestylistics) that marks it as a multiple-camera production? From 1 February 2008.
- Compare it with the All My Children scene in Television: frame grabs and QuickTime clip.
- All Groups: List at least three aspects of the scene that mark it as multiple-camera.
- What is it about this The New Adventures of Old Christine episode, “Ritchie Scores” (8 January 2007) that marks it as a multiple-camera production?. See video clip.
- All Groups: List at least three multiple-camera aspects of the ATWT scene that it shares with the AMC example.
- What is it about this scene from As The World Turns (password: telestylistics) that marks it as a multiple-camera production? From 1 February 2008.
- In which situations is single camera preferred? In which is multiple camera preferred?
- All Groups: List at least two examples of each.
- All Groups: List four single-camera TV shows and four multiple-camera shows, but don't use the examples in the textbook.
- Group 2:
- Single camera: Modern Family, The Office
- Multiple camera: Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory
- Group 4:
- Single camera: Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, ER
- Multiple camera: Ellen, Family Feud, Roseanne, Golden Girls
- Group 2:
Multiple-camera exercise: "The Contest," Seinfeld, October 26, 1992
- Pretend you are director Tom Cherones and map out the camera positions for this scene.
http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/SeinfeldSetMiniature.jpg
Set miniature by Charles Brogdon.
External links
Sound (Discussion)
Purposes of sound on television
Television lists four "purposes of sound on television":
- Capturing viewer attention.
- Manipulating viewer understanding of the image.
- Maintaining televisual flow.
- Maintaining continuity within individual scenes.
All groups: sound exercises
In class, we'll view a Dodge commercial and examples of how sound can manipulate viewer understanding of the image--that is, can change its meaning.
- As a group, choose a well-known song that, if laid over the commercial, would change its meaning. (No R-rated songs, please.) We'll find an excerpt of it online and lay it over the commercial. Be prepared to explain to the class how your song changes the commercial's meaning.
- Think back to the Chevrolet commercial that we broke down and the shot of Mother, salesman, Father, son in the car. As a group, pretend you're doing ADR (and what is ADR?) for this shot and write dialogue that illustrates how sound editors can manipulate sound perspective to alter our understanding of a scene (somewhat like the sound editor of Wonder Years did in Figure 8.6, but do not copy that example).
- Illustrate how sound and time could be manipulated in this shot with some other dialogue.
- Finally, include audio that illustrates the difference between diegetic vs. nondiegetic sound.
Types of sound
- Back Group: What are the three main types of sound in TV production and how do digital audio workstations mirror those three types? (See Ugly Betty ProTools layout for music editor.)
- Front Group: What is "public domain" music? What are "master rights"? How do master rights apply to DVD releases of TV programs?
Sound technology
- Front Group: Explain these terms in the context of digital audio: sampling, dynamic range, and frequency response.
- Back Group: What are the different types of microphone pick-up patterns? How do they affect sound perspective? (Ugly Betty example?)
External links
- Dodge commercial
- Sound chapter illustrations
- George Burns, direct address
- Bernie Mac direct address
- Damages sound-time manipulation
A History of TV Style (Discussion)
All groups
- Explain the concept that goes by the terms, "technological manifest destiny" and "technological determinism." Why is it a mistaken notion when applied to TV?
- What are some examples that you've seen that prove this concept is wrong? (Don't rely on the examples in the book and you can refer to technology other than that involving video or TV.)
- What is a kinescope? How were kinescopes created and what characterized how they looked? (See figures in Television.)
Group 3
- Outline the history of TV editing--listing the major technological changes. How did these changes have an impact on TV style?
- Why type of editing equipment do you suppose was used to cut the following programs:
- All My Children
- The Sopranos
- Seinfeld
- The Cosby Show
Group 4
- List the elements of the production of I Love Lucy that make it significant to the history of TV style. Explain why each element is important.
- What are examples of recent (within the past five years) programs that are shot the same way that Lucy was shot?
Group 1
- The history of color TV is very complicated. Create a timeline that lists the significant events leading up to color TV's widespread implementation.
- What impact did color technology have on TV style?
- What is the NTSC and why was it created?
Group 2
- When did the remote control first appear and what were the names of the early devices?
- How did they work?
- How do modern remote controls work and when did they become commonly used?
- What have broadcast networks done to try to combat zapping?
| Early Remote Controls | |||||||||
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External links
- Clorox commercials.
- Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In (episode 15, 9/16/1968)
- The Magic of Television (1941)
Music Television (Discussion)
Types of expression
Allan contends that one can group music videos according to types of expression -- separate from genres based on content. That is, genres such a rock, pop, rap, country and R&B are the most common way of grouping music videos, but cutting across those genres are certain expressive forms. Allan lists four of them:
- Performance - Group 4
- Narrative - Group 1
- Nonnarrative - Group 2
- Graphic - Group 3
Each group should be prepared to explain the characteristics of their "type of expression" to the class, and choose one video that exemplifies it. (The video must be available online: YouTube, mtv.com, Yahoo Music, etc.)
All groups
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- List four ways that the Replacements' Left of the Dial breaks the conventions of the music video? Be as specific as possible and draw examples from the video.
- List the five principal antecedents of (or influences on) music television and explain the specific aspects they contributed to music TV.
- While discussing "The Sound of Video," Allan discusses the mix of music and nonmusical elements in music video.
- Aside from genres and types of expression, what generally characterizes the music presented in music videos?
- How can nonmusical elements be used?
Sample analyses
- Tom Waits - "Hold On"; on YouTube, on MTV.com
- Los Lobos - "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" (directed by Ondrej Rudavsky, 1992)
- Kina Grannis - "In Your Arms" (directed by Greg Jardin, 2011)
- Raphael Saadiq - "Movin' Down The Line (Don't You Go Away)" (2011)
- How do these videos use the types of expression discussed above? Is one type dominant?
- Do they fit the generalizations about the sound of video that Allan specifies?
Sample production
Each group should choose one well-known song and pretend they're video producers. Design three videos for that song that use the narrative, nonnarrative and graphic types of expression; but do not use the same concept that the real music video used. You may divide your group into sub-groups to work on these videos. And you may want to storyboard your video.
External links
Animation (Discussion)
- Describe the efficient mode of production that developed for cartoon production in the 1930s. What were its basic (1) technological and (2) economic characteristics? That is, how was cartoon production organized so that it could be profitable?
Group 1
- How do made-for-TV cartoons differ from made-for-movie-theater cartoons?
- What was the first made-for-TV animated cartoon? When?
- What aspects of made-for-TV cartoons does The Flintstones exemplify?
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Group 2
- What does this term mean in the context of cartooning: abstraction?
- What studio was associated with (somewhat) abstract cartooning? What aesthetic techniques did it use to achieve this abstraction?
- How has cartooning balanced abstraction with naturalism?
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Group 3
- How does digital (CGI) animation differ from conventional cell animation? In particular:
- How is that difference part of the production process?
- How is that difference evident in how the animation looks?
- Which of these Simpsons frame grabs exemplifies CGI animation?
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Group 4
- What does this term mean in the context of cartooning: naturalism?
- Which filmmaker's cartoons were associated with naturalism? What technological and aesthetic techniques did he use to achieve this naturalism? What technological device did he use that is also used in Ah-Ha's music video?
- How has cartooning balanced naturalism with abstraction?
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External links
External videos
Bibliography
- Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. NY: Routledge, 2011.
- Butler, Jeremy G. "Televisuality and the Resurrection of the Sitcom in the 2000s," in Television Style (NY: Routledge, 2010), 173-222.
