Difference between pages "Melodrama Variations: TV Soap Opera (Discussion)" and "Mise-en-Scene (Discussion)"

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==Readings==
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#'''Group 1:''' What are icons? What is iconography? Discuss examples from in-class episodes of ''Designing Women'', ''Girlfriends'', or ''My So-Called Life''.
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==="Television and Zero-Degree Style"===
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#'''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?
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[[Image:Fig113 ATWT20080201qq00 30 40qq00020.jpg|left|thumb|400px|Katie and Brad in an ''As the World Turns'' screen shot, from :30:40 in the episode broadcast 1 Feb 2008.]]
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##Of the sitcoms we've seen in class (''The Andy Griffith Show'', ''[[Building Narrative (Discussion)|The Cosby Show]]'', ''Designing Women'', ''Girlfriends''), which are shot on studio sets with studio audiences?  
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#What are the main characteristics of soap opera's style of sound and image? And what significance do they have? In other words, what/how does style ''signify'' in terms of:
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#Lighting questions:
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#*'''Group 1''': Sets?
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##'''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.
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#*'''Group 1''': Lighting?
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##'''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.
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#*'''Group 2''': Multiple-camera production? ''In terms of how it looks on the screen'', how does multiple-camera production differ from single-camera production?
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#Describe the mise-en-scene of the ''Northern Exposure'' [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/MiseEnSceneNorthernExposure.htm 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?
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#'''Groups 1 & 2''': Dialogue? Music? How are these characteristics present (or not) in the scene from ''ATWT'' episode we viewed in class? How would you compare/contrast the sound in ''ATWT'' with that of the radio soap, ''Backstage Wife''?
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#*'''Group 1:''' costume design, iconography
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#'''All Groups''': How does the excerpt from ''Guiding Light'' we watched ''violate'' soap-opera style?
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#*'''Group 2:''' set design
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<br style="clear: both;">
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#*'''Group 3:''' lighting design
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#*'''Group 4:''' blocking and figure movement
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==="'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"===
 
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[[Image:ATWTRyan.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).]]
 
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[[Image:ATWTFrost.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in ''As the World Turns'' (1985).]]
 
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#'''Group 3''': How does Jean-Louis Comolli's notion of a "body too much" in historical film apply to the soap opera?
 
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#'''Group 4''': What is the "commutation test"? How does it apply to soap-opera recasting?
 
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#*'''All Groups''': How might the commutation test be used with Humphrey Bogart's Charlie Allnut character in ''African Queen''?
 
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#'''All Groups''': How do Lindsey Frost's character/performance signs differ from Meg Ryan's? What meaning does that difference connote?
 
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#'''All Groups''': What makes Meg Ryan an atypical soap star?
 
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#'''All Groups''': How does the position of soap actors resemble that of early-film actors?
 
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<br style="clear: both;">
 
  
 
== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in ''Television Style'' (New York: Routledge, in press), 55-120.
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#Butler, Jeremy G. ''Television: Critical Methods and Applications''. New York: Routledge, 2012.
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV': Characters, Actors, and Acting in Television Soap Opera," ''Cinema Journal'' 30.4 (1991): 75-91.
 
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.htm Soap Opera Illustrations]
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*[http://www.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-06/ ''Northern Exposure'' images] on the ''Television'' gallery.
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*[http://picasaweb.google.com/jgbutler/1TelevisionAndZeroDegreeStyle02?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6IkaO_2KPVTA&feat=directlink "Television and Zero-Degree Style" illustrations]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/NorthernExposureDinner.php ''Northern Exposure'' dinner scene].
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**[http://www.tvstylebook.com/eo/ATWT20080201.php QuickTime clip]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/NorthernExposureTheBrick.php ''Northern Exposure'' scene in The Brick]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/ATWTAlums.htm ''ATWT'' alumni.]
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*[http://www.routledge.com/cw/butler-9780415883283/s1/gallery-07/ ''Television'', chapter 7 illustrations]
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*Johanna Schneller, [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/ryan.htm "Meg Ryan"], ''Us Weekly'', April 1998, pp. 50-54, 96.
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T311/Girlfriends/ ''Girlfriends'' illustrations]
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*[http://www.cbs.com/daytime/guiding_light/video/ ''Guiding Light'' episodes]
 
  
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[[Category:TCF440-540]]
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[[Category:TCF311]]
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[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]
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[[Category:TCF311 Discussion]]

Revision as of 18:55, 29 October 2013

  1. Group 1: What are icons? What is iconography? Discuss examples from in-class episodes of Designing Women, Girlfriends, or My So-Called Life.
  2. 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?
    1. Of the sitcoms we've seen in class (The Andy Griffith Show, The Cosby Show, Designing Women, Girlfriends), which are shot on studio sets with studio audiences?
  3. Lighting questions:
    1. 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.
    2. 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.
  4. 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

Bibliography

  1. Butler, Jeremy G. Television: Critical Methods and Applications. New York: Routledge, 2012.

External links

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