TV Sitcoms

Classic TV sitcoms were basic TV shows that were filmed fairly quickly - it took approximately a week to complete a whole season, and was more episodic. Episodic is a characteristic for TV shows that aren't a continuous story where episodes are based off of previous knowledge and generally end with a lesson. This type of TV show also has very basic character development throughout the episodes where characters don't seem to grow up and learn from previous mistakes.
This allows sitcoms to be comedy rather than dramatic, since dramas are based on complicated character developments. With each episode having the potential to cover a wide range of topic without having to follow any type of chronological order, it allows sitcoms to end each episode with a lesson or a moral story. The lesson or moral story at the end of each episode help tie the episode back to the starting scene instead of the first episode in the series, and allows each episode to have a final finish.
In the show Family Guy, the main characters don't learn from their previous mistakes. Peter makes the same mistakes over and over again, Meg is constantly picked on, Stewie repeated tries to kill his mother Louis, but we can come to expect that he will never succeed and she will always come back to life. Although episodic sitcoms are produced using a general patter, they are also given the flexibility of covering many topics and scenarios.  Since the problems/issues that arise in each episode are different, they are always solved at the end which is one of the reasons that I enjoy sitcoms. The general audience can turn on the TV and tune into an episodic sitcom and be able to understand what is happening without having to catch up and watch the previous episodes to be follow along.

Titanic

This famous scene from the Titanic is a close up shot. It has both denotative meaning and connotative meaning. The director wants you to pay attention to the details in this scene, like how close they are together, and how much paler Jack is in comparison to Rose. The connotative meaning in this scene is to show the emotion between these two characters at this moment. In Titanic, this is the last scene before Jack sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and this scene really tries to capture the emotion between the lovers for the very last time. 

Image found on Google search

This is a scene of Jack and Rose from the Titanic when the ship had already started to sink is an example of a medium shot. The denotative meaning for this scene is very important since this still image provides a lot of information alone. It confirms that the ship is actually sinking by capturing the characters trying to wade through the water. The connotative meaning of this scene is how hard the character are willing to fight for each other and for survival. The emotion in this scene is shown by how the characters are holding hands and Jack is leading the way, making sure that Rose doesn't get left behind.

Image taken from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

This still image is an example of a long shot from the Titanic. It introduces the audience to how serious and real the sinking of the ship is. It allows the audience to understand how many people are on this massive ship. This scene also gives a very powerless, hopelessness feeling to the audience since there are so many people still left on the ship after two of the emergency escape boats have already been filled. This is also a high angle shot which takes power away and gives a 'loss of control' feeling, which is how the people still left on the Titanic feel.

Image taken from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Hollywood Studios: Star System

The classical Hollywood studio system consisted of the "Big Five" studios, MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., and RKO, which were all fully integrated and the "Little Three" studios, Universal, Columbia, and United Artists, which were only partially integrated. However, I believe that the most important aspect that lead Hollywood to becoming internationally recognized was their use of contract talent and the star system.


The classical Hollywood stars were first discovered and then contracted with a studio.  These famous stars were considered tangible objects to the studios; the studios were often very proud of the amount and quality of the stars the were able to sign (Classical Hollywood lecture, R. Colin Tait). But other talents was also contracted to the studios such as directors, writers, technicians, and other staff that were needed to produce a film. Also, the star system was how the studios first started using the popularity of the stars themselves to promote their own movies, which in return was promotion for the studio (Media Now, Ch 7).


The star system affected the genres of movies the studio produced since many of the stars had a certain genre associated with the general character they played. Also, many stars had a consistent set of character traits they portrayed in every movie. For example, Judy Garland was signed with MGM and always played the role of an innocent, naive young girl who could be expected break out in song every so often; which lead the audience to generally expect the same character portrayed and the basic layout of a film that starred Judy Garland (Classical Hollywood lecture, R. Colin Tait).

"All in the Family" vs. "That 70's Show"

Based on last week's showing of "All in the Family", I was instantly reminded of "That 70's Show". Archie in "All in the Family" is very blunt and expresses how he feels about issues without considering whether it will hurt other people's feelings; he thinks is always right since he is the man of the house. Red Forman in "That 70's Show" is a similar character since he is the man of his house hold. He is outspoken just like Archie, and also very unemotional towards his family as well. Both Archie and Red seem very prejudice against anyone who doesn't represent the typical white, Republican American.


"That 70's Show" has a wider range of characters compared to "All in the Family" and also uses a different sense of humor. The Circle of friends is a larger focus on "That 70's Show" than the parents, Red and Kitty Forman. Also Fez is an international exchange student who usually gets picked on, the main character is the son Eric Forman, and Donna is a feminist. The characters in "All in the Family" are more generic and the show's main character is Archie. Another difference is the sense of humor used in the shows. "That 70's Show" uses more of a dry, sarcastic sense of humor compared to "All in the Family" which has a more crude sense of humor that reflected ideologies and was appropriate to that time frame. 


"That 70's Show" and "All in the Family" are also different in terms of context and the topics in question. Some of the context in "All in the Family" cannot be aired on television in our present day due to legal issues. The episode where Archie referred to Michael and Gloria's friend as a "fairy" because he assumed he was a homosexual would be considered very offensive and prejudice. If that episode was aired today, there would be law suits and protests and the producer, the network, the writers, and probably even the actors would end up fired. Although today's television shows explore more controversial topics, the way they are presented is played out very carefully. 

History of Radio

The influence of radio in the early 20th century is the foundation of today's mass media. Although advancement of technology and industries helped shape radio in the early 1920's, I believe that the main forces that had a greater impact on the formation of radio was regulation and government intervention. 

When the importance of radio was first noticed in the early 1900's, the government knew that it had to protect and control this new medium. The Radio Act of 1912 was the first regulation of radio by the government, it placed the licensing of radio under the spervision of the Department of Commerce.  Regulation of the radio by the government prevented Marconi from creating a monopoly of his invention in the United States and Europe. This allowed the government to supervise the use of radio within the United States.The Radio Act of 1927 created the Federal Radio Commission (FRC) that standardized  the radio format. There would also be fines and consequences for those that did not follow the regulations set (Media Now, ch 6). 

Marconi invented the first "radio" in 1896 that uses radio waves to carry Morse code messages, its initial purpose was a wireless telegraph for business. After it was use to spread the news of the sinking of the Titanic, the government noticed how important radio was and how it could be used in the military, which lead to the creation of the Radio Act of 1912. After the radio was released back to public, the government only allowed certain companies to operate a radio transmitter by acquiring a license (Media Now, ch 6). Regulating the radio, either by the government (FRC) or other powerful companies like the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), has influenced the turn out of radio and how become the dominant medium in the 1920's.

Social Learning Theory

Although many argue that we as a society is above the influence of mass media, I believe that we are being told how we should be living our lives, how to act, and how to be subconsciously as described by the social learning theory. 

The social learning theory is a theory that explains the reactions and outcomes that we get from mass media. We react a certain way and have certain attitudes from what we see and hear on television or in movies. Basically, consumers of mass media "model or imitate attitudes and behaviors observed in the media" (9/13/10 in class lecture). Our idea of who we should be and what role we should be playing in society is already previously determined by the mass media we see and hear everyday. 

This theory was evident when we watched "Tough Guise". The speaker in "Tough Guise" exposed why young men in our current day society are acting tough and participating in violent activity. It surprised me when they showed the example of how G.I Joe has grown bigger and more muscular, more manly, over time. That is a prime example of the social learning theory because that is teaching the young men in our society that if they want to be treated like a man, they have to act like one. They have to put up this front in order for others to take them seriously as a man, otherwise they would get picked on and beaten up. 

Hegemony in America

Hegemony is a term that gets tossed around a lot in our society today, but it is crucial to understand its meaning in relation to the mass media we come across in our everyday lives and how 'knowing' can help us better develop our own opinion and judgement on what is broadcasted to us. 

BUT, in order to be more educated about hegemony, we need to first understand what it means...

In general, hegemony is what allows the powerful ruling group in a society keep their power; they decide what is acceptable information for the public. By repeatedly giving a certain general message to public, whether it is right or wrong, the message will soon be accepted by the public and seen as common sense. Since the most powerful members in a society are almost always the richest members as well, they have the ability to "fund" the many mediums of mass media the public will see and hear. They are the gate keepers of information: they decide what information is shown, who will see this information (the target market), and usually, how the public will see the information - negatively or positively. 

Hegemony has a strong presence on local, national, but especially international news that is broadcast on television. I believe that there is a general negative portrayal of other countries in American news and this is a prime example of hegemony used to keep our nation's political power under control. The negative portrayals of other countries help the government develop the idea of how great the United States is compared to others, it gives the public a sense of reassurance for being American. Ideas of traveling to Mexico and Columbia are immediately questioned because all we know about these places are related to drug wars, violence, drugs, gangs, and more drugs - how often do we come across some positive news? By telling the same story over and over - drugs, war, and violence - it gets drilled into the mind and becomes common knowledge.