Friends to Watch Friends

Narrative fiction programming, or as we like to call it television, quickly became the prime-time event of family night, the center of the den/living room, and the implied statement on actual television shows, as it rose to popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. Speaking from a reel world perspective, tv shows were seen through in two main feature modes: serial and episodic. Episodic in particular, also nown as the sitcom, evaluates and presents the predictable and familiar plot development. With not much charater arc, each episode doesn't neccesarily connect to the others in a plot line, each standing alone and raising both a question and answer on it's own. Some more than others will introduce a lesson that is learned throughout the thirty minutes of viewing.

For instance, if you were to look at the popular television series, Friends, you can understand the labeled aspects and certain characterisitics of an episodic sitcom found in this show. Where six best friends modify a three-act structure, accumlating mini-resolutions throughout there times living in Manhattan in neighbored apartments. Now running as late-night re-runs on TBS, this television show cycles through it's plots in one way or another, brining back the mini series drama and amusement, repeating patterns and creating a seasonal text. Escalated with humor and wit, involving relationships between Rachel and Ross or Monica and Chandler,this group of pals bring into character a new twist or action that keeps the audience glued to the screen, as well as keeping it's ratings up, and keeping the mold of an american tv sitcom.

Solo Shots

People show up to the movie theaters, and for an hour or so second-handily experience the language of the actors through a story line of comedy, romance, or horror. But most people tend to over look the language that is interpreted in the film behind the scenes; how the cinematographer and director use their own dialect through camera shots to intertwine the language of acting and film together to produce a movie that would have a follow-through. 

Film-makers use the direction of different distances to portray these moments in time. Specific shots are utilized to interpret a situation differently. For instance in the Academy Award winning film, The Soloist, you can see how director Joe Wright manipulates the situation in a scene by displaying it through a long shot, medium shot or close up view. It allows the story to travel from general to specific details by changing the look of the scene.

Illustrated in the first image, the long shot presents an overview of the location and who all is relative to the place. Also known as the orientation shot, shown from The Soloist, we can find that Nathaniel Ayers and Steve Lopez are set in an abandoned street alley, therefore giving a "who" and "where" of the plot. Steve is stepped back, eyes open, watching the violinist play his tunes. It symbolizes a lonely, isolated state setting the characters farther away and smaller to the eye.

Following the long shot is the second picture of information, the medium shot. This brings a closer look to who the characters are, and confirming that they are Nathaniel and Steve. Here they meet each other, still within each other's comfort zones, putting a name to the face. The visual is combined with discussion between the two people, representing and stating a 
relationship in the film.

And finally comes the impact of emotion, revealing the freckles, wrinkles, or dimples on their face, as well as conveying important details to advance in the narrative. Nathaniel is cautious to Steve, showing little trust and hesitation in his physical self. Altogether the combination of these shots pull together the language of film and its significance in relevance to the story and its characters/actors.

Black and Blanca Hollywood

Within the “Casablanca” film period, the studio system had the ability to put everything in one place, where directors, producers, and actors all resembled in the same contract format and followed under specific producer-distributor market control. One aspect in particular was known as the star system, where actors and actresses were material products of immaterial production. 

Stars best exemplified the way the studio system worked, but they were also contracted by the studios, and paid to sell their products. In order for stars to make the big leagues and act in what films they desired, they were under contract to work in five to six other films that weren’t of interest to them. Although this brought about a huge money-maker business into the factory-based, mass production system of the big eight producer-distributors. Audiences were drawn to any movies with any big name actors, even if they included a poorly-played plot.

- "Here's to looking at you, kid."

As stars all worked under one substantial company, such as MGM studios, actresses, such as Judy Garland, were used to promote business within their system. When Judy Garland was discovered in the Andy Hardy series, she helped to elevate the status of Clark Gable in a song. With these factors, the star system worked to the advantage of the studio system between the 1920s and 1940s.

All in The Family vs. 8 Simple Rules

A television sitcom today, does not resemble the same impacted message as it did thirty of forty years ago. During the seventies, All in The Family, brought to attention the conflict of homosexuality and challenged it. Previewing a specific episode that illustrated the struggle between a son and his father, and the son's secret of being homosexual. It's interesting to see how we can look to a family-based comedy today, such as 8 Simple Rules, and that same factor doesn't stir up half as much conflict. 

8 Simple Rules tends to focus more on smaller subjects that are followed through the daily life of a family than relatively anything else. For example, if a girl doesn't get along with her father, or the boy is trying to ask a girl out. TV shows, like All in The Family, centered around certain subjects of matter that had not been solved or were seen as some type of discrimination in that era, provoking and trying to blend it into equality in a sense.

Yet, altogether both All in The Family and 8 Simple Rules express humor and wit, raising the mood, and using specific situations and themes that relate to their audience. These television shows, among many others, have entertained us and allow us to escape for half an hour. 

From AM to FM to The World Unknown...

They say how one person can change the world, how with one thought or idea life can be upgraded or made new in some way. This is how the world viewed Marconi in 1896, when he developed the first radio transmitter. Following history of the radio from then until now, you can see how technological advances within this box of metal has changed our media community entirely.

Radio, as spoken out of the Meriam-Webster dictionary, entails "the wireless transmission and reception of electric impulses or signals by means of electromagnetic waves;" or in other words the small box of metal in our car that entertains us by way of music, sports broadcasts, gossip and traffic reports, as we cruise down the interstate. This machine, still advancing through the years, has been able to personally spread the combined thoughts and lyrics of the public from every individual household to every individual automobile. After Marconi's bright idea, radio's history follows up with De Forest invention of the vacuum tube (1906) and the very start of the first radio station (1920), KDKA, with Frank Conrad. From a radio station to a entire radio network to the FCC, this upcoming business has magnified and impacted the way we view our media today.

One of the many technological advances among the radio, was the era of the FM revolution! It was a new "high-fidelity sound (Media Now 166)," allowing more stations within the radio community, step-up in how the radio was heard. Although among that, it came with a short range, only being able to be heard "within the line of sight of the radio transmitter (Media Now 166)." But that didn't stop the public form listening in to broadcasts and jamming out to their favorite tunes, as the FM radio brought in more stations with less interference it opened up a greater world of music. Altogether this invention/advancement of technology has created one of many profound ways in how we receive and understand media still now today.

Lies My TV Told Me

Media tends to play tricks on us, especially with how we view ourselves. It's a mind game that we fall for whether or not we want to, just as long as we are listening. Society and how it's run, is all represented through your television screen, depicting what you see, think, and feel, and even how you react. 

- Rambo

Two documentaries, based on gender, evaluate how strong the broadcasting force protrudes on the viewer. You can see in Tough Guise, the only way in life for boys to become men in their community is to grow some courage, pick a fight, and lead the invincible leadership role. In this film, the speaker tells us how guys are taught to "pick themselves up, and dust themselves off," even at an early age. Viewing movie clips of The Terminator or Rambo, presents how boys have to be this rough and tough, gun shooting, arm-wrestling, greasy animal. Apart from women, men are on more lenient terms when it comes to behavior, as in the motto "boys will be boys." They can only be presented in masculine ways, if there was any touch of femininity, for example wearing skinny jeans or shedding a tear, they are called homosexual or sissies for that matter.

-Calvin Klein

As for girls being played in public, you can see in magazine article spreads or billboards, how vulnerable, sexual and innocent we are, and that's how it should be (as viewed from the media). From the movie, Killing Us Softly, women are set up to be nothing but skin and bones to be seen as any kind of pretty. We have dropped our scale of weight from a Marlin Monroe to a Nicole Richie mindset. In films, females are the submissive role, laying scared and helpless. Killing Us Softly displays Calvin Klein advertising, little girls in nothing but denim, as a central "correct" way of thinking and how we should view ourselves.


In all accounts, I believe that the media and broadcasting world holds way to much power of how society is portrayed, yet then again it is our decision to follow these lies. But how are we to escape them, if they surround us each and every day in everything we do. Media is the creeping big brother hovering over us, what are we to do about it?

The Frame Game

A game that could get you entangled in the very sense of what they want, is exactly what the media desires when they are framing. In society today, the media as we know it, controls the gist of how we think by using specific tools, such as hegemony, framing, and agenda setting. 


One in particular, framing, tends to cut and weave through newspaper articles, television channels, and more; advising you through a biased opinion that this is the way to think. While agenda setting provides the topics, framing provides your point of view. Altogether you can view this being done through every television commercial, website broadcast, and magazine article.


For example, previously when I was flipping channels, two news stations spoke out to me in the sense that one geared more towards democratic and liberal ideals; while the other discussed more conservative and republic thinking. It was interesting to see how the two channels tried to persuade you to think on one topic, such as the war in Iraq, and how they differed completely. One channel would favor the president's decision, while the other would criticize the way our government is running our country. One would focus on far we have gotten in conserving the violence, while the other paid close attention to how many deaths had been caused by bombings. 


This is a strong but subtle way of how the media turns important events into a distinct thought process or angle for your own aspect.

The Reel World

To aspirers of art,

I come to you in search of finding the knowledge and resources needed to help my crave and longing for film. I involved myself with the class of RTF 305 in order to further pursue my, what is now, year long goal of working behind the scenes on major motion pictures. I jumped into acting on screen my junior year in high school and fell in love, but hit the new sensation of a more realistic occupation and interesting diagnostic of the movie world. Now I understand that a year is not a great deal of time to realize your life dream, but for now I am following the motto of "live life to the fullest in every second you have." - anonymous . . . And I can tell you that the art of film has intrigued me and drawn me in with still shots, set-designs, production, direction, you name it! I'll admit I'm coming in with little experience, but my determination will overpower that weakness this semester! So I intend to take from this class the necessary tools in making a damn good movie!

                 - Alexandria 

All The President's Men (1976)