Friendly Sitcoms.

Televisions have become a central aspect of every American home. Its functions range from furniture, home decor, to even mediums for family bonding. One of the more important aspects of televisions is the actual programming. Programs are usually divided into dramas and sitcoms. The American sitcom is a short humorous show centered around everyday situations and normally retains the same aspects regardless of the producer or network it's being aired on.

One aspect that seems to be a part of every sitcom is similar cycles and repeated patterns. Every episode contains a humorous introduction that seems to set-up the eventual conflict that makes up the rest of the episode. The conflict usually involves at least two of the characters involved in the show and causes a rift between the two until the eventual resolution at the end. These plot cycles are present throughout every episode which then cumulate into the show's season. Most sitcoms fall short when it comes to plot and character development, which may be due to the shorter time allocations.

One of my favorite sitcoms, which most people have seen, is Friends. The sitcom revolves around a group of six friends and details their days living with each other in New York City. This show is no different than any other sitcom because it follows the same format. The scene before the opening credits and theme song usually involves a humorous interaction between the cast members and usually has nothing to do with the actual plot line. When the show returns from the commercial break, it progresses toward the conflict of the episode. This usually ranges from inner-conflict between the characters or something involving an outside source. Such as Ross and Rachel's continuous bickering because of their past relationship or something involving Joey's inability to get steady acting jobs. Part of the show focuses on these shortcomings but then eventually resolves them before the last scene of the episode. The last scene often involves most of the characters and another humorous interaction before the closing credits. Sometimes there is a plot development that spans over three to four episodes, which somewhat helps with character development.

Although sitcoms are usually predictable, I appreciate them for what they are supposed to be -- half an hour of humorous entertainment.

The Shining Angles.

The Shining seems to be a film with various examples of different camera angles, especially when considering their denotative and connotative meanings. Throughout the film the director uses an assortment of camera angles to instill a sense of suspense in the viewer.

One shot that is prominent throughout the film is the close up shot. It generally shows important details pertaining to the film and conveys a character’s deep emotions. For example, there is a historical scene where Jack breaks down a bathroom door with an ax to get to his wife Wendy. In this scene, the director utilizes the close up shot to demonstrate Jack’s insanity and Wendy’s fear. Due to the detail, the viewer can see the true emotions being portrayed on the screen and can fully realize the director’s intentions.

My favorite scene in the movie involves a medium shot. Generally medium shots are informational and reveal underlying stories in relationships. The shot involves Jack staring at Wendy and Danny through a window. The shot is from below and adds to perception that Jack is abnormal and powerful, which eventually is shown to be true. The context of the shot can be seen when the shot is held at a certain point, it adds to the overall tension of the film and sustains Jack’s authority.

            

The final scene of the movie involves a long shot that progresses into a close up shot. Long shots generally demonstrate isolation and when a zoom occurs it moves from general to specific. Specifically, when a frame is held at the end of the shot it is meant to promote shock. The scene zooms in from a corridor to a small picture frame. The change from general to specific reveals a key aspect of the plot. Jack had always been the hotelkeeper and merely relived a previous incident that occurred in the hotel. When the picture frame was the subject of the close up shot, it reinforced the shock associated with the portion of the plot that was revealed. 

Studio Time.

The studio system was the epitome of Classical Hollywood. Most of the major production studios were completely vertically integrated, which seems to be the most important aspect of the studio system.

            The big five studios were able to produce, distribute, and show all of their movies within their own companies. For instance, Warner Brothers was able to film a movie in a short period time because they had all of the actors and directors on site. Then they could have the film edited and distributed in the same location. After that, they would show the movie in movie theaters that were solely used for Warner Brothers films. It was a mass-production system similar to factories. This affected the types of films the studios made because it took a very short period of time to make them. Studios didn't have to wait to hire actors or directors to make a film, so subsequently that affected the films that they made. This can particularly be seen through genres. Each studio became known for a specific genre and revolved its actors around that. Since it was run like a factory, studios were able to release various films of the same genre within a few months of each other. This was achieved by changing the actors involved but they kept the plot mostly the same.

            Warner Brothers, for instance, was known for urban crime films that initially revolved around gangsters but eventually converted to detective films. Warner Brothers was able to make this transition smoothly because the entire system was set up. They had all of the writers on staff and the same directors were able to work on the same films. The star system was in place, so they simply had to change the actors to fit into the new roles. Everything was replaceable and interchangeable, which essentially defined the studio system.

All in the Family

Present-day comedy sitcoms seem to be situated around many of the same situations, either awkward situations for the main characters or something involving some type of sexual innuendo. Personally, I was taken aback by the blunt nature of  "All in the Family". 

The language used throughout the show is what really surprised me. I would have never imagined hearing the word 'fag' used so loosely in a present day sitcom on a major television network such as ABC or NBC. It didn't necessarily seem like a lack of censory, because there still wasn't use of explicit language. The reason may have been the lack of an LGBT movement during that time period. Now, it seems that using the term 'fag' would be a hot button issue and cause many rifts between viewers and the network. 

"All in the Family" seems to have the same plot formation as any modern day sitcom. There is a conflict introduced early on in the show and then a resolution following near the end. With the occasional joke and inserted audience laugh, there are very similar parallels to sitcoms that I grew up watching such as "Friends" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air". I suppose it's the same structure as any other story told in new media or print. Even "The Odyssey" seems to follow the same structure… and that's ancient.

Most subjects for TV shows seem to be dependent on the current status of the social structure. Things that may have seemed appealing during the 70s, won't be as appealing now. TV shows, especially sitcoms, seem to shed a light on certain hot-button issues and use euphemisms or sarcasm to lighten up the issues. "All in the Family" took a very conservative standpoint on the issue of LGBTQ individuals in America, when considering Archie's perspective. In the current state of TV, it would have been assumed that any person could be part of the gay community regardless of their physical appearance. Although, the ending of the episode did seem to elude to acceptance and Archie's realization that it was ok for his friend to be an ex-football player and still a homosexual man. I doubt that "All in the Family" would have brought up modern day issues within the LGBTQ community, such as marriage, equal rights, and adoption. Mostly because those issues weren't prevalent during that time period.

Radio.

We are taught in school that inventors are the innovators within our society. They think of things that make people’s lives a little easier. The problem nowadays is that everything seems to have already been invented. We have light bulbs, cooking stoves, and pretty much everything we might need to survive in an urbanized city. There are the occasional hot holiday items that everyone desperately needs, even if they really are just a blankets with sleeves. There are multiple factors that can affect a product’s success, and the radio is no different. Technological change was the driving force behind the innovations that shaped the radio industry because it initiated the mass production of radio.

Technological change is merely the innovation and creation of new technologies. Companies and scientists are constantly in competition with other companies in the same market. This forces them to try and develop technologies that are distinguishable from the competition in order to stay relevant. This may lead to the creation of new technologies that are in the same market. For instance, many companies are now introducing televisions with integrated 3-Dimensional capabilities. This is an extension of a market but has never been implemented before, and it could have never been achieved without the proper technological advancements in television technology.

Modern day radio was also an extension of a previously created technology. It was originally created to carry messages in Morse code over radio waves, and it was eventually developed to carry sound in the early 20^th century. These advancements made it possible for companies in the United States to take notice of the potential in commercial radio and were the basis for mass market production. After World War I, stores and companies began to sell radios to the general public in order to take advantage of daily broadcasts. This initiated the exposure of the new medium and was successful because more uses were being discovered for the newly broadened technology. Technological change was the main force behind the radio industry because without it mass broadcasting would have never spurred the investment in mass production of radio.

Social Learning and Experimental Research.

Monkey see, monkey do. You have probably heard the proverb a million times and would not have guessed it could be applied to modern day media studies. What seems to be the simple truth behind a four-word proverb is actually a topic area for experimental research on the impacts of media content on children. The concept of studying media impacts, through isolated experimental research, helps me understand why people believe children imitate certain aspects of the media they are introduced to.

Social learning focuses around the mime-like reactions individuals have to media exposure. Critics believe that the media may have a direct correlation with the progressive changes in society. Some argue that it reflects the current moral system in society and others argue it has the ability to alter the way our entire society thinks about certain issues. There are various types of approaches to these concepts, but experimental research specifically intrigued me. It takes the overall idea of social learning and applies it to a controlled micro-level experiment. The basic process is to take an isolated group of subjects and show them one type of media emphasized in the subject area of interest. For example, showing a clip with large amounts of cursing and seeing if the subjects respond by imitating the clip. To help increase the validity of the experiment, groups should be picked randomly. This helps diversify the subject pool but does not eliminate the fact that other variables will be present in real social situations.

The smaller application of experimental research helps me understand the macro-level of social learning. For instance, the following political cartoon shows the general idea quite well.

The cartoonist is showing the mime-like reactions associated with social learning. The cartoon highlights certain social effects by showing a deranged person directly imitating the ridiculous actions being shown on the television set and alluding to violence by having the character hold a gun and a knife. The cartoon shows the power the media and has over an individual’s attitude and behavior. Variations of these effects have already been tested through experimental research by Bandura and his colleagues at Stanford University.

- E. Camacho

Image Source: http://www.pediatricbehavior.com/Articles/EffectsTVViolence.htm

Hegemony.

I have heard the term ‘hegemony’ tossed around a couple of times, but I could never really grasp the concept completely. I mean it is essentially a form of coercive brainwash, which is pretty heavy stuff. So, after sitting in this cold library for half an hour I have realized that the concept of hegemony helps me understand the capitalistic nature of the United States by learning about the power structures in society.

Hegemony has many forms and is present in all societies across the world. The conceptual idea is that the ruling class within a society or country homogenizes certain ideas that benefit their interests so they can maintain their dominance within that society or country. There are variations within the general concept of hegemony.  American Imperialism is a good example of specific types of hegemony – hard power and soft power. Hard power involves spreading a country’s ideals through the use of coercive military force. Soft power, on the other hand, involves spreading a country’s ideals through non-violent diplomacy. Hegemony in military dominance differs a bit from hegemony in mass media and the economy, but I hope you are able to follow my thought process for understanding the concept.

Although American Imperialism is on a larger scale, the theory behind it helps me understand this interesting political cartoon I found. 

I have always thought about political cartoons as fancy ink blots. Probably because it always takes me a while to really understand what’s going on with either of them… I digress. The cartoon depicts a tall Uncle Same who’s whipping small faceless people and bulls that are dragging along major U.S. corporations.

The first thing I would like to focus on is Uncle Same himself. The cartoonist depicts him as tall and White to portray his superiority over the smaller workers below him. Typically, the ruling class within our society that sets the ideals we conform to, have been powerful White men within our government. This is a visual example of hegemony because he is depicted with a bloody whip, which symbolizes his control over the minorities within the society through forceful means.

Next is the group supporting our economy, the small faceless people and the bulls. The small people are the minorities within our society who are grouped together with the animals because our capitalist system portrays them as merely laborers. This is a depiction of a certain ideology that hegemony enforces in society: minorities will never be able to reach the high social status of White businessmen because they are merely slaves to our economic system.

- E. Camacho

Image Source: http://www.11th-hour.info/images/US_hegemony.JPG