TCF 311 Exam #3

Exam #3 will cover chapters 9-13 in Television--including style history, music TV, commercials, and animation--and the introduction to Channels of Discourse. There will be short-answer questions (more than in the first two exams) and there will be essays on television texts you have chosen in advance. It will be open book and open note. That is, you may use any books/notes during the exam.

Preparation

Before the exam, choose one music video and two commercials. Do not select a commercial or video that is discussed in Television or in class (e.g., the Chevrolet and Dodge commercials). One of your commercials must exemplify the use of metaphor as a persuasive device and the other must exemplify the use of "counter television."

Before the exam, prepare the following in word-processed format:

1. Using the commercial exemplifying metaphor as a persuasive device:
   • Be prepared to explain how your commercial uses the same principle of cinematic metaphor that Sergei Eisenstein used in Strike.
2. Using the counter-television commercial only, create:
   1. A decoupage of the entire commercial. List every shot and identify what type of framing was used and whether there is any camera movement. Describe any significant action in the shot, using the characters' names (if they have names; if not, invent names for them). Include only the most significant dialogue; do not include every line. Indicate if there is voice-over narration in it.
      
      For example, the Northern Exposure scene on pp. 153-157 would look like this:
      1. LS exterior of Maggie's house, night.
      2. MLS interior. Maggie makes dinner for Joel.
      3. MCU Maggie talks to Joel about the night before. "Last night you were so different..."
      4. MCU Joel reponds.
      5. And so on . . .
   2. A storyboard (as on p. 146) of the entire commercial. Once again, artistic quality does not matter! Examples of student-made storyboards are available.
3. For the music video:
   1. The lyrics to the entire song. Several Websites provide lyrics. For a list of such sites, see http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Lyrics
   2. The video's credits: production company (record label), director, band members. Websites containing music-video information are listed here:
      http://directory.google.com/Top/Arts/Music/Music_Videos

The material above must be turned in with the exam and will be worth 10 points of the exam score.

It would also be a good idea to think through the analytical principles we've discussed as they apply to your commercials/video. You might even outline some thoughts along these lines, but you should not prepare a formal essay.