Exam #2 will cover chapters 5-8--including mise-en-scene, videography and cinematography, editing and sound (chapter 9 will be covered on Exam #3). There will be short-answer questions, but the bulk of the exam will be essays on a television program 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
Choose a fictional, narrative television program that you have access to in digital format: DVD, iTunes, and so on. Do not select an animated show or a nonnarrative program such as a game show, sports program, or "reality" program (e.g., Survivor). If you are unable to obtain a TV show on DVD, you may use the Mad Men episode we partially viewed in class. (A Mad Men DVD is on reserve in the Phifer Reader Room.)
Also, the following programs may not be used: The Andy Griffith Show, The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Friends, Northern Exposure, Oz, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, Golden Girls, My Wife and Kids, Third Rock from the Sun, Jag, Roseanne, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Designing Women, Jamie Foxx Show, Spin City, Dawson’s Creek, Will and Grace, For Your Love, That 70s Show, Full House, Drew Carey Show, The Practice, Dick van Dyke Show, Seinfeld.
Before the exam, prepare the following in word-processed format:
- An illustrated decoupage (a shot-by-shot description) of a single scene (5 points). List every shot in your scene and identify what type of framing was used (see the abbreviations on pp. 174-175). Describe any significant action in the shot, using the characters' (not the actors') names. Include only the most significant dialogue; do not include every line.
The illustrations for the decoupage must be made out of frame grabs obtained from your DVD (or digital file). In effect, you are creating a storyboard of your scene (as on pp. 205-211).
You may wish to use this Word document as a template for your decoupage (right-click or control-click it to download). Examples of student-made storyboards are available here. VLC media player, which is free frame-grabbing software, is also available for Windows and Mac computers with DVD drives. A VLC-specific tutorial is over here. (A video file from Mad Men is available, if you choose to analyze it.)
For example, the descriptions of the Northern Exposure scene on pp. 206-211 would look like this:
- LS exterior of Maggie's house, night.
- MLS interior. Maggie makes dinner for Joel.
- MCU Maggie talks to Joel about the night before. "Last night you were so different..."
- MCU Joel responds.
- And so on . . .
- A diagram of the camera positions used in this scene--as in Figures 7.6 and 7.7 and the decoupage of the car commercial we did in class (4 points). Identify which shots are done from which camera positions.
- The episode's credits: producer, production company, director, writer, principal cast (actors' and characters' names; 1 point). Remember, The Internet Movie Database (us.imdb.com) and EpGuides.com contain most of this information. You must list the credits for your specific episode, not the entire series.
The material above must be turned in with the exam and will be worth a total of 10 points.
Take-Home Essays
Write answers to the following questions and turn them in with the in-class portion of the exam. Each answer should be two-three paragraphs and must be word processed. Worth 20 points each.
- Mise-en-scene: Describe the blocking in your scene. Is deep space used? How do the placement and movement of the actors mirror the narrative of your scene? Describe the lighting in one shot from your scene. Is it high-key or low-key? Explain. How do set design and costume design help build the characters and the narrative of your scene?
- Sound: What type of music, if any, does your scene use? Imagine adding Erik Satie’s "Gymnopedie No. l" (the first, classical piano piece heard in class over the Dodge commercial) to your scene. How would this music change the meaning of your scene’s shots? Choose a recognizable, copyrighted song and discuss how adding it to the scene would change the meaning of its shots. Explain the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic sound and cite examples of each from your episode (they don’t have to be from scene you broke down).