Archive for May, 2007
Appreciating the Particular in Format Television: The Case of Le Banquier
Ira Wagman, Carleton University — May 15th, 2007|
I present this clip of Le Banquier, Quebec’s wildly popular take on Deal or no Deal, to draw attention to the cultural particularities of “global television formats.” For as much as we deride format television it is not a new development. Game shows have been adapted for local audiences for some time. The shows themselves are not particularly original; Deal is in many ways a variation of one of the oldest games around -- the one with the three shells and a pea. So the local component [...]
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A Whirlpool of Things
Christian Keathley, Middlebury College — May 14th, 2007|
Consider this clip from Otto Preminger’s Whirlpool (1949). Even within the context of the film at this point, the man’s actions are perplexing. What is the significance of these actions, these objects? The hidden scarf, the broken glass, the deliberate spill (and the pause that precedes it)? Ultimately, of course, this will all be answered by the film. Indeed, it must be answered. Until then, we can only wait … and guess.
Critical commentary often functions like the narrative exp [...]
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Make a fan vid for MTV and win cool prizes: Participatory pleasures and profits converge
Avi Santo, Old Dominion University — May 11th, 2007|
Yahoo and MTV are offering prizes for fan-produced movie trailer spoofs. The winners will get a Golden Bucket of Popcorn Award on the live MTV Awards show on June 4th. While clearly an example of converging producer branding efforts with consumer desires for textual interaction, it is worth noting that MTV and Yahoo have rigidly defined what films can be spoofed (all recent big budget fare) and where these spoofs can be uploaded (read: not Youtube). I guess Bleak House won't be represented. Mo [...]
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“Taking Colbert Seriously: Faux News Man Issues Faux Apology for Real News
Megan Boler, University of Toronto — May 10th, 2007|
This April 26 segment of The Colbert Report (CR) reflects a shift in patterns of news reporting and "status" of "fake news." On February 12, 2007, Colbert devoted 'The Word' to a story buried or unreported by almost all other news: a Defense Department report that evidences Defense Undersecretary Douglas Feith's "pre-war report fabricating a link between Saddam and Al-Qaeda…" which Colbert further describes as "manipulated intelligence." In April, NPR replayed Stephen Colbert's report on Feit [...]
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Porn Nation: Come hither and repent
Chris Boulton, University of Massachusetts, Amherst — May 9th, 2007|
Has “Porn Nation” come to your school? In just two years, the evangelical anti-pornography multimedia extravaganza has visited over 80 college campuses.
Many media texts exploit the very content they pretend to attack, but this promo video presents an especially interesting case. On the one hand, we have slick production values, complete with rapid-fire editing, melodramatic drum rolls, and peek-a-boo glimpses of provocative sexual material. On the other, we have interview subjects who a [...]
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Tori and Dean and Youtube: Redundancy, Reality TV and Celebrity Transmedia
Moya Luckett, New York University — May 8th, 2007|
In sourcing her life for reality programming, Tori Spelling has created her own celebrity transmedia text. Her reality-comedy, So NoTorious didn't produce a new, successful hybrid genre, but did lead Spelling to a new show—and life. Reality shows usually don't lead to the disinheritance animated in her new show's opening credits, yet Spelling's transformation into married woman running a B&B appears staged for cameras. Tori and Dean: Inn Love features Spelling welcoming press coverage, invitin [...]
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Sudsy Superheroes and Transmedia Storytelling, or, Why Comic Book Heroes Do It Better
Avi Santo, Old Dominion University — May 4th, 2007|
A few weeks ago, Elana Levine presented us with The Guiding Light's efforts to tap into the superhero universe when heroine Harley Cooper was granted superpowers for an episode. This was part of a cross-promotion effort with Marvel Comics, which also ran an 8-page story on Harley's encounters with the Avengers and the Sinister Six that same month. Whereas the Guiding Light's goals seem driven by their need to forestall possible cancellation through what amounted to little more than a one time st [...]
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The Smoking Room: The Ashes of Sitcom Style
Daniel Marcus, Goucher College — May 3rd, 2007|
American sitcoms alternate between bland lighting illuminating bland people in affluent spaces and cartoonish visual style depicting cartoonish characters. As part of the recurrent post-Thatcher British study of the abject, The Smoking Room takes place entirely in the lounge for the tobacco pariahs of a middling commercial concern (invaded, in this clip, by the boss trying to make nice). The Smoking Room damps down the color register through the haze, puts broken-down furniture in front of misma [...]
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Yours or Ours? The L Word’s OurChart, Internet Social Networking, and Identity
Michele White, Tulane University — May 2nd, 2007|
In the first season of Showtime's L Word, Alice charts her lesbian friends' sexual relationships. In season four, Alice produces an interactive web-based chart and Showtime advertises OurChart—an Internet social networking site "for lesbians" with a chart, personal profiles (including a listing for Leisha who plays Alice), and advertisements. The promo for OurChart depicts Alice pressed against glass as if she is about to shift from one "side" of the monitor to the other and envisions the ende [...]
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How This Must End—Constitutive Rhetoric and Oppositional Video Practice
Kevin Howley, Associate Professor of Media Studies DePauw University — May 16th, 2007