Difference between revisions of "Melodrama Variations: TV Soap Opera (Discussion)"

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==Readings==
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'''"'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"'''
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==="Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus"===
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
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[[Image:ATWTTomei01.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Marisa Tomei and Breck Jamison in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).]]
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File:ATWTRyan.jpg|alt=Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).
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File:ATWTFrost.jpg|alt=Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in ''As the World Turns'' (1985).|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in ''As the World Turns'' (1985).
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</gallery>
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#'''Groups 5 and 1''': How does Jean-Louis Comolli's notion of a "body too much" in historical film apply to the soap opera?
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#*What is the "commutation test"? How does it apply to soap-opera recasting?
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#'''Groups 3 and 4''': How do Lindsey Frost's character/performance signs differ from Meg Ryan's? What meaning does that difference connote?
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#'''Groups 6 and 2''': What makes Meg Ryan an atypical soap star?
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#*How does the position of soap actors resemble that of early-film actors?
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'''All Groups''': How might the commutation test be used with Humphrey Bogart's Dixon Steele character in ''In a Lonely Place''? Pick another actor and perform a commutation test on Dixon.
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<br style="clear: both;">
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'''"Television and Zero-Degree Style"'''
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
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File:Fig113 ATWT20080201qq00 30 40qq00020.jpg|alt=Katie and Brad in an ''As the World Turns'' screen shot, from :30:40 in the episode broadcast 1 Feb 2008.|Katie and Brad in an ''As the World Turns'' screen shot, from :30:40 in the episode broadcast 1 Feb 2008.
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File:Fig135 AlsDinerSet4 Final.jpg|alt=Diagram of camera positions.|Diagram of camera positions.
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</gallery>
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#What are the main characteristics of soap opera's style of sound and image? And what significance do they have? In other words, what/how does style ''signify'' in terms of:
 
#What are the main characteristics of soap opera's style of sound and image? And what significance do they have? In other words, what/how does style ''signify'' in terms of:
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#*'''Group 2''': Sets?
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#*'''Groups 5 and 1''': Sets? Lighting?
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#*'''Group 2''': Lighting?
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#*'''Groups 3 and 4''': Multiple-camera production?  ''In terms of how it looks on the screen'', how does multiple-camera production differ from single-camera production?
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#*'''Group 3''': Multiple-camera production?  ''In terms of how it looks on the screen'', how does multiple-camera production differ from single-camera production?
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#*'''Groups 6 and 2''': Dialogue? Music? How are these characteristics present (or not) in the scene from ''ATWT'' episode we viewed in class? How would you compare/contrast the sound in ''ATWT'' with that of the radio soap, ''Backstage Wife''?
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#*Dialogue?
 
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#*'''Group 3''': Music?
 
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#'''Groups 2 & 3''': How are these characteristics present in the scene from ''As the World Turns'' in which the two roommates quarrel, or in other scenes from the ''ATWT'' episode we viewed? How would you compare/contrast the sound in ''ATWT'' with that of the radio soap, ''Backstage Wife''?
 
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<br style="clear: both;">
 
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==="'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"===
 
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[[Image:ATWTRyan.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).]]
 
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[[Image:ATWTFrost.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in ''As the World Turns'' (1985).]]
 
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#'''Group 4''': How does Jean-Louis Comolli's notion of a "body too much" in historical film apply to the soap opera?
 
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#'''Grad Group''': What is the "commutation test"? How does it apply to soap-opera recasting?
 
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#*'''Grad Group''': How might the commutation test be used with Humphrey Bogart's Charlie Allnut character in ''African Queen''?
 
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#'''Group 1''': What makes Meg Ryan an atypical soap star?
 
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#'''Group 1''': How does the position of soap actors resemble that of early-film actors?
 
 
<br style="clear: both;">
 
<br style="clear: both;">
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==2010 Ratings==
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 +
Total Viewers (Compared to Previous Week/Compared to Previsou Year). Boldfaced shows are still on the air as of spring 2018.
 +
 +
#'''Y&R 5,103,000 (+17,000/-13,000)'''
 +
#'''B&B 3,188,000 (-71,000/-111,000)'''
 +
#'''DAYS 2,838,000 (-96,000/-148,000)'''
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#'''GH 2,532,000 (-19,000/-114,000)'''
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#AMC 2,481,000 (-79,000/-218,000)
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#OLTL 2,314,000 (-112,000/-350,000)
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#ATWT 2,308,000 (-160,000/-224,000) -- 9.7% drop from 2009
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http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/35133-march-15-19-2010/
  
 
== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus: Televisual Style and AS THE WORLD TURNS," ''Cinema Journal'', 25.3 (1986): 53-70.
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus: Televisual Style and ''As the World Turns''," ''Cinema Journal'' 25, no. 3 (Spring 1986): 53-70.
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV': Characters, Actors, and Acting in Television Soap Opera," ''Cinema Journal'' 30.4 (1991): 75-91.  
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#*Revised and updated as: Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in ''Television Style'' (New York: Routledge, 2010), 55-120.
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#Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV': Characters, Actors, and Acting in Television Soap Opera," ''Cinema Journal'' 30, no. 4 (1991): 75-91.
  
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.htm Soap Opera Illustrations]
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*[https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.php#ATWTstyle "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus" Illustrations]
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*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/ATWTAlums.htm ''ATWT'' alumni.]
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**[http://tvstylebook.com/galleries/01/ "Television and Zero-Degree Style" illustrations]
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*Johanna Schneller, [http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T577/ryan.htm "Meg Ryan"], ''Us Weekly'', April 1998, pp. 50-54, 96.
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***[http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/jbutler/clips/atwt20080201.mp4 Video clip] [http://tcf.ua.edu/EO/DV/ATWT01.php Local copy of video clip]
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*Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV' Illustrations
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**[https://tvcrit.org/EO/DV/SoapOpera01.php ATWT commutation test video clip]
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**[https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.php#RyanRunyeon More on Meg Ryan and Frank Runyeon]
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**[https://tvcrit.org/EO/ATWTAlums.htm ''ATWT'' alumni.]
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**Johanna Schneller, [https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/T577/ryan.htm "Meg Ryan"], ''Us Weekly'', April 1998, pp. 50-54, 96.
  
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[[Category:TCF440-540]]
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[[Category:JCM412/512 Discussion]]
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[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]
 

Latest revision as of 01:07, 8 September 2019

"'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"

  • Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in As the World Turns (1984).

    Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in As the World Turns (1984).

  • Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in As the World Turns (1985).

    Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in As the World Turns (1985).

  1. Groups 5 and 1: How does Jean-Louis Comolli's notion of a "body too much" in historical film apply to the soap opera?
    • What is the "commutation test"? How does it apply to soap-opera recasting?
  2. Groups 3 and 4: How do Lindsey Frost's character/performance signs differ from Meg Ryan's? What meaning does that difference connote?
  3. Groups 6 and 2: What makes Meg Ryan an atypical soap star?
    • How does the position of soap actors resemble that of early-film actors?

All Groups: How might the commutation test be used with Humphrey Bogart's Dixon Steele character in In a Lonely Place? Pick another actor and perform a commutation test on Dixon.

"Television and Zero-Degree Style"

  • Katie and Brad in an As the World Turns screen shot, from :30:40 in the episode broadcast 1 Feb 2008.

    Katie and Brad in an As the World Turns screen shot, from :30:40 in the episode broadcast 1 Feb 2008.

  • Diagram of camera positions.

    Diagram of camera positions.

  1. What are the main characteristics of soap opera's style of sound and image? And what significance do they have? In other words, what/how does style signify in terms of:
    • Groups 5 and 1: Sets? Lighting?
    • Groups 3 and 4: Multiple-camera production? In terms of how it looks on the screen, how does multiple-camera production differ from single-camera production?
    • Groups 6 and 2: Dialogue? Music? How are these characteristics present (or not) in the scene from ATWT episode we viewed in class? How would you compare/contrast the sound in ATWT with that of the radio soap, Backstage Wife?


2010 Ratings

Total Viewers (Compared to Previous Week/Compared to Previsou Year). Boldfaced shows are still on the air as of spring 2018.

  1. Y&R 5,103,000 (+17,000/-13,000)
  2. B&B 3,188,000 (-71,000/-111,000)
  3. DAYS 2,838,000 (-96,000/-148,000)
  4. GH 2,532,000 (-19,000/-114,000)
  5. AMC 2,481,000 (-79,000/-218,000)
  6. OLTL 2,314,000 (-112,000/-350,000)
  7. ATWT 2,308,000 (-160,000/-224,000) -- 9.7% drop from 2009

http://boards.soapoperanetwork.com/topic/35133-march-15-19-2010/

Bibliography

  1. Jeremy G. Butler, "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus: Televisual Style and As the World Turns," Cinema Journal 25, no. 3 (Spring 1986): 53-70.
    • Revised and updated as: Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in Television Style (New York: Routledge, 2010), 55-120.
  2. Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV': Characters, Actors, and Acting in Television Soap Opera," Cinema Journal 30, no. 4 (1991): 75-91.

External links

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