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

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'''"'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"'''
 
'''"'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV'"'''
[[Image:ATWTRyan.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Meg Ryan in ''As the World Turns'' (1984).]]
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<gallery mode="packed" heights=400px>
[[Image:ATWTFrost.jpg|thumb|400px|left|Screen shot of Frank Runyeon and Lindsay Frost in ''As the World Turns'' (1985).]]
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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).
#'''Group 2''': How does Jean-Louis Comolli's notion of a "body too much" in historical film apply to the soap opera?
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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).
#'''Group 3''': What is the "commutation test"? How does it apply to soap-opera recasting?
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</gallery>
#'''Group 4 & 5''': How do Lindsey Frost's character/performance signs differ from Meg Ryan's? What meaning does that difference connote?
 
#'''Group 6''': What makes Meg Ryan an atypical soap star?
 
#'''Group 1''': 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 Charlie Allnut character in ''African Queen''? Pick another actor and perform a commutation test.
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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.
 
<br style="clear: both;">
 
<br style="clear: both;">
  
 
'''"Television and Zero-Degree Style"'''
 
'''"Television and Zero-Degree Style"'''
[[Image:Fig113 ATWT20080201qq00 30 40qq00020.jpg|left|thumb|400px|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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<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:
#*'''Group 2''': Sets? Lighting?
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#*'''Groups 5 and 1''': Sets? Lighting?
#*'''Group 3 & 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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#*'''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 5 & 6''': 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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#*'''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''?
 
<br style="clear: both;">
 
<br style="clear: both;">
  
 
==2010 Ratings==
 
==2010 Ratings==
  
Total Viewers (Compared to Previous Week/Compared to Previsou Year). Boldfaced shows are still on the air as of spring 2014.
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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)'''
 
#'''Y&R 5,103,000 (+17,000/-13,000)'''
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== Bibliography ==
 
== Bibliography ==
#Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in ''Television Style'' (New York: Routledge, 2010), 55-120.
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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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#*Revised and updated as: Jeremy G. Butler, "Television and Zero-Degree Style" in ''Television Style'' (New York: Routledge, 2010), 55-120.
 
#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.
 
#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==
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.php Soap Opera Illustrations]
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*[https://tvcrit.org/Classes/Jbutler/T440/SoapOperaIllustrations.php#ATWTstyle "Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus" Illustrations]
*[http://www.tvstylebook.com/pix/chapter1/ "Television and Zero-Degree Style" illustrations]
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**[http://tvstylebook.com/galleries/01/ "Television and Zero-Degree Style" illustrations]
**[http://www.criticalcommons.org/Members/jbutler/clips/atwt20080201.mp4 Video clip]
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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]
*[http://www.tcf.ua.edu/EO/ATWTAlums.htm ''ATWT'' alumni.]
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*Jeremy G. Butler, "'I'm Not a Doctor, But I Play One on TV' Illustrations
*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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**[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.
  
[[Category:TCF440-540]]
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[[Category:JCM412/512 Discussion]]
[[Category:TCF440/540 Discussion]]
 

Latest revision as of 01:07, 8 September 2019

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

  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"

  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