My Top Ten Electronic Media Writing Revelations, Part I

#1 - The stories that are not being told.

I felt this starting at the end of Mass Media & Society my first year here, but now I definitely feel that one of the largest ways in which I have changed how I think about media is centered around the idea of ownership. This concept essentially means that people who are consuming media need to stay aware of the fact that somebody owns whatever it is that is being 'digested.'

Writing for Television, Radio, and New Media by Robert L. Hilliard talks a little bit about the concept of ownership on page 13. He says that owners of media properties want those properties to portray their messages or, at the least, not contradict their ideas.

In trying to find a media production where ownership isn't almost definitely not an issue, there is an inherent challenge: In order for something in the media to exist, somebody needs to create it. Thanks to some friends, however, I was introduced to a series of youtube videos that fulfill the meaninglessness of ownership.

Take this one for example. Apparently this is an internet meme called 'MOAR Krabs,' which is a horrible recreation of Mr. Krabs from Spongebob Squarepants. This video is Spongebob, Squidward, and MOAR Krabs rocking out in the scene of Night at the Roxsbury and I can't make a message from its creator besides, "Enjoy this, it is purely entertainment."

However, a video such as this...

...raises some questions about ownership that I would not have thought about before being presented with the teachings of this class.

Volkswagen is openly endorsing this advertisement. What does this mean for a devout Christian who owns a Volkswagen? What's to stop them from viewing Dudeism as a complete joke? Will they resent Volkswagen? What is Volkswagen trying to say? That they are religiously accepting, no matter how ridiculous the religion?

Stories that aren't being told, people.

#2 - The Image Dominates the Word

On page 8, Hilliard says that television program's writing can be tested by turning the picture off and keeping the audio on. If you still get the same idea, the writing is successful. I would think that if one passes the test, he or she should be valued as a writer. What I actually think, however, is that no one cares about the words as long as the image is shiny enough. Avatar has become a box office legend. I saw it for the first time and it wasn't in IMAX or 3D. I hated it. I hated most of the characters and I thought the plot was horrible with a lot of contradictions. There were several established plot and world elements that were neglected and that got my blood boiling. It is a shame that we now have proof that aesthetic focus can reap great benefits. The thousands upon thousands of people who went to see the film can not have gone because they heard the plot was so good.

Thankfully it didn't get picture of the year. No one should be awarded for foregoing a coherent, fluid plot and replacing it with eye candies.

Here's a trailer for the movie if you don't know about it already:

#3 The Media World is Mostly Established

Throughout Hilliard's book were several instances of detailed guidelines for formatting and scripting. One of the most specific details in the book is on page 55. For scripting a filmed teleplay the Writers Guild of America says that all dialogue should be typed within approximately a 3 inch wide column. What kind of research went into determining that number? Why does it matter?

I realize that whatever profession I get into, I will probably start out riding a very guided route. That's fine, I suppose, but how much does it really matter? Has somebody been fired for having a column that was 5 inches wide? I would personally want a wider column for dialogue so there are less lines and thus less opportunities to get lost and re-read a line or skip a line.

Photo from here.

#4 Commercials are not High Art

On page 70, the start of chapter 4, Hilliard says that commercials have been developed to such a mastered level that they are high art. On page 71 he quotes S. J. Paul who says that commercial makers are the real stars of television and radio structures. How can somebody say that? What do you think of the reasons piracy's popularity is top tier is? You can watch shows with no interruptions. Sites like Hulu and Youtube include advertising not because they think people enjoy commercials (Why do you think sometimes you'll find the option to watch 2 minutes of advertising in the beginning of a video? So you can walk away for two minutes while it plays and come back to watch what you want to watch.) but because it brings in the money.

There's a YouTube series that features terrible commercials and explains some of the reasons they are so bad. This is a more recent commercial based on the upload date, is this a mastery of persuasion?

#5 Sports Coverage is Mastered

One of the sections of the book that made the most sense to me was its discussion of sports. I have recently gotten into sports and read the sports section in the Times often. On page 179 Hilliard says that sports broadcasts can be more precise and direct than the news. I agree, but I also think that this is because it's easy to be precise and direct when covering something that has facts instead of word of mouth, which news reporters sometimes have to solely rely on. I am interesting in getting into sports writing in my future and in reading the Times, coverage of feature stories seems to be focused on the players' or team's outside of sports lives. Coverage of live contests is such an established practice that a lot of print coverage consists of feature stories. Video's have been recapping events for a long time, but more recently, with the birth of the internet, there have been full length films and stories on specific players.

One of the NBA's biggest stars, Lebron James, has had a film made about him - which was released recently. This trailer and report covers the movie pretty well and there are clearly elements of drama and story development that have become a norm for the sports world.

Also, sorry about the text size but literally nothing I do changes Blogger's rigid formatting decisions.