June 11, 2009—Assignment Three

**I posted this earlier but tried to reformat it....fingers crossed!

 

Shot by Shot Analysis of Coca-Cola Commercial

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4V6TUOVImg

 

 

Sorry, I can’t figure out how to capture still shots from youtube, so I’m posting the link to this commercial and will do my shot by shot analysis without visuals.  This is an old Coke commercial with a swimming elephant who takes a bottle of Coke from an unsuspecting sunbather and leaves a few peanuts as payment.

 

 

Establishing Shot                The commercial begins with a long shot that establishes the hazy,underwater focus and places the music at center stage.  Viewers get a calm yet whimsical feel right from the start.

 

Wide Shot, camera tilts      The camera tilts up to reveal something moving underwater.  At first a tilts viewer might think this is a person, but the camera lingers long enough for the viewer to realize it is, in fact, an elephant.

 

Low Angle Shot            The cameral continues to tilt upwards showing the elephant swimming from below, giving the viewer plenty of time to appreciate the swimming elephant and to place it as the focus of the commercial.  The music continues.  It’s grainy and lilting, which contributes to the whimsy of the visual.

 

Wide Shot            A person on a raft with a vibrant yellow umbrella.  The figure is definitely minimized; from a distance one cannot even tell if it is a man or woman.  Taking up the majority of the shot are two large rock formations on either side of the raft.  The scene is dominated by the aquamarine water,which is punctuated by the vibrant yellow umbrella.  Clearly the natural world is the focus here. 

 

Medium Shot             A woman drinking coca cola out of a bottle.  This is the first we see of the product.   Other than the previous shot, this is the first of the commercial that is in clear focus, not surprising for our first glimpse of the product and as a good way to demonstrate the woman’s enjoyment of her bottle of soda.

 

Wide Shot            Again emphasizes how small the raft is compared to the craggy rocks and expansive ocean.  Viewers haven’t seen the swimming elephant in a while and are curious to see how these two characters will interact.

 

Wide Shots, Low Angle      Back to the elephant swimming with wide angle shots, first a profile and then from below.  The elephant, like the other natural elements takes up a large proportion of the screen.

 

Subjective Shot             From the elephant’s perspective, with its trunk sticking up out of the water like a periscope.  The raft is in the distance and the reader can see that the two disparate elements will be coming together.  The  camera shot builds suspense, while the lilting music reminds the viewer that the scene is playful.  The elephant is approaching the woman and the camera angle is reminiscent of what we would see in a subjective shot looking out the scope of a gun.  Without the elephant’s trunk, this scene might feel ominous, as a confrontation seems imminent.

 

Wide Shot             Woman on the raft with the elephant’s trunk as periscope in the background.  Having just seen this from the elephants perspective brings out the humor in this scene.  Adding to the humor is the woman’s obliviousness to the bizarre goings on in the background.

 

Low Angle Shot             Again, looking up at the elephant underwater.  Curiosity continues to build in viewers as they are waiting for the encounter between the woman and the elephant.  The woman is unaware.

 

Medium, Subjective Shot    The elephant trunk deposits a few peanuts on the raft and takes a Coke.   The only part of the elephant we see is the trunk, making the subjective shot more humorous as we are used to seeing this from the perspective of a human (hand reaches down to open door knob, holds flowers out, etc.). Also, the fact that it is only the trunk allows the bottles of coca cola not to be dwarfed by the massive elephant.

 

Wide Shot             Elephant swimming away from the camera.  Once again, we see the whole, massive elephant.

 

Wide Shot             The woman on the raft.  She seems realizes something has happened but of course doesn’t know what.   She is a small part of the shot, clearly a minor character in this story.

 

Wide Shot              The elephant swimming out of view.  It becomes blurry, as it started the commercial and a school of fish follow.  This seems somewhat mundane, which presents a nice visual irony.

 

 

 

 

Analysis of Scenes from The Office

 

            For the first part of this assignment I chose to take a closer look at a few scenes from an episode of The Office.  I chose this show for a few reasons.  First, I love the show, and watching it for homework was too good of an opportunity to pass up.  Second, I had it at my disposal on DVR, and third, a lot has been made of the “faux documentary” style of filming and I was curious to watch the show with a more critical eye than what I typically do. 

            First, a few statements of the obvious.  Given the amateur documentary feel to this show, there are a lot of jerky camera shots and quick pans from subject to subject.  It feels like the show was shot with one camera, by a camera operator who was trying to capture as much action in each shot as possible.  The shot jumps from person to person quickly, following the dialogue.   Also, characters in scenes occasionally look directly at the camera; when doing this they rarely say anything but instead “share” a knowing look or a “verbal nudge” with the viewer.  Also, interspersed among scenes are brief confessionals with characters in which they talk directly to an unseen interviewer.

            I knew these things going into my critical viewing.  During my viewing of this episode, “Casual Fridays”, I noticed some other things as well.  Shots seem to be exclusively medium to close up shots.  This makes sense, given the style of filming; however, it is interesting to note that viewers never get a sense of the “big picture”.  There is always something happening in the background, but we never get more than passing glimpse.  Also, this heightens the immediacy of what is happening.  The sound is very clinical, again enhancing the amateur feel to it, as is the lighting, which never varies from the garish office fluorescent lights.  The dialogue is snappy, but characters frequently mumble; it frequently doesn’t matter, though, as little plot will be missed if one doesn’t hear every line.

            In one of the opening scenes of this episode, all of the previously discussed elements are present, as are several over the shoulder shots.  The setting of this scene is one of the frequent staff meetings, and the over the shoulder shots serve to make the viewer part of this meeting.  Also, the angle is low, giving Michael Scott, the boss, a prominent position.  This visual irony is the biggest gag of the show; Scott’s unrealistic perception of himself is constantly mocked not only by the characters but by the camera and, thus, the viewer as well.

            As a fan of this show, I am charmed by the characters and plots.  After the first few episodes, I really didn’t pay much attention to the documentary style.  The style, though, definitely enhances the humor, as this is such a mundane office that is hardly a worthy documentary subject.  It seems like such a haphazard way to film something, but of course it is a carefully crafted strategy that has made the show more than just a typical situation comedy.

 

 

How I will use this in my classroom

            I don’t anticipate teaching a film class or stand alone media class or unit any time soon.  However, in my Advanced Placement Language and Composition class, we spend quite a bit of our time discussing and analyzing arguments.  I have used the text Everything’s an Argument (2000) to structure the class and I ask students to look for arguments everywhere, to consider the statement they make by what they wear, what they drive, what they eat, etc. and to look for how others create arguments in everything they do.  We spend some time on visual argument, but mostly we look at things like the choice of models in a commercial, the positioning of products, the innuendo of a tag line, etc.  Having spent some time looking at the technical aspects of camera angles, lighting, sound, and other details, I am anxious to have students add these elements to their “argumentation vocabulary”.  In addition to the more obvious visual elements, I will encourage students to consider how a director might emphasize or de-emphasize something with camera angle, focus, lighting, and sound.  Furthermore, I would like them to consider the argument made by these choices.  Students are often reluctant to do these types of things, as they feel like sometimes I force them to read too much into things.  I think doing a shot by shot analysis of a commercial, though, is a good way for them to be cognizant of the fact that so many choices are made when putting these messages together.  I think having students consider why the choice was made in one direction and not another would be a good way to encourage them to be critical of all of the messages they take in, not to mention having them consider the choices they might have made.