Television Journal Number One

 

For this assignment you will need to watch at least one (1) half-hour sitcom and one (1) action/adventure or drama type television show.  Please DO NOT use a reality type program, game, news/information, or any other type of television show to complete this activity.  You will select the program from any day in the week, within the broadcast period of  8 – 11 p.m.,  on one of the primary commercial stations (ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC).  If you want to use a program from WB11 or WOR9, the program MUST be a current program (no old reruns).  Your Television Journal will have the following structure: 

 

Name of the sitcom used:                                                             

Time/Station of program:

 

Name of drama or action/adventure show:

Time/Station of program:

 

I.                     Commercials (only use one hour of the shows you watched for this)

A.       How many (approximately) commercials did you find in a one hour show?

B.       Give a general impression of what you discovered after watching television for “commercials”

C.      Do you think you can use what you learned here to help children become more media savvy regarding consumerism?

 

II.                    Media Attributes – for each of the areas listed below, give a general description of what you found.  You do not have to literally count each incident, nor do you need to write down each incident – just:

A.       say what you “saw” 

B.       say what you think about what you saw – eg. were you manipulated?

C.      say how you can use this information to help children become more aware of how they are being manipulated (positively AND/OR negatively) by television.

 

·        Laugh Track (eg:  Was it funny?  What were you laughing at or with? etc)

 

·        Ahhhhhhh Track (eg: What was happening when this came on – did it change your feelings or impressions in any manner)

 

·        Music (eg:  What was happening when the music came on – did it change the way you heard what was being said?)

 

·        Noise/Sounds  (eg:  Were the noises or sounds realistic?  Did they increase the tension etc?)

 

·        Camera Angle (up, down, straight-on – eg: describe who received which angle – is there a pattern – were your attitudes about the character manipulated by this)

 

·        Screen Placement (center of screen, periphery – eg: who was in the center of the screen – who was on the side)

 

·        Camera Shot  (close-up, zoom out, etc – eg:  who was shot close-up – who far away – who full body – who waist up etc.)

 

III.                  Give a couple of sentences or paragraphs to tell me your overall impression of what you learned about media attributes in this activity (i.e.did you notice anything that children could misinterpret or make assumptions about that were not necessarily “true”)