Introduction
The introduction establishes the importance of stylistic analysis and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of such an approach. It surveys some of the significant essays/books that have incorporated close analysis of moving-image texts—both in television and film.
Chapter 1: Television and Zero-Degree Style
To many, television appears to have an undistinguished style of sound and image. Perhaps it might even be said to have no style, or what Caldwell calls “zero-degree television style.” Soap operas are frequently cited in this dismissal of television style. But I would contend that in this genre, as in similar genres, its particular articulation of sound and image does have meaning. The “sloppy,” approximate framing that is necessitated by its hurried production schedule, for example, implies to the viewer that this is a live broadcast—even though soaps have not been broadcast live for over thirty years. Thus, even such “craft practices” (Bordwell)—born of necessity—signify to the television viewer.
Base article: Butler, Jeremy G. “Notes on the Soap Opera Apparatus: Televisual Style and As the World Turns.” Cinema Journal, Spring 1986, pp. 53-70.
Chapter 2: Stylistic Crossover: From Film to Television
For years television and the cinema kept their distance from one another—both in terms of production personnel and the look and sound of film and TV programs. This division between the two media was bridged in Miami Vice’s appropriation of the visual style of film noir. It provided an illuminating example of how film and television are both different and similar, and the ways those differences/similarities manifest themselves in cinematography, set design, sound design, and other aspects of style.
Base article: Butler, Jeremy G. “Miami Vice: The Legacy of Film Noir.” Journal of Popular Film and Television, Fall 1985, pp. 126-138. Reprinted in Film Noir Reader. Edited by Alain Silver and James Ursini. New York: Limelight, 1996.
Chapter 3: The Persuasive Power of Style
Television serves many functions beyond those of narrative, of course. Considering the wealth of talk shows, sports programs, news, weather, “reality” shows, commercials, and the rest, it may well be that conventional narrative fills a minority of the broadcast day. This chapter examines one form of those non-narrative texts: the television commercial. The sound-and-image style of commercials, on a second-by-second basis, is the most highly optimized of any television text. The persuasive impact of commercials is thus largely constructed through style. This chapter examines how that style hails viewers and entices them to buy products.
Base chapter: Commercials chapter from Jeremy G. Butler, Television: Critical Methods and Applications, third edition. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007.
Chapter 4: Style in an Age of Uncertainty
The future of broadcast television is uncertain, to say the least. As broadcast networks have struggled to find a place in the online world, there have been various experiments—some of which were mostly stylistic. As the century ended, the program, ER, looked backwards to the start of television with a live broadcast and forward to the digital age with “virtual tours” of their sets. This chapter considers how digital technology and online networking are influencing the style of television and television’s ancillary products.
Base article: Butler, Jeremy G. “VR in the ER: ER’s Use of E-Media.” Screen 42, no. 4 (Winter 2001): 313-331.
Chapter 5: Television and Televisuality
Caldwell’s book, Televisuality, uses the term to refer to excessive, exhibitionistic style. This chapter delves into televisuality by applying it to a genre not generally known for its flamboyant style: the situation comedy. In the 1990s and 2000s, as the popularity of the sitcom has waned, its use of sound and image has become increasingly audacious. Single-camera sitcoms (Malcolm in the Middle, Arrested Development, Scrubs, and others) have re-invented the genre and found new ways of using style to generate humor.
Base article: None.
