The Use of Color

So I've been thinking a little bit about color this week. As an editor, this is something I need to consider when getting ready to finish the final product, as the color can alter the feeling of a scene completely. This technique has been used many times throughout the years, and is used in the majority of movies and tv shows, whether you initially notice it or not. For instance, ever notice during certain scenes in Breaking Bad, the primary color in focus is yellow?

That's because throughout the show, they have used this shade in scenes where tensions mount. Or have you noticed that in The Matrix, the majority of the movie is green?

These subtle, yet noticeable, details help to create a certain mood which the director is trying to convey. This is why is horror movies, you will see lots of blue coloring, due to the melancholy nature of the color, or grey in post apocalyptic movies. The use of color is really just as important as any other aspect in creating the mood you are going for, so going forward it's always a good idea to consider it. After all, a regular scene can become something special when more meaning is put into it.

Representation on Television (Okay, well. Netflix.)

      Due to the fact that I am a lazy, god-forsaken college student, most of my classless hours are filled with staring at my laptop. Kinda like when I'm in class. I'll most likely lose my eyesight at 25, if we are going to be truthful with ourselves. Anyway, Netflix seems to be the national pastime these days and I am completely fine with that. This is because I'm a lazy, god-forsaken college student, as aforementioned.

      Because I consider myself someone in the forward-thinking and -moving 21st century, I have found myself enjoying more and more of the original shows that are offered. For example, Orange is the New Black is a pretty rad show. Most of the Netflix-trudging users have these shows to break through if they want to get through other lesser known shows. It's almost a rite of passage; much like the weather or the Mets of the days before Netflix, these shows are almost like stock conversation pieces.

"Oh? You got Netflix right? Anyway, remember this time on Breaking Bad.." 

"Ah yeah, Piper is literally the worst character ever written." (she actually is pretty terrible, let's be real)

"Sense8 actually makes no sense at all." 

      Before I get far into the highs and lows of representation of a handful of shows that I'm vaguely preoccupied with, I'd like to mention that there may be SPOILERS. These SPOILERS will have to do with the new Netflix original SENSE8 and the not so new Netflix original ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. Don't shoot the messenger, rip yours eyes out before you read. Or just stop. I can't really control ya. 

      We can start with the good ol' classic Orange is the New Black first because it pretty much sits on the fence with me. While the show is completely notorious for being led by a group of women, featuring many women of color, gender, and sexuality (see: Laverne Cox and Ruby Rose), it falls completely flat when it comes to representation of men. Men of any color, of any gender, of any sexuality. OITNB pretty much features mostly white guys who are driven by sexist, homophobic, racist comments and are usually horribly dumb. While a lot of people (mostly men, see #notallmen) try to portray as this as a feminist show, it's really not. Feminism is the advocacy of equal rights for all genders, races, sexuality, ages, etc. which includes even these horrible officers in an all female prison. And the psychotic family members that seem to be reduced to punchlines or villains. We might as well have just made the women 2D much like Piper. Just make them a bunch of Pipers. Ha. She's a terrible character. Okay, next. 

      Sense8 is one of the most pretty shows I've seen in my life. Briefly forget the fact that in their 8 main characters, 4 of them are POCs, 3 of them are not heterosexual, 4 are women, and 1 is trans. Just forget it. It's such a gorgeous show. Filled with fantastic color, gorgeous cinematography, and wondrous acting, Sense8 is literally one of the best written shows I've ever watched in a 24 hour span. 10/10, would avoid sleep to watch. Ok, so. These characters, am I right? 

   
      These characters each showcase the difficulties of life but somehow remain around to show the fight for pure humanity. There's also a lot of really great reference cinematography and horribly long scenes are are almost ethereal. And I need that in my life when I'm trying to distract myself from actual work such as this very blog post. Sense8 is that good. It just made me confess to my own procrastination. 

TL;DR Watch Sense8 and worship it, honestly. 

Writing for TV Vs. Writing for Film

If you're like me and want to be a screenwriter (which apparently applies to like, half of our class) you might assume that all scripts are more or less the same: just throw something decent in celtx and boom. Script. Film, Tv, whatever, a script is a script. However, as I'm learning very quickly in my writing for series television class, there are some major differences between writing a film (short or feature) and writing for a weekly television show. Here are just a few.

1. Television writers are more likely to get/keep jobs.

Yay jobs!

Not to say that people who write TV shows are better at their jobs than those who choose to write films; it's simply a matter of numbers. While film scripts are typically written by only one or two people as a kind of freelance project, TV scripts are made by - almost always - staff writers. Staff writers collaborate on scripts to keep episodes of any given TV show consistent with that show's tone and brand. Simply put, there are more positions available to write for TV than to write for film. To find out a bit more about the various positions and hierarchy of a television writing team, check out the Writer's Guild of America's official overview here.

2. Characters develop differently...if at all.

Ja feel, Alicia.

In any good film, the main character will undergo some kind of change as they progress from point A to point B. A movie with a static character is kind of just a boring movie. Television, however, is more or less the exact opposite. Apart from certain cable dramas (cough cough Breaking Bad), people watch TV shows for consistency. If Michael Scott suddenly realized that he was a gigantic doofus and wanted to change his ways halfway through season 3, there never would have been a season 4. As weird as it sounds, we want to know what we're getting into before we watch a show. I watch the Good Wife because it's an intensely dramatic show about lawyers; even though major, major changes occur during its fifth season, I continue to watch it because it's characters are consistent and awesome. It's perfectly fine to reveal new traits and things about your characters as a show goes on, but they should always have the same basic characteristics that made your viewers want to watch your show in the first place.

3. TV is faster and there's way more of it.

Whereas a feature film writer can take months (or even years!) to write a first draft of a commissioned screenplay, a television writer typically has to churn out a script that's ready for production in 5-7 days. That's less than a week to go from concept to breakdown to outline to rough draft to shooting draft, with a few extra drafts thrown in there somewhere for good measure. And don't even think of missing deadlines. Alex Epstein details the entire process in section taken from his book, Crafty Screen Writing, which can be read here. The upside to this tight production schedule, however, is that television writers are some of the most powerful people in the industry. Unlike film writers - who are typically never on set and practically thrown away after they've turned in a decent draft - television writers are often the producers and showrunners of their own productions. All of this basically just means that the actors shouldn't piss off the writers, since they could literally kill off your character at any moment.

While both television and film have their pros and cons, it almost goes without saying that writing for TV is the more difficult of the two. But if you are up to the challenge and can somehow not consistently get chronic writers block, it also may be the more rewarding.

The Amount of Thought Put into Breaking Bad is Unreal

(may contain spoilers)

    One of the few television shows I watch religiously is AMC's Breaking Bad. The show is about a high school teacher that begins cooking meth to pay for the treatment for his lung cancer. Breaking Bad is currently on the second half of its fifth and final season. 

   There are many reasons Breaking Bad is my favorite television show; not only is the plot incredibly in depth but also the camera work is next to perfect. Everything is very thought out, from the lighting, to the camera angle, and even the color of the characters clothes. 

    It is small things, like the color of the character's clothes, that I think separates this show from others. Character's clothes from most shows are picked out or designed so the character looks good, with nothing else much in mind. However, in Breaking Bad, the characters clothes are based on their mood and recent actions. For example, when the main character, Walter White, is feeling defeated, he wears a drab, khaki color. Or when he is becoming more involved in cooking blue meth, his clothes are more blue. This amount of planning is put into not only all of the characters outfits, but also other aspects of the show.  More about this theory can be read here. There is also a very helpful picture chart contained in the article. 

Breaking Bad

With the conclusion of the show's fifth season last Sunday, creator Vince Gilligan has yet again left his audience feeling anxious, excited, and maybe even a bit sick for what is to come. I don't want to give anything away, but I will go ahead and make a bold statement: Breaking Bad is the best show on television. First of all, it is shot beautifully- often featuring creative transitions, disturbingly violent montages set to upbeat music, time-lapses and wide shots of the barren New Mexico desertscape. The way it is shot even gives it almost a cinematic quality. More importantly, all of the main characters are equally complex, going through their own transformations as each season progresses. Each episode is darker and more intense than the last, somehow all without going too far or jumping the shark. I admire Vince Gilligan's dedication to the storyline of his main character, Walter White, a once-sympathetic awkward high school teacher turned meth kingpin and ruthless killer. In a recent interview Gilligan said that for the final season he plans to fulfill the show's constant need of "shock and surprise and showmanship," and that he plans to "carry that through to the bitter end- if indeed it is a bitter end." Clearly, Gilligan is not one to tie things up with the conventional "happy" ending, and is unafraid to confront what might be at the end of the dark direction we've been heading in. Breaking Bad is not only an endlessly entertaining, well-crafted show, it also leaves the us looking at the big picture, and questioning the idea of morality itself. How far should one go to "protect" his family? How far can one push his luck before finally being caught? Is Walt beoming a total sociopath? I guess my final thought is: I'm scared for next season.

Opening BBs

Ok so I know the other Matt has talked a lot about the show Breaking Bad. But one of the things that he hasn't talked about is the opening scenes to every episode. the opening scenes are always a very artistic and aesthetically soothing shots. These shots seem to have no relation to the rest of the episode, but I'm sure if you look into it they have some meaning to them.

This is the opening to the first episode of season 2. Like I said very artistic, but I have no idea how or if it relates to the rest of the episode, the season, or even the show at all. If anyone has the answers please let me know. But don't spoil it for me cause I'm only about half way through season 2

Best Scene I've Ever Seen

With the new season of the Office only producing one episode a week, I need to find other shows to fill the void because I've seen every other Office episode. The show I chose was Breaking Bad. This is not usually the type of show I go for because it is a drama and I am a huge fan of comedy. I believe laughter is the medicine that cures all. All this aside, I found a scene in the fifth episode of season 1 that made me realize that this show is above and beyond most in the drama category in all aspects.

The scene that I am discussing, takes place in the White's living room and they are playing cards with Walter's brother and sister in-law. His brother in-law, Hank, is a DEA agent. He has no idea that Walter is cooking meth to pay for his hospital bills. He took all of the ingredients for cooking meth from his school, where he is a chemistry teacher, to start his business. Hank has no idea that this happened, but the writers decided to create some foreshadowing of some sort into this card game. Hank was trying to get Walter to fold a hand and they way he went about it seemed as if we thought he knew. Walter seemed to think he knew, but we as an audience know that it is not.

The scene starts at 31:20 and ends at 35:10 if you have NETFLIX

This was one of the most impressive scenes I've ever scene in the drama category. Really you have to see it to truly understand. But the pure attention that I had on this scene was amazing. It is scriptwriting at his highest. It evokes so many emotions in 3 minutes.

Great work to these writers and producers and I will probably devote another post to the realism of this fantastic show.

"Breaking Bad" Should Be Called "Breaking Great"

Breaking Bad is a drama on AMC about Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher from Albuquerque, New Mexico, played by Bryan Cranston. After White is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer, he turns to a life of crime producing and selling methamphetamine (crystal meth) with a former student named Jesse Pinkman. It has been nominated for numerous awards including winning three consecutive Emmy Awards for Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Cranston. Now in it’s fourth season it is less about Walt and his cancer for he is in a way the cancer in other people’s lives. He is bringing them down with him and putting them in danger as well.

Breaking Bad is one of the most suspenseful shows in television. Most shows play it safe and never put their lead in to much danger. Walter White’s brother-in-law even works for the Drug Enforcement Agency and is at times unbeknownst to him looking for his own brother-in-law, Mr. White. Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan said in an interview that they try to paint themselves into corners that seem impossible to get out of. This forces them to be creative and new. Some of their creativity comes from editing. From the time lapse cutaways to actual unusual cuts during the scene, Breaking Bad is willing to take chances and break a lot of the “rules” to help show the effects of drugs or to make a symbolic point. A great example was in a recent episode from the latest season where Jesse is playing a violent video game and is getting haunting memories from when he had to shoot an innocent man named Gale to protect himself and Mr. White from dying.

The show also forces you to pay attention to every detail. This show is not most shows where if they want the audience to see something they will make it blatantly obvious with a cut of a close up or a musical cue. Breaking Bad is more of a puzzle. For instance in last Sunday’s episode Gus, who doubles as Mr. White’s boss and an owner of Los Pollos Hermanos, a fast food chain, attempted to poison the entire cartel in Mexico by poisoning their alcohol he gave them as a gift. To not drawn suspicious he was forced to drink to. However we did not know he poisoned it. In a scene afterwards we see him seemingly throw food or something in his mouth (it was an anti-dote) and then minutes later the cartel started dropping like flies. There is also suspicion and many freeze frames online that think that Mike, one of Gus’ men, was going to surprise and shoot Jesse in the back before he was shot himself from an alive member of the cartel. A lot of this I did not catch the first time and I can’t wait to watch episodes again and catch new things I never saw before.

Finally, there is a conspiracy online about Breaking Bad and its connections to color. My friend and I have noticed this but we went online to see if we were not crazy in thinking this. Others agree but are not quite sure yet what it all means. For example Mr. WHITE wore a lot of green and there was a lot of green in the set when he was cooking the original meth product, which omits a green gas. However after a new type of chemical was added and changed their product to blue he has wore a lot of blue and the set pieces became very blue. His wife Skylar and sister-in-law wear colors off of blue (light blue and purple respectively). Gus wears a lot of gold and forces his employees to wear a lot of gold either at Los Pollos Hermanos or even when Walt and Jesse cook meth for him. They trade in their colors for Gus’ as if Gus then owns them in those scenes. Even Jesse’s last name of PINKman is about a color. Only time will tell if this is just is fans conspiring or a deliberate detail in the genius show that is Breaking Bad.