Walking Dead… not a critique

Medi211 Assignment 5

Trevor Olafson

 

Critique: The Walking Dead

 

Introduction

 

The zombie horror tradition has been well established with films such as Dawn of The Dead, Resident Evil and 28 Days Later; all have a common mythology and conditions. For example, a plague turns most of humanity into flesh-eating zombies which are attracted by sound, often mass in groups, and can be killed only by destroying the brain. Audience expectations of this genre dictate these types of rules apply – story, character development and conflict resolution also must happen within the length of a feature film.

 

Based on a comic book series written by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead tells a story of a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by the living dead and a handful of disparate survivors. The narrative follows the main character Rick Grimes, a former sheriff who, along with his family and a small group of others, must fight for survival using whatever means they can find along the way. The Walking Dead has not abandoned previous conventions, what is new is time allotted to telling this story. Six one hour episodes slated for Season 1 with 13 next year, will allow more chance for character and plot development beyond the point of just fighting off zombies. What happens next is likely to be one of the most important aspect of this series – just how does humanity cope in the long term after all of the rules and infrastructure of our society are gone.

 

The Walking Dead is a uniquely styled tale about the long term implications of living after a zombie apocalypse. It is an examination of the human condition – morality and loyalty vs survival, perhaps changing perceptions and prejudices people might have toward one another; without having to go through the end of the world themselves to do it.

 

Demographic

 

Airs Sunday night at 7pm, 8pm and 10pm – Intended audience, 18 to 49 age group. This is a wide target range that is evidenced by the commercials for high end products or services played on the breaks. These vary from electronics and travel, to cars and prescription drugs for impotence. A typical selection would be: Toyota; Best Buy; Viagra; Expedia; Cadillac; Blackberry; Gieco, etc. Each 60 minute episode has three commercial breaks that occur at 15, 30, and 45 minutes past the hour, usually with ten spots run in each. Commercials seem to play in specific order of product type, repeating in each the three breaks in the show. As an aside, there are no food advertisements of any kind. This is not likely an oversight on the advertisers part, for example, sales of Pizza Pops might plummet if a spot airs directly after scenes of exploding zombie skulls. Interestingly however, the Toyota approach was to include their product into a zombie themed advertisement – they made an identification with the show itself; the perfect car to have during a zombie apocalypse is Toyota!

 

 

 

 

 

Program Structure

 

The Walking Dead is a mini-series, uses an ensemble cast and is filmed entirely on location. Each episode of this documentary style 60 minute drama is broken into four acts, characters are modeled after classical archetypes.1 A syntagmatic narrative tells the story as it unfolds over time, each episode also contains a paradigmatic morality within to provide a deeper meaning than main structural elements of action or story.2 The show starts unannounced, always without music, the opening sequence is a recap of the story up to that point, and ends by picking up the narrative where it was left from the previous episode. These openings are an effective way of teasing viewers to watch what happens over the next hour.

 

Following the shows set up, the credits are played. They consist of a block font treated with a stylized rough and worn look that implies destruction and neglect. The show theme soundtrack is an orchestral piece that uses a repeating string arpeggio over an ominous sounding movement, which effectively creates tension and sense of foreboding. Titles are superimposed over a montage of still and minimal action images. Three main characters are shown in photographs behind broken glass, in the case of Rick Grimes it is the front page of a blood spattered newspaper, this would seem to make clear that these people are no longer the same as the ones in the photographs. Supporting cast and production credits follow, title changes are made using a quick transition – when this happens the credits jump slightly on the screen and then move slowly in random directions. Scenes of a ravaged Atlanta are cut between each title change which repeats with each transition until the credits finish.

 

The first act of the show immediately begins without commercial interruption, continuing the story to encourage potential viewers to stay with the program. Action is moved along following the last established plot point and resolves or changes the character(s) state in response to the previous crisis. After the first commercial break the second act continues along this shift where new locations or characters are introduced. As the main story for the episode develops there is a release of tension from the last upheaval, with smaller character scenes and interactions being examined through their discussion of what just happened or what they want to happen next. This time is also used to develop secondary characters or subplots. Sometimes ‘tags’ (quirks or personality traits) are used to make them stand out in the shorter amount of screen time they have to create a memorable character or establish a relationship to the story. These smaller vignettes set up what will be or lead to other points of conflict; which will be dealt with either much later – or following a commercial break.

 

The third act consists of the action needed to be taken just short of resolving the dilemma facing the characters, ie: a planned mission to retrieve lost much needed guns and bring them back to camp to repel the looming zombie threat – they get the guns but do not get back to camp before the last commercials air. In the fourth act the episode story line gets resolved, but does not end without leading to another plot point which will need to be carried over to the next episode. At this point closing titles and theme music are played, A short commercial break is followed by a preview of the upcoming show, this is a standard device used in episodic drama to keep viewers interested until next week.

 

 

 

 

 

Visual and Audio Style

 

The Walking Dead is shot on three Super 16mm hand-held cameras, there is a documentary feel but includes cinematic angles and movements (crane or dolly shots). The cinematographer David Boyd has tried to faithfully reproduce the look and feel of the comic and after trying 35mm, Red One and HD cameras the Super 16 format was chosen.3

 

“Every conceivable format was tested before production,” says Boyd. “When the images came back, everyone realized that Super 16 was the format that made everything look right. With the smaller gauge and the grain, suddenly the images seemed to derive from the graphic novel itself. Every image is a step removed from reality and a step deeper into cinema.”

 

The majority use of handheld and steadicam mounts forces the viewer to follow what the camera sees, theoretically drawing them into an emphatic state of engagement with the story.

Ambient lighting (or the effect of) is used so interior scenes are quite dark, shafts of light are often used to accentuate character expressions or create an interesting background. Boyd went on to say the the film stock used has been sometimes left uncorrected for shooting in daylight, resulting in colour more on the cooler side of the spectrum.4

 

“The cooler bias takes a little of the life out of the zombies’ faces. It’s not the peachy feel you get from a normal human being. In selected scenes when things are dire or require a fully graphic look, we’d push the stock a little bit to enhance the grain .”

 

Editing is tight, and moves the action along quickly, and used to create subtext through closeup examination of character expression and interactions – multiple moving cameras covering the same scenes often times imbue a documentary feel to the story, with the intention of heightening the sense that we the audience are watching something that is really happening. The production designers are obviously committed to creating a realistic, very detailed apocalyptic landscape. Costuming and make-up at first look appear to have set a new standard for the zombie genre. Limited use of CGI and film together create a frightening glimpse of large scale urban destruction. Sticky, high calibre Foley (literally) and clearly recorded dialogue is supplemented with guitar laden Rock and Alternative tracks woven around the shows recurring instrumental theme music, creating a sense of urgency, panic or even irony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sample Episode

 

# 3: Tell It To The Frogs

Air Date, November 14, 2010

Directed by: Frank Darabont (The Mist, The Shawshank Redemption)

 

Starts with recap of episode 2 Guts. Flash to Merle the redneck on the roof. He is ranting at the world and swearing at Jesus – saying he ‘aint never gonna beg’. He frantically tries to free himself as a few walkers try to get to him through the chained door. Title credits roll. Immediate cut to Glenn driving to the camp in the woods, the group there tells him to shut it off(noise attracts walkers), the rest of the group from the department store pulls up in the cube van and Rick is re-united with his wife and son. Lori must cope with her infidelity, Shane must deal with his frustration. The group wonders what to do about the man they left behind.

 

Commercial break – AMC plug; Toyota Corolla; Best Buy; E-Harmony; Direct TV; Viagra; Gieco.

 

The next morning we are introduced to Darryl, who is told his brother Merle has been left behind on the roof of the store. He is furious and attacks Rick (he handcuffed Merle to the pipe). The guilt Rick and the group feel prompt them to formulate a plan (Glenn is the lead strategist, before this he delivered pizzas).

 

Commercial break – AMC plug; Movie trailer(The Next Three Days); GMC On-Star; Expedia Travel; BlackBerry Style; Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas; Shaw;

 

The group does not want the men to go back to get Merle, it is too risky and they don’t want to lose members who contribute to their collective continued survival. There is a need, bolt cutters are required to cut through the chain on the door to the roof that Merle is trapped on. Rick barters a radiator hose with one of the men there who has a pair, it is a risk to him but there is the possibility of getting some tools that were also left on the roof with Merle. After a long night the four leave base camp and make their way towards Atlanta.

Closing credits

Commercial break – AMC plug; Toyota Corolla; Best Buy; E-Harmony; Direct TV; Viagra; Gieco.

Preview of next weeks episode.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Victoria O’Donnell: Television Criticism – Ch. 4, pg. 83 Sage Publications 2007 2 Victoria O’Donnell: Television Criticism – Ch. 4, pg. 89 Sage Publications 2007 3 studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/currentissue/A-Cinematographer-Among-The-Walking-Dead_12690.html 4 studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/currentissue/A-Cinematographer-Among-The-Walking-Dead_12690.html

 

 

 

 

 

A Brief Critique…

|Medi211

A Brief Critique

 

 

Introduction

 

When asked to take a look at and critique a TV show, my first thought was to gravitate towards something that I might enjoy anyways. I decided not to take this approach, and instead force myself to sit through one hour of programming where I knew I was not the intended demographic target. I made myself work a bit harder to get some background on the show, find out who the characters are, what they are, and why they are there.

 

The genre of horror mystery is certainly not new. Traditional blending of the elements of suspense, some bloody violence, and goodly portions of the erotic are a standard mix. Likewise, crime investigation shows are not new and share the same ingredients to achieve their end. Producers often try to piggyback ideas on other series concepts and that is no different here.

 

 

Description

 

It seems at first look that the newest offering by Showcase Lost Girl, is a kind of Twilight/CSI/Fringe exploration into the world of the professional lives and vampires and the humans who love them. The official IMDB overview is not much different, just a little wordier, I have included it for clarity, both yours and mine.

 

 

Lost Girl focuses on the gorgeous and charismatic Bo, a supernatural being called a succubus who feeds on the energy of humans, sometimes with fatal results. Refusing to embrace her supernatural clan and its rigid hierarchy, Bo is a renegade who takes up the fight for the underdog while searching for the truth about her own mysterious origins.

 

 

A Canadian production, in both look and feel. The players are all attractive, but not the plastic American model standard for episodic drama. Sets are dressed well, but in this episode there are only a few of them and they are not big, it has a ‘canned’ look. The lighting is fairly effective in creating some realistic spaces (as bright as they should be), but keeps changing in quality from scene to scene. This is something that doesn’t happen in American productions. Let’s face it, limited sets and special effects are the hallmarks of Canadian versions of the American shows being modeled. The writing could have helped give the actors a chance to create more likeable characters, but depth of dialogue is shallow if not inane. What we will be looking at in this case, (I feel) is one of these experiments gone wrong. So far I have seen enough to know that I have seen enough of Lost Girl.

 

 

Episode

 

Original Air Date—24 October 2010. Season one, episode six, written by Pamela Pinch, directed by John Fawcett. plot revolves around the continuing and episode story line.

 

Story opens, we find out that the main character – Bo, is continuing with her ‘therapy’ that evening. She is getting help picking out a dress from her human friend Kenzie. We find out that Bo is trying to learn to control her succubus powers with help from Dr. Lauren Palmer. Bo lives on sexual energy and wants to be able to have sex with humans without killing them. Apparently the ‘Doctor’ specializes in helping those with paranormal medical issues, and as we find out through dialogue filled with heavily lesbian subtext she is eager to help Bo.

 

We next find ourselves in a kitchen, an older woman is chopping some meat and humming. She goes to the refrigerator and takes out a human foot and puts it in a pot on the stove. We see her later waking up in bed, she is screaming and bleeding from her eyes.

 

The title music and opening credits start, a standard steamy sex and crime drama montage of action sequences cut to closeup and freeze of the characters with the actors name and role. To make it slightly different the freeze frame was turned into a comic book black and white image. The music was heavier rock that did not sound like it had the makings of a recognizable theme.

 

We are now in a restaurant with Bo and Lauren, they are talking about seeing the energy of the people in the room and how much or little they are ‘turned on’ at that moment. There is a moment where Dr. Laura asks Bo how she is feeling(this is therapy after all), and she replies ‘hungry’ leans over and kisses her. They get a bit embarrassed(sure) and break it up to talk in the morning.

 

They meet next morning at the lab (of course), there is a call to go see a patient and they leave arriving at the apartment of the woman who cooks feet (apparently what is called and Aswain). She is some kind of being that exists by eating the flesh of dead humans and has eaten something that has made her sick (really).

 

Back in the foot ladies apartment, she tells Bo and the Doctor that her ‘kind’ help keep disease out of the human population. The Dr. Then asks her if something she ate might have made her sick (groan), and she can’t think of what except for the soup she made. For some reason Kenzie has also come along and sees the soup and starts to eat some. She is told it needs to be taken back to the lab and tested for some kind of disease. She spits it out then says she doesn’t want to become a ‘toe sucking cannibal’.

 

In a dark Gothic looking office, two men are trying to make a deal. One has something the other wants but will not part with it, we don’t know what it is, he says he will be back and leaves.

 

Interior of a funeral home Dyson(a cop) is with Laura investigating the tainted meat source. The funeral director says that she is running a perfectly legit ‘food appropriation center’ serving the needs of the local cannibal population. Amazingly, Dyson was able to get information on the original owner of the foot and sent Kenzie and Bo across town looking for clues in the guys apartment when they get jumped by a robber. The guy runs out, Bo helps Kenzie up she is bleeding from her eyes. The story shambles along from scene to scene. Bo and Dyson go to dead foot guys biker hangout, they get information after beating up about fifteen huge bikers (yawn). Kenzie is back at the lab and getting sicker, whatever is killing her has been traced to a pharma plant where workers have died. Bo goes undercover. There is a new opening for assistant to the plant manager, by using her ‘powers’. she seduces him into the job. We next find ourselves later on at the pharma plant where all this trouble originates(tainted meat?). There is some kind of creature there being used to genetically engineer human DNA(surprise) and Bo and Laura are there after hours to get a sample, the alarms go off they rush out. On the way a guard stops them and Bo uses her succubus powers on him(the only special effect I saw), he is rendered unconscious but not dead. Bo is thrilled that she was able to control herself (can’t have sex with humans if you kill them).

 

Back to the Gothic office and two men continuing their deal This time they make a trade and it is for a cure for the ever sicker Kenzie. It is the horn of some mystical creature and it is used to make her some tea(cures her). Somehow in all of this the evil boss of the pharma plant gets arrested and charged with murder. Kenzie is nursed back to health by Dyson, and Bo is now eager to try out controlling her succubus powers on willing humans in the next installment of this likely to be short lived show.

 

Conclusion

 

Lost Girl tries hard to appeal to a younger audience and seems aimed more at females. I haven’t figured out how a police detective and doctor managed to hook up with Bo and not have anyone else wonder what a succubus is. There is some kind of cheap Harry Potter rip floating around in the bowl here as well. Other types of paranormal beings in the guise of humans populate our world, they seem to be able to function and hold down jobs ( some kind of monster affirmative action), and have always been part of society.

 

A ridiculous premise; re-usable (cheap) production elements; hackney dialogue and questionable (implausible even for this genre) story devices; repeating lesbian references; and Hardy Boy’s clues. Characters seem one-dimensional and cartoon like. If this is the intention,it works.

 

 

 

TV’s Influence on Society – Media Effects

MEDI 211 Trevor Olafson

Assignment_02

TV’s Influence on Society – Media Effects

Introduction:

I will be referencing the North American model of television. Since this is where the medium was developed, it stands to reason that any effects on society should be more readily evident. This article is also based on my personal frame of reference and lifetime’s worth of television and experience living the Western culture.

The Hand that Rocks The Cradle

Television and North American society, they have become one. We are well past the point of remembering as a culture when this was not so. We have been influenced by television in many ways. The obvious and more innocuous consumption culture things such as the cars we drive, clothes we wear and toothpaste we use; are self-evident examples of the power of TV. There might be more TV’s here than people, according to a 2009 Nielsen study most homes have at least 2.86 television sets. 1 That’s a lot of influence.

Where does that influence begin? For a majority of us it began during childhood. The ubiquitous nature of TV has insured that most adults and children today have been exposed to it during and through the formative years. This is very important to advertisers. Encoded brand loyalties and patterns of consumption can be developed early on, and last a customers lifetime. Most probably don’t ponder too deeply if TV has helped create artificial needs or beliefs they may hold about themselves and others. The population overall takes what is presented to them through TV at face value, and not likely to think about if, or what effect it may have on them.

People watch what appeals to them, and advertisers use this knowledge in an attempt to target the largest portion of those viewers based on a shows demographics. The constant development of new series and firm entrenchment of old favorites exists only to serve as a platform for corporate and political sales messages; for the latter, TV is indispensable.

Who’s Your Daddy?

Television has become a central figure in our homes; and by proxy of our culture. Ultimately, culture is created by the way people feel or perceive themselves as a whole (usually in relation to geographic proximity). Western culture has been built on a belief of entitlement; and or superiority. The messages to make this so have been carefully crafted and delivered via satellite in a generational spanning torrent. The fare has ranged from the 1950′s family values and behavioural norms portrayed on Leave It To Beaver, to the eat or be eaten psychosis that is the 21^st century ‘reality’ show Survivor.

The true power of television lives between the lines of dialogue and framing of content used to produce a subtle, yet pervasive influence. For social engineering, a one-dimensional societal landscape with distinction of difference ironed flat helps ensure that alternative ways of being or thinking seem impossible or unrealistic.2 The hegemony enjoyed by the powers that be is the result. Interestingly, in media surveys it is typically shown that people feel that TV(media) might have an effect on other people (skewed values, cause violent behaviour, etc.) but almost none feel that they have been or could be affected that way. 3 Culture, and the definition of normal seems to be by default, a reflection of whatever television tells us it is.

Iron Fist

Of course, nothing in the physical world can be changed without the forces of nature or man to make it happen. Considering whether or not TV can make an impact in this sense would require that we allow ourselves as individuals and a society to be used as instruments of this change. If I should put forth one example of how this has been accomplished in the past, it would be the destruction of the Berlin Wall. Only through the unifying power of a shared identity between the citizens of the divided city could the desire to remove the wall become an unstoppable force. Television wrested control from the hand which had built the wall and given it to the people. Their physical actions to destroy the wall came about only after it had been decided in their hearts and minds that they would do so. Television signals that crossed the wall to the east, helped to eventually destroy it. The collective memory of this event lives with those who were there as with those who shared the images on TV. 4

Make It So

Television has given us much to think about in the last fifty years, it has brought images into our homes that would never have been available any other way. Geographic distance and cultural differences have been reduced time and again to give us a sense that we have experienced or know much about world culture. In this sense, television has the ability to define what we might think about those cultures as readily as our own. The differences (or lack of) between people can be emphasized or down – played depending on a television producers (read sponsors) desired influence.

Unfortunately we still live in a world of information have and have not’s, and though TV viewership does not mean access to all the facts, it can bring us a little closer together by virtue of its shared nature. Overall the world seems much smaller to us than it did without the existence of television. We can transcend time and space limitations of the physical world by viewing events in locations while not having to go there to do so. The lack of depth of experience is a trade-off we make up for in volume of it. Most of us will never scale Everest, but as long as someone takes along a video camera we can see the view from the summit and still be back for dinner.

Convergence

For decades, television has lived with a population who understood the relationship they had with the technology, that it is a one way informational flow. The internet, and more specifically potential for two – way informational flow has begun to change some of the ways TV producers and their sponsors engage some viewers. For example, on-line discussion forums allow fans of a show, or consumers of a product the chance to air opinions about it. The ease and anonymity of getting their two cents in is irresistible to some. These discussions can be of value to producers and corporate sponsors.

Though access to the Internet is not a given in every home in North America, access to television is almost a certainty. Until such time as the quality of picture and available network feeds can be found on some other device that manages to infiltrate our lives the way the ‘tube’ has, television as we know it will not be going anywhere in the foreseeable future.

sources: 1 Peter Steven, The No-Nonsense Guide to global Media 2010 2 Jenny L. Nelson, Television and Its Audiences as Dimensions of Being, Human Studies Vol. 9 No. 1 pg. 58 3 David Gauntlett, Ten Things Wrong With Media Effects 4 Victoria O’ Donnell , Television Criticism, pg. 177



Medi211 Assignment 01 – TV In My Life

Trevor Olafson

Medi211 Assignment 01

TV in My Life

The earliest memory I have of TV is almost so old as to be embarrassing – the introduction and theme song of the show ‘The Friendly Giant’ on CBC circa 1963. As a kid, TV was often an escape from boredom; cartoons, movies of the week and Mutual of Omaha’s ‘Wild Kingdom’ were it. My TV viewing has changed many times over the years, although I still maintain a relationship with  it that is somehow not that much different today. The biggest difference is that I now have a good idea of what goes on technically behind the scenes when a show is produced – I still believe in the Great Pumpkin and Santa Claus however. Television’s content has changed over the years, as have I; and so I watch, tempered with the knowledge and discernment my years of life-experience bring.

Television! Teacher, mother, secret lover.

(Homer Simpson)

I love old cartoons. Animation holds a very warm place in my heart, a big part of the original connection I have with TV was made with 2-D drawings of Sherman and Peabody. So, it stands to reason that many years later, I find familiarity and comfort with the cartoon form. There are many favorites, old Bugs Bunny and Scooby Doo are two of them. I cannot watch the Warner Brothers re-runs however, they have been horribly disfigured by brutal editing out of all the sight gags that were deemed too violent. This slash and burn policy has unfortunately also made many of them not funny, or just not make sense. This is a shame, since there are far more shows aimed at kids that were developed since that time – replete with far more ‘cartoon violence’ than Bugs and the gang ever dreamt of doing. I have had to explain this to my own kids, and have tried to find the original versions to show them, I want them to understand the censorship of those scenes is just plain wrong.

A primary example of a show that is full of more violent sight gags than any other is The Simpsons, which just also happens to be my all time favorite. I have probably spent more hours watching this show in the last twenty years than all others combined – heavy. Yes this show has been faithfully watched since it’s appearance in 1987 by me, and a few others who continue to watch for new episodes even now in 2010. I must also admit to following Family Guy since it’s start.

When not watching a cartoon, I might be found enjoying one of the abundant documentaries shown daily on TV. Subject matter is not always important, learning about something I didn’t know ten minutes earlier is. Since my TV watching time often overlaps with my kids, I find that a cartoon or a documentary is something we can safely watch (usually). This TV time that we spend in the evening is more a family sit down in the same room time. I am however, appalled by the commercials that we get assaulted with every few minutes(I read eight) of programming that we allow into our home – that’s the only place that I ever watch TV by the way. I don’t drink or go to bars, and who goes to a friends house to watch TV anyhow? Usually later on in the evening after supper is when I will watch something on the tube, we generally avoid news for the obvious reasons; sex scandals, murders, and eco-disasters don’t make for happy family time.

Thinking about how, I can honestly say TV has impacted my life, not always maybe in a positive, happy way – but is now a part of me. For instance, my questioning of what was wrong with the world started in earnest at age twelve; after I saw the television series, The World At War. Graphic and often horrific black and white films depicting battles or mass graves in war-time had been presented to me in my parents living-room. After seeing several episodes of this, I had started to draw a few conclusions about the idea of being in a military uniform – at dinner one night I announced that I would not go to anymore meetings of the Navy Cadets. I felt betrayed. I realized that marching and following orders were a tool to get me and anyone else there to be ready for use as an instrument of war, I wanted no part of it. I have since been against the support of any war, any standing army, anywhere, ever.

Whew, that’s out of the way, moving on. Using television or how I use it has changed over time certainly. In the early days we actually used something called a TV Guide – a viewing schedule could be anticipated, sometimes days in advance. Another factor that influenced whether our choices got to be on the dial was well, the dial. No remote, no random flicking. I think that is probably the single biggest way that my viewing has changed over time, I flick back and forth between shows a lot. Often losing interest in one or both shows as the continuity is continually broken. I try to escape commercials when they are particularly annoying. This behaviour, while obviously aided by the remote control, may also be attributed to some degree in the way TV editing has changed. The way in which many shows and commercials now use rapid-fire scene changes and language may have contributed to my own impatience as a viewer.

As a portal to seeing places or things that otherwise would likely never be seen in real life – television still has no equal. The access and resources given to a documentary producer affords a glimpse into places such as mechanical systems or construction sites that are restricted or otherwise inaccessible locations. In this case, I feel that TV gives me something worth seeing and hearing about.

The picture on it, and the reality of what TV is may not be so rosy. Being an almost ubiquitous fixture in every home in Canada makes it more than just a powerful sales tool; it is the perfect medium to transmit the messages that also construct our culture and beliefs. Likely more often than is perceived by most viewers, is the way the subtle almost hidden messages change how they perceive themselves in relation to others. Not just the obvious consumer culture blared out in HD – I feel that news programs/channels are used to put blinders on society at large, by what they don’t show.