Quote to comment

"Philosophers and critics have often talked of the paradox of horror and the pardox of tragedy. Why do we eagerly seek ou art forms that arouse unpleasant emotions in us like pity, sadness, and fear? I think that, for at least certain forms of comedy, there is an equally important paradox of comey. Why do we seek out art that makes us laugh at the plight of unfortunate people in a world without redemption? (...) The Simposons' use of heart-warming family endings should be seen as its attempt to paper over the paradox of comedy that it exemplifies so well."
Carl Mathieson, "The Simpsons, Hyper-Irony, and the Meaning of Life". In Maasik and Solomon (eds.) Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th ed. Boston / NY: Bedford / St Martin's. 2009, p. 294

Apontamentos para aula de 7 de Maio (Pedro Varela) - Showrunners

SHOWRUNNERS

Los Angeles Times columnist Scott Collins describes showrunners as:

"Hyphenates", a curious hybrid of starry-eyed artists and tough-as-nails operational managers. They're not just writers; they're not just producers. They hire and fire writers and crew members, develop story lines, write scripts, cast actors, mind budgets and run interference with studio and network bosses. It's one of the most unusual and demanding, right-brain/left-brain job descriptions in the entertainment world....[S]howrunners make – and often create – the show and now more than ever, shows are the only things that matter. In the "long tail" entertainment economy, viewers don't watch networks. They don't even care about networks. They watch shows. And they don't care how they get them.

Quando aceitei o desafio de criar uma série de TV "from scratch” não entendia na totalidade o significado do termo “Showrunner” na industria televisiva, descobri-o no processo de trabalho dos Filhos do Rock. 

A influência da cultura televisiva americana, sobretudo as séries, no meu trabalho é enorme. Séries como The Sopranos, Six Feet Under ou o recente House of Cards acabam por ser tão determinantes no meu trabalho como o background de quase duas décadas no teatro, cinema e literatura. 

Proponho o seguinte alinhamento:

- O boom na teledramaturgia americana no final da decada de 90 inicio da década de 2000. 

- As séries de televisão ambicionam o “status” do Cinema.

- TV Series “Overrated” e “Over-Hyped”.

- A internet e o futuro na produção e difusão de conteúdos originais.

- ?Showrunners em Portugal?

Deixo aqui o link para duas “rountable” com os responsáveis”Showrunners" por uma ou mais séries que possivelmente conhecem ou já ouviram falar. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8CPz_qkTYQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcthOOSCO3Y

iCarly

Where do you want to go today

"The You Decade" by Christopher Hitchens: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2007/04/the_you_decade.html

names for the youngest generation: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/03/12/what-would-you-name-todays-youngest-generation-of-americans/

Reflective Writing

How Do I Write Reflectively? (mostly from https://student.unsw.edu.au/reflective-writing)

Reflective writing is:

• your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information
• your response to thoughts and feelings
• a way of thinking to explore your learning
• an opportunity to gain self-knowledge
• a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning
• a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills
• a way of making meaning out of what you study

Reflective writing is not:

• just conveying information, instruction or argument
• pure description, though there may be descriptive elements
• straightforward decision or judgement (e.g. about whether something is right or wrong, good or bad)
• simple problem-solving
• a summary of course notes
• a standard university essay

What can I discuss?

• Your perceptions of the course and the content.
• Experiences, ideas and observations you have had, and how they relate to the course or topic.
• What you found confusing, inspiring, difficult, interesting and why.
• Questions you have
• How you:
  • solved a problem;
  • reached a conclusion;
  • found an answer;
  • reached a point of understanding.
• Possibilities, speculations, hypotheses or solutions.
• Alternative interpretations or different perspectives on what you have read or done in your course.
• Comparisons and connections between what your are learning and:
  • your prior knowledge and experience;
  • your prior assumptions and preconceptions;
  • what you know from other courses or disciplines.
• How new ideas challenge what you already know.
• What you need to explore next in terms of thoughts and actions.

Tips

• Think of an interaction, event or episode you experienced that can be connected to the topic
• Describe what happened
• What was your role?
• What feelings and perceptions surrounded the experience?
• How would you explain the situation to someone else?
• What might this experience mean in the context of your course?
• What other perspectives, theories or concepts could be applied to the situation?
• Start with a mindmap: put your topic in the centre, connect your personal experience situation or feelings, connect concepts from this course (e. g., classifications in respect of gender, class, race, sexuality, generation....; iconic representations and signifying codes...)

The Onion

http://www.theonion.com/articles/conservative-group-gay-marriage-will-lead-to-90000,38495/

Some Canadian fake news programs - Daniela's courtesy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcadbpWUaqI

Rick Mercer Report

This Hour has 22 minutes