This week I watched an episode of Cupcake Wars called Cupcake
First Love. One thing I noticed throughout the episode was that whenever
someone makes a mistake and messes up their baking, the shot goes in slow
motion to add dramatic effect. It also switches to loud music, and on every
drum in the music, the music gets louder. The shot zooms in sharply on every
drum as well. This shows the bakers stress from their mistake and makes the
view anticipate what is coming next. Music
plays a big part in Cupcake Wars. Whenever a judge makes a good comment the
music is always happy and uplifting, and whenever a judge states that something
is wrong with the cupcake, the music gets very loud and dramatic.
I feel as though this show is not just a show to interest and
entertain people who enjoy baking cupcakes, but an advertisement for the
contestants. At the beginning of the show each contestant tells a background
about their baking skills and their store.
It makes their store look very good and informs the viewers of where it
is located. Another way is each contestant wears a shirt that has the
name of his or her store on it. A final way their store is advertised is when a
contestant is in an interview talking directly to the viewers, the screen
displays the contestants name and store name, so the viewers are constantly
reminded of what the store is called.
“Cupcake Wars”
ReplyDeleteFirst off, let me say I am not a fan of this show. I love to cook and I don’t mind baking but let me tell you if someone were to tell me my cupcake wasn’t ‘good enough’ I’d tell them to go make their own darn cupcake. But, my mom having her own mini cake business often watches it for new ideas and I get dragged into watching it. In this episode “Cupcake First Love” I totally agree with Jess on the idea of advertising. The way each person is presented with their life story almost makes me wonder if the contestants are paying for T.V time instead of being paid to be on T.V. At the end of the episode they win a menial prize of which ultimately gives them one thing; publicity for their company. I agree with you, Jess, this show isn’t intended to amuse people it is intended to help smaller bakeries become more known by the use of television. In attempts to do this the director always over dramatizes every little issue. This week when the contestants were struggling with completing the tasks on time, the music was a faster pace to make the viewers’ feel as though everything is being rushed and the contestant is going to fail if she didn’t hurry up. Through the use of music and questionable publicity tactics “Cupcake Wars” is a successful show even though I personally dislike it.
I also watched the episode of Cupcake Wars titled 'First Love'. Just as any television food competition, sound effects and camera shots play a huge part in trying to make the show exciting. In Cupcake Wars, the music is dramatic to say the least. As the challenge is described, music resembling a heartbeat plays- to create anticipation. As the host tells the contestants how much time they have for each round, there is no music. He then says, 'the clock starts now'and fast music begins to play. This creates the rushed feeling the contestants are probably feeling. The shots during this show were mostly extreme close ups of the cupcakes being prepared as well as the people preparing them. These shots are quick and heighten the 'excitement' of the competition. Music also plays a huge role in the judging process. As the contestant describes their cake, the music is happy and upbeat, as the judges begin to comment suspenseful music plays and depending on the criticism being given, the music changes to either sharp and stabbing or upbeat and happy as before. The camera constantly goes from a close up of the judge to a close up of the contestant being judged. These shots help to show the emotion on the contestants face as they receive their criticism.
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