I recently watched episode 16 of Gold Rush on the discovery
channel. Gold Rush is a show about three groups of miners trying to
"strike it rich" mining for gold in the Alaskan wilderness. Various
film techniques are used in the production of Gold Rush episodes. The beginning
of the show includes a montage, which highlights the theme of the show and
introduces the characters who are rugged men out for gold. The montage uses
clips from various episodes and is set to music. Camera techniques are also
evident in the episode. Medium shots are used when characters are talking to
the camera/audience or to each other, stating their plans or concerns in the
episode. This gives the audience the feel that they are in the action and with
the characters throughout the episode. Long shots are used to show the
characters' surroundings and extreme long shots are used to show the setting of
each group's mining plot, in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness. Music is
frequently used in the episode to intensify scenes or set mood with low music
frequently playing to convey bad things to come. Extreme long shots are also
used in transition scenes and include panning and tracking as the shots are
taken from a helicopter. The producers of Gold Rush often use close up shots
which are used to show the characters' facial expressions, conveying their
feelings on particular situations. One theme of the show as stated by Todd
Hoffman (one of the miners) himself is: mining for gold is the pursuit of the
American dream. Hoffman said that his crew’s vision of the American dream is to
achieve wealth, and the crew pursues wealth through gold mining. As many people
envision the American dream as achieving something better than what they were
given and becoming wealthy, the gold miners in Gold Rush present their pursuit
of this vision of the American dream in Gold Rush.
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I also recently watched an episode of Gold Rush. The show is a very good representation of the hardships people go through to pursue their dreams like Tyler said. The episode I watched was the season finale of season 2. This episode like all the others in this season focuses on a basic plot line. At the beginning of the episode there is hope that they will strike big that day. Shots of gold nuggets and flakes are used to signify the dream of the miners to make a profit. During the middle parts of most episodes problems occur with either the equipment or the crew that threatens to stop work. During this part of the show a variety of shots are used. Long shots of the crew surrounded by the Alaskan wild are used to relay a somber reality to the viewer. Also common during the middle of the episode are close ups of frustrated miners faces as they are becoming unsettled by their current situation. Yet by the end the show took a dramatic shift. Gone were the shots of cold Alaskan winter or angry miners, replaced by multiple shots of the day's take and medium shots of the crew around the fire talking about future plans for the mine and the next season. This feel good ending is used to wrap up the season and look forward to the next.
ReplyDeleteYesterday I watched an episode of Gold Rush also. The show is basically an overview of the process of gold mining in the Alaskan wilderness, and how tough it really is to make it big because of gold. The camera techniques used most in the episode I saw were the long shot, to show all of the surroundings, the close up when talking to one of the miners, or looking at the gold that was just found, and the medium shot usually to show the miners working. Also, there is a lot of natural light because the majority of the show is filmed outdoors. Mis en scene was another thing i saw a lot in this episode. The father and son get into a few arguments about where to continue digging and the father ends up digging where he wants to and finds quite a bit of gold. The son is able to be seen in the background while the father is being filmed talking about his son and it really shows who had the power in this situation. There are also a lot of scenes where there are men working on the machinery in the background so the viewer can see, while one person is being talked to about what just happened.
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