March 16, 2012
Modern Family
I recently watched an episode of Modern Family titled "Leap Day". In this episode, Claire and Phil's family planned to take a trapeze class on their favorite family holiday- leap day. Unfortunately, Phil realizes his wife and two duaghters are "on the same cycle". In the scene that Phil comes to this conclusion, the camera is positioned at a flat angle facing Claire sitting on the couch. The viewers only see the back of the television, but sound is used to let viewers know what she is watching although they cannot see it. The song "In the Arms of an Angel" is playing and most viewers can immediately conclude that the famously depressing SPCA commerical is being shown. This technique shows the power of sound in film. The episode is shot with multiple "confessional" scenes featuring Phil, Manny, and Luke as well as confessionals featuring Claire and her two daughters. This allows viewers to know how the girls are feeling versus how the guys are feeling- resulting in the humor the show is famous for. The confessionals make the show seem more personal as well as the camera action. The camera constantly zooms and pans with a shaky feeling as if it was filmed as a home video.
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I have also watched a Modern Family recently. The episode I watched was the newest one titled "Send Out the Clowns." Once again, playing to comedy, they still bring in the theme that family is always there for you. Mitchell, when one of Cam's clown friends died and they were at his funeral, consoled Cam about the situation. Then, later, when Cam got back together with his clown buddy and brought their "super group" Fizbo and Lewis back, Mitchell was not too happy. He didn't like when they had a drunken show for Lilly in the kitchen of their home. But, throughout their hi jinks, Mitchell supported Cam, even after Cam and Lewis start fighting in the middle of a children's show. Also, in this episode, a friend of Manny's named Griffin could be considered mis en scene through the episode. He sparked fights between Jay and Gloria about if he only hung out with Manny because Jay and his motorcycle were cool or Gloria was just Manny's good looking mother. They quickly find out it was the fact that Gloria was good looking. Even when Griffin invited them over for a pool party. Even though they all fight and have arguments on the show like a modern family, they are still always there for each other.
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