Television; Star Trek

The original Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry, debuted in 1966 and ran for three seasons, following the interstellar adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Federation Starship  Enterprise. These adventures were continued in an animated television series and six feature films. Four more television series were produced, based in the same universe but following other characters: Star Trek: The Next Generation, following the crew of a new Starship Enterprise set several decades after the original series; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager set contemporaneously with The Next Generation; and Star Trek: Enterprise, set in the early days of human interstellar travel, and most recently, Star Trek: Discovery. Four additional feature films were produced, following the crew of The Next Generation, and most recently JJ Abrams rebooted the series in 2009 featuring a young crew of the original Enterprise set in a parallel universe.

Check here for the "official" Star Trek website.

Some fans have too much time on their hands. Here's a time line for the Star Trek world.

Here's a few clips of some of the more interesting moments:

Trailers for the first eleven movies

New Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek beats the race barrier... Deep Space Nine
Star Trek beats the gender barrier... Voyager
Enterprise
Star Trek includes gay characters...Discovery

Here are some full episodes of the original:

Space Seed (1966)
Arena (1966)
The Trouble With Tribbles(1966) 

Star Trek: Pilot "The Cage" script PDF
Star Trek Writers/Director's Guide

William Shatner Sings Rocket Man
Leonard Nimoy sings The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins

And the parodies:
Simpsons
Futurama
Futurama - part 2

We will screen the tv episode: "That's What Little Girls Are Made Of"

• 1960's Television Culture: Star Trek
• History of Star Trek
• Cultural Significance of Star Trek
• Which is nerdier: Star Trek or Star Wars?

BRAINSTORM: Decide as a class on a genre (or two or three)...if you were to make a TV show, what genre would you pick? Mystery/suspense, law/court, horror, sci-fi, fantasy, comedy, situational comedy, western, romance, drama, etc.?

HOMEWORK: None.

Black Lives Matter; TV continued

Please turn in your homework from Monday's class if you have not already done so.

Some people may be at Black Lives Matters events.

• Geva playwriting contest is coming up (March 1, deadline)
• Also consider entering one of the contests--there is one (the SPJ/JEA High School Contest, 300-500 words (1.5-2 pages double spaced) on the topic of media. Answer with support from outside sources and compose. 

We will watch the end of I Love Lucy and then screen a Star Trek episode (#7: What Little Girls Are Made Of)

HOMEWORK: None. See above though. Watch some television.

TV (Script Format/Viewing)

Period 7:

Please complete your comment from last class. This is past due for most of you.

Classroom task:

• If you haven't done so already, respond to last class's post. 
• Consider entering one of the contests--there is one (the SPJ/JEA High School Contest, 300-500 words (1.5-2 pages double spaced) on the topic of media. Answer with support from outside sources and compose. 

Additionally, please take a look at the TV format handout and sample from the Star Trek episode (handout).

Period 7/8:

I Love Lucy was one of the most popular television series in the 1950's when television was new to the silent generation. The show aired from 1951-1957. While somewhat dated on its treatment of women, the show remains funny and established the genre of the situational comedy.

In situational comedy, we should look for the following tropes:

• Originally recorded live (in front of a small studio audience)
• Often uses a sound track to indicate where to laugh (laugh track)
• Characters do not change--if they do, they change DURING the episode, but return to a normal state by the end of the episode
• Focus is on a zany plot: a reversal of fortune, a crazy idea that is acted upon, or a "situation" that has the potential of changing the fate/economic status/relationship of the main characters
• Set usually moves from a traditional setting (a living room or standard set) to one other set (a bar or someplace outside of the normal setting) and back
• Focus is on one-liner jokes or witty dialogue

HOMEWORK: None.

Podcasts, Radio Plays; Television History

Period 7: We will continue to listen to podcasts and then our radio play scripts. Evaluate your peers' podcasts. Hand in as participation credit.

Period 8 (or so): Television, An American Pastime

Please read, take notes, and check out the links where applicable...

Television originally was meant to be a radio with visual projection capabilities. However, TV has changed American culture in many ways. Here are some details about important milestones. Tune in:

• In the late 1800s, Paul Gottlieb Nipkow, a student in Germany, developed the first ever mechanical module of television. He succeeded in sending images through wires with the help of a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the ‘electric telescope’ that had 18 lines of resolution.  
• Around 1907, two separate inventors, A.A. Campbell-Swinton from England and Russian scientist Boris Rosing, used the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical scanner system, to create a new television system. From the experiments of Nipkow and Rosing, two types of television systems were created: mechanical television & electronic television. Philo Farnsworth is credited as the inventor of the first electronic television.
• The first television station in America was W3XK. This station was the brainchild of Charles Francis Jenkins, who is also remembered as the father of American television. The station aired its first broadcast on 2nd July, 1928. Yes. 1928.
• WRGB television station in New York is the first American station that has the honor of being a continuously operating station from 1926, when television was invented, until now.
• The first commercially produced television sets were based on the mechanical television system. These sets were made from John Baird’s designs for television. The sets were shown to the public in September of 1928.
• The first American electronic television sets were mass produced in 1938 and were an instant hit. All the early television systems were black and white.
• The first ever remote control for television was invented in 1948. Known as the ‘Tele Zoom’, it cannot be called a remote control in the true sense of the word, as the device could only enlarge the picture on the tube and not change any channels or turn the television set on and off. The Flash-matic from Zenith, produced in 1955, was the first ever real remote control that could do all of the above and was completely wireless.
• ‘The Queen’s Messenger’ is believed to be the first television program in America. It was broadcast by WRGB station in 1928.
• 1st July, 1941 is the day when the first ever commercial broadcast took place in America. All broadcasts prior to this day were regarded as experimental by the FCC, thus making this day very important in American TV history.
• 1941 is also when the first American advertisement was aired. The commercial was for a Bulova Watch and lasted all of 10 seconds. It was aired on the NBC network. 
• The color television war was fought by CBS and RCA. CBS was the first to develop a mechanical color television system, inspired by John Baird’s color TV design. By 1950, the FCC announced the CBS color system as the national standard. RCA sued CBS as their system could not be used with the millions of black and white televisions, most of which were RCA sets, thus creating a potential monopoly. RCA were finally available to the buying public in 1954. Although available, not many people bought color sets as there were not even a handful of color programs being broadcast. Star Trek was one of the first series to use color.
  
  Here's some facts and statistics about TV viewing in America from 1939 until now.

check out this link about the history of television

As a writer's tool, check out the following site for ideas for your own television project.

• TV Tropes

For writers, knowing some tropes can be helpful in analyzing and writing a script for television, the media, or film. A trope is a storytelling convention that a viewing audience can easily recognize. You're likely to be familiar with some of these tropes.

TV programs:
The Ed Sullivan Show (with guest star Elvis Presley) and from 1969 (The Jackson 5)
I Love Lucy clip
Howdy Doody clip
The Flintstones clip
Rocky & Bullwinkle
Dick Van Dyke Show (with Mary Tyler Moore) clip
Brady Bunch clip
Sesame Street
MASH clip
Scooby Doo clip
All in the Family clip
The Jeffersons clip
Fat Albert & the Cosby Kids
Bob Newhart Show clip
Happy Days
Dallas
The Muppet Show clip
Different Strokes clip
Cheers clip
Friends clip
Seinfeld show clip
The Simpsons clip
Cops clip
American Idol clip
CSI clip

Check out some of these links. Choose a show or two and in a short explanation identify the clip you're examining, what contemporary television show seems similar to one that you watch or have watched in the past? What are those similarities? What are some differences? How are some of these shows "dated" by their own culture/time period? What do you notice about the show? How might the show have changed over the years (some of these shows have created spin-offs or sequels). Explore. Submit your answer in the COMMENT section of this post for participation credit.

HOMEWORK: For Friday, please read the packet on TV & Cable and answer the questions.

Podcasts due! Radio Play Screening

Please turn in your homework (see previous blog post for details!) and your outlines for your podcasts!

Podcasts:

We will be listening to our podcast projects and radio plays today. But first, take the first 20-30 minutes of class to do the following:

1. If you did not complete your edited podcast, please complete it and get it to me.

2. If you're all set, please write a blog post on YOUR BLOG identifying your favorite TV show. What show do you watch regularly? Why do you like this program? What might be your favorite episode? Why?

Period 7/8: (around 12:45)

Let's go next door to listen to our podcasts. Make comments on the comment handout for your peers as constructive feedback. Hand in the handout by the end of class as participation credit.

After our Podcasts, we will listen to our radio plays acted by the 10th grade actors. They have also provided aural feedback.

HOMEWORK: None. Make up any missing work!

Podcast: Day 3; Editing

Please edit and prepare your podcast projects today during the lab. I'd like to "screen" these projects on Thursday. If you finish your project today, please send me the MP4 file--these files may be too big, so I'll come around with a jumpdrive to save your work.

REMEMBER: You must place your MP4 (video) files on your desktop! From the FILE menu, you should SAVE your MOVIE as AUDIO ONLY. Scroll down on the drop menu to the bottom to see the AUDIO ONLY function.

See the following videos for help with your audio files:

Working with audio clips can be frustrating when using Windows Moviemaker--since the program is really meant as a cheap video program to make amateur "movies". It is not intended to create podcasts, in other words. This may cause you some frustration. But there's help! Here are some common issues/problems students encounter when working with audio and editing clips.

Since you will need to be able to learn this for our next unit(s) on photography, film, television, and advertising, it is best to learn it now. If you are not directly connected to the editing of your group's audio files, help your partners by learning about:

• Working with audio files for MovieMaker (video tutorial)
• Add/Edit audio (microsoft's intructions)
• Adding music (video)
• Extracting audio clips/files
• Splitting/splicing clips (video)
• Combining clips
• Export files
• Adding both music and voice over in Windows Movie Maker (video tutorial; addressing problems)
• How to add two layers of audio in Moviemaker (video)
• How to export files from Audacity to Moviemaker (video)
• Saving files to a MP4 format (video)

• Youtube audio/video file converter to MP4

If you finish your editing (or find you have little to do) please use the time to read your homework and check out this link about the history of television and the recent commercials from the Superbowl, 2018.

HOMEWORK: Please read the first part of the chapter on "Television and Cable"; Answer the 6 questions on a separate sheet of paper to hand in Thursday, Feb. 8.