Small Screen, Big Feels by Melissa Ames

Author:Melissa Ames [Ames, Melissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Media Studies, Performing Arts, Television, History & Criticism, Popular Culture
ISBN: 9780813180083
Google: -3DdDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Published: 2020-12-02T02:48:07+00:00

Image 7.1. Café scene with divided booths from American Crime.

Many scholars have pointed out American Crime’s “visual dexterity” and its “stylized” nature.68 All the aesthetic choices concerning the audio and visual compilation of the program are purposeful and underscore the show’s themes. For example, one visual motif that appears throughout the season is one of division (see image 7.1). Unlike traditional television staging, the series’ characters are often placed so that barriers exist between them and other characters, or so that even when they exist as the only character onscreen, they are not centrally located, which suggests feelings of imbalance or isolation (see image 7.2).

Another common visual element American Crime uses is the extreme close-up when two people are in dialogue. In traditional filming both parties in a conversation are visible at some point throughout the dialogue; both parties are often visible in the same frame or through alternating shots between the two participants. American Crime, however, consistently shoots entire conversations with only one speaker fully visible. Often the back of the second person’s head can be seen in these scenes, or the second party is present but is purposefully blurred so that his or her figure can barely be made out (see image 7.3). Arguably, these stylized techniques reinforce themes such as othering, segregation, and breakdown in communication.

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