Adam DiVello: A MTV Mastermind?

Television is an arguably large component in many of our lives. Furthermore, I don’t believe that I can say I do not know anyone who watches less than at least a half an hour of television programming daily. This frequency of TV viewing certainly allows for us viewers of television, whether educated about television criticism or not, to pick up on or “get a feel for” a particular television auteur’s “signature”. In this example I will examine the work of television writer and producer Adam DiVello, whose distinct “signature” is scrawled all over popular MTV shows such as Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, The Hills, and The City.

Adam DiVello, is a former actor (although only acting in one very small 1992 movie entitled Rock and Roll Fantasy), who transitioned to writing and producing through a career with MTV studios and Go Go Luckey Productions. While working on MTV’s program Laguna Beach, DiVello functioned as a development producer and also a supervising producer. Interestingly enough, Lauren Conrad, the “it” girl of MTV’s Laguna Beach and The Hills, wrote in her 2009 novel L.A. Candy that she was discovered by Adam DiVello while walking through the parking lot of her high school. When the Laguna Beach gang transitioned from high school to college, Adam DiVello proposed a new series entitled The Hills. In this series, he would follow Lauren Conrad as she embarks on a new life journey as a young college student living in Los Angeles, California. DiVello is accredited as the writer and executive producer of MTV’s The Hills, as well as a spin-off series which follows Lauren’s close friend and fellow Vogue intern Whitney Port on her journey working, living, and playing in the urban jungle of New York City. Port’s series is appropriately titled The City, and was also picked up by MTV where DiVello further carries over as a writer and executive producer.

Through analysis, and a bit of admitted guilty pleasure in watching this series, it is easy to see that some of DiVello’s fingerprints carry through from Laguna Beach, to The Hills, and lastly to The City. These textual elements and thematic motifs frame Adam DiVello’s work as an auteur. One of the first thematic motifs that may be noticed throughout these three programs is that of pulling (or raking) focus. Pulling (or raking) focus is when the camera’s focus shifts from the foreground to the background or from the background to the foreground. This is often used as a dramatic element to show tension or that something one character is saying is easily overheard through the room or area where other characters are interacting. Many times in DiVello’s programs the characters seek drama with others. DiVello is able to use this technique to first show one character talking to a friend about another character in the background of the shot. When the original character is done saying whatever mean spirited or hurtful comment they please, the camera often rakes it’s focus to the talked-about character in the background, just in time to catch his or her dramatic reaction to what they have just overheard. O’Donnell writes about this, “Prime-time drama relies heavily on reaction shots to convey realization, discovery, and a character’s coming to terms with troubling or devastating feelings or events” (O’Donnell, 55). It is clear that DiVello certainly engages this focus technique to dramatically convey these realizations and discoveries.

Another “signature” on DiVello’s programming is that of narration and voiceovers. Especially in The Hills and The City, DiVello uses Conrad and Port’s own voices to narrate what the viewer has just watched in the show. Near the very end of each episode, these characters provide their own analysis or take on some dramatic or pressing situation and transition into “Next time on The Hills” or “Next time on The City”. This evokes a sense of familiarity between the televison program’s main character and the program’s viewers. After all, the viewers are being told, almost personally, what they can look forward to if they choose to tune into the next episode of one of DiVello’s programs.

Lastly, viewers are able to follow DiVello as an auteur by paying special attention to the music with accompanies all of DiVello’s programs. O’Donnell writes, “Programming that is presumed to appeal to younger viewers, especially to teenage and young adult audiences, is more fast-paced than shows, programs, and types of television aimed at a middle-aged or older demographic” (O’Donnell, 61). This is certainly true of The Hills and The City. DiVello uses very fast-paced, upbeat, trendy, club-like songs to illustrate the lives of Conrad and Port. Often times these characters are shown as very highly scheduled—always running around Los Angeles or New York City on what seems to be an “emergency” although to most other people this would seem as nothing to stress about. Additionally, this genre of music also allows DiVello to transition his shots of Conrad and Port from their daytime working lives to their night time personas where they can typically be seen out drinking and partying and exclusive clubs, bars, and events.

It is clear that auteur Adam DiVello has a specific “signature” that may be seen throughout the MTV programs Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, The Hills, and The City. Whether it be his use of raking focus, narration and voiceovers, or even the music which accompanies the lives of his main characters, DiVello’s fingerprints have, so far, proven successful in drawing viewers as his main characters transition from one program to another.

References

O’Donnell, V. (2007). Television Criticism. New York: Sage.

A Beginner's Go at TV Criticism

It seems as though every time I turn on the television, I seem to notice a particular show that I have never heard of before. Whether it is the newest spin off of Project Runway (The Fashion Show) or a failed attempt to dupe the loved-by-many Sex and the City (ahem, Lipstick Jungle), I am beginning to realize that each TV viewer is as individual as the show in which they are watching. In my very first blog entry I hope to engage you as a reader by spelling out my goals for criticizing television, my view and relationship in studying television, and how I intend to relate to you—my readers and fellow viewers.

This semester, my last semester, at the University of Iowa I have decided to enroll in a class entitled television criticism. And, in all honesty, that is why this blog was created. I must admit, though, that I do watch my fair share of television, and that one of my goals is to grow as a consumer of TV and to make myself more conscious of the shows I am consuming. Through researching goals of “good” TV criticism in class, O’Donnell (2007) writes, “Critical activity enables you to move from casual enjoyment of a television program to a fuller and richer understanding” (3). In another article about the subject of TV criticism, Sillars and Gronbeck (2001) say that, “Hence, analyzing even what appears to be the simplest of works requires textualization to suggest what’s “really” being said” (10). Thus, my goal for this blog is to develop a better and more in depth understanding of the shows I’m consuming on TV. Furthermore, I am challenging myself to dig beyond the surface meaning of the television’s texts and provide an eye opening analysis of the hidden messages that may exist within our favorite shows.

As a beginning and growing critic, my relationship to television as an object of study is still developing. I do think that it’s important that we critique the television programming we watch, though, because TV is such an important media in today’s society. Butler (2002) acknowledges that people in approximately 90% of homes in the United States consume television (3). Despite this enormous number of people subscribing to the messages portrayed through television programming, I feel that many simply sit back and mindlessly consume whatever it is a particular show or network airs. Butler (2002) makes us aware that, “The television text does not present all meanings equally positively or strongly. Through dialogue, acting styles, music, and other attributes of the text, television emphasizes some meanings and deemphasizes others” (10). This is essentially something that I would like to pay close attention to throughout my semester of honing my skills as a critic of television. In the past, I feel that I have merely digested the dialogue of the shows I watch without paying close attention to acting styles, music, or even advertisements shown on commercial breaks. As mentioned by O’Donnell above, I feel that paying close attention to these attributes of television will, indeed, contribute to a fuller and richer understanding of television as a whole.

Corner (1999) writes that television has both a centrifugal and centripetal relationship to our day-to-day culture (5). I agree with this, as many television programs are able to bring meaning out of something ordinary and disperse it to the masses. Furthermore, television also allows us to focus on many meanings—like I mentioned earlier, each viewer of television pulls away different meanings from watching even the exact same program.

So then, this is where I appreciate your help as consumers of this blog: I will try my best to follow Corner’s (1999) advice in thinking of what you as an audience may or may not know, or what may be misunderstood or disagreed with (11). I intend to relate to my audience by creating what Brunsdon (1993) defines as a transparent relationship between myself (critic), and you (viewer). In this transparent relationship, all opinions and values are important and worthwhile.

Whether it be analyzing the latest episode of Top Chef, a controversial episode of South Park, or an old episode of Family Matters, I am excited to begin critiquing and analyzing popular television shows. Even more so, I look forward to hearing what you think and what you have to say about some of these same texts. I promise to be accepting and create a relationship of discourse in which each opinion or gathering of meaning is equally important.

References

Brunsdon, C. (1993). Identity in feminist television criticism. Media, Culture and Society, 15: 309-320.

Butler, J. (2002). Television: Critical Methods and Applications (2^nd ed). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Corner, J. (1999). Critical Ideas in Television Studies. New York: Oxford University Press.

O’Donnell, V. (2007). Television Criticism. New York: Sage.

Sillars, M. O. and Gronbeck, B. E. (2001). Communication Criticism: Rhetoric, Social Codes, Cultural Studies. Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press.