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.