After having recapped Media Language, Genre and Narrative, we started watching a TV series as a group and applied our knowledge through an analysis of the first episode. The series that was chosen was The Morning Show and we were given a document with questions to fulfil either during or after the episode. The research below that I did on the show was done after the lesson, so I did not know of this information prior to answering the questions, but I will put here for context and extra understanding.
The Morning Show (also known as Morning Wars in Australia and Indonesia) is an American drama streaming television series starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell, that premiered on Apple TV+ on November 1, 2019. The series is inspired by Brian Stelter’s book Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV. It follows a popular breakfast news program broadcast from Manhattan on the UBA network, of the same name as the series, that is extremely popular and is said to have changed the face of American television. The main three characters are the two co-hosts of the show, one of with is involved in accusations of sexual misconduct, and an ex-news reporter that causes an online stir at the same time as the erupted scandal.
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In the Dark Night of the Soul, It’s Always 3:30 in the Morning
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Episode 1
How does the opening scene (up until we hear the upbeat American Pie song) build up tension?
The opening scene is mostly low-key lighting (dimly lit throughout each scene) and the colours are quite desaturated and dull. This instantly creates a suspicious atmosphere, since the audience is questioning why the exposition of the world is so negative. We also hear dramatic music that gets increasingly loud as the intro progresses, accompanied by a disturbing ringing sound. With connotations of police sirens, danger and/or general lack of peace, the audio ramps up the tension and adds to the already ominous tone. Another remarkable part is the lack of dialogue and the focus on all mundane tasks of the character’s lives, such as waking up, going to the bathroom etc. This is a typical technique used to build suspense, since contradicting the visuals and audio creates an unsettling sense, that can make the audience uncomfortable. The juxtaposition lies in the fact that what we are seeing is normal – tasks we associate with the every day, but what we are hearing is anxiety-ridden and entirely wrong for the sort of mood that going about one’s morning brings. It foreshadows that something bad is probably going to happen, and disrupt the peaceful atmosphere that the characters are in since they are oblivious to the warning sign being portrayed through the music. A lot of shots with the characters also have side lighting, which is quite powerful and in the given context, reinforces the negative tone.
What genre would you assume this is and why?
My guess, based on the tense opening, is that it is a thriller, mystery or drama, or some amalgamation of all three. Due to the sombre mood and pacing, I got the impression that this series is quite stirring or deep, not just in terms of the themes, but the perspective on life, which I guessed would be emotion-charged and dramatic, most likely focusing on the characters, since they are such a large part of the opening. The pacing also strengthens these guesses, since the slow camera movements and steady scene changes are quite conventional to drama or mystery series, where the normality is used to the advantage of the genre (normality + dramatic music = tension). In addition to this, there are hints of death, especially towards the end of the opening where the camera is doing a slow pedestal upwards, following the body of a man on the floor. It is not revealed if he is alive or not, and his perfect stillness and strange position make us think that we are looking at a corpse. As we approach his face, the music becomes louder and we reach the peak tension point when we get to the top, where it is broken by the notification sound of his phone and his face turning, disproving the idea that he is deceased.
Sound is really important in this opening sequence – what do you think this symbolises?
The lack of dialogue essentially refuses to give the audience any information. This lack of context is also what adds to the tension, since we are kept in the dark about what we are seeing, who the characters are, and anything of significance. My thoughts on the genre aligned perfectly with this – if it were a mystery, it would make sense to keep information hidden since it is so important in mysterious cases and a thriller or drama also tend to have plot twists, intrigue and secrecy, so keeping the audience info-blind at the start makes them scared of missing clues and potential key facts that would help later on in the series. Being kept in the dark also reflects the dark lighting, and we only have more questions as more is revealed visually. All of this is an enigma code (see Roland Barthes) that hooks the audience in with unawareness and draws them into the world. The code is only reinforced with the first words we hear “who died?”, which stand singular and potent in the verbal silence, emphasising their weight.
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We also took some notes about the characters – how they are represented, our first impressions of them and any camera shots or technical elements like mise en scene that tell us anything about them.
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Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston)
Alex is the first character we are introduced to by seeing her morning routine and normal life, and therefore feel more connected to her and sympathise with her most. The camera often follows her quite closely with a focus on her expressions through CUs and MS. She is determined, independent but also very emotional, attached greatly to her career so experiencing great distress over the events, which we can infer from her clothing (smart and fashionable, showing her love of presenting the news) and lifestyle (luxurious apartment, extensive morning routine, both showing her success and willingness/need to take care of her appearance for her job). We also see her strength and will through her continuation of the show and calm demeanour when presenting. Even in the scene where Bradley touches a nerve, she handles the situation without an outburst and concludes the episode with professionalism. She is presented as adept at her job and as a woman who has managed to balance work and family (shown through the scenes of her daughter and husband/ex?) but is slowly losing that and falling apart because of recent events. We can see this through her emotional outbursts around people and dependency on comfort from those she cares about.
Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon)
My first impression of Bradley was your typical small-town girl who loves drama and fights everyone about everything. In the truck where we first saw her, she seemed quite self-indulgent, focusing on her makeup whilst arguing with the driver, which was emphasized through the camera being on her for most of the scene, most likely because she had the most dialogue, almost as if she was hogging the attention. In some ways, this reflects Alex, since we were also introduced to her through self-care/appearance. Furthermore, establishing Radley’s character with makeup places a stereotype in the minds of the audience, that she is a ‘girly-girl who doesn’t know much and prefers to spend time shopping and socialising. To me, it seemed as if this was exaggerated as if the impression would be broken later on. This indeed happens, later on, when we realise that her job is quite serious ( field news reporter) and see her engaged in a protest. Her heated argument with a man who caused a violent scene made us realize that there is innate anger inside of her about life and about the situations she has to deal with, one that was in no way shown on the surface. It sends a message about how unexpected things can come from seemingly ‘normal people’ and that really, we all harbour similar emotions despite the different opinions – we are all human. Radley is energetic, passionate but also headstrong and stubborn; her rash decisions like quitting her job show that she isn’t afraid, to be honest, and make hard decisions, and through her interview on the morning show, we get the sense that she is made for the screen, replying with a ferocity that seemed uncalled for, but understandable considered the questions she was receiving. In contrast to Alex, her clothing started off as quite country-esque, with checkered/square-patterned shirts, jeans, rolled up sleeves and sleeveless vests. These are logical for a reporter to have since they move around a lot and need a greater range of motion, especially when attending events like riots/protests, but they also juxtapose with our first impression of her, instead, we now see her as a more simple girl, with raw untapped energy. This changes yet again however after she receives the offer to be interviewed on the morning show. Her outfits are smart and professional and reflect Alex’s wardrobe. It creates a subtle link between the two of them in the audience’s mind and creates an idea that Radley has a future in the company and will most likely be involved with Alex in some way.
Mitch Kessler (Steve Carrell)
Mitch is the charismatic former co-host of The Morning Show, that worked beside Alex for years. We didn’t see much of him in this first episode, at least, not as much as the other two main characters. This is ironic since he is in the centre of the scandal and the direct cause of all of the problems that Alex and the company experience. Our first view of him is when he is watching the morning presentation of his former company. He realises that he has been fired and reacts with extreme anger to the news. There were many people around him, all of whom were men if I remember correctly, which would make sense since I am sure he wouldn’t surround himself with women after being accused of sexual misconduct, who try to calm him down, but he refused to listen to their reasoning, going on a rant which included a lot of yelling, swearing and smashing his own TV. Through his violent actions and fierce behaviour, we come to understand he is a volatile, violent man. Given the situation, being fired from a job that you have poured years of your life to – being kicked out by your own ‘family’ because of accusations that he claims are largely exaggerated and/or wrong, we can somewhat sympathise with his hurt. However, after seeing his wife informing him of divorce and piecing together the fact that a married man did not deny sleeping with other women, but rather the fact that it was rape, our opinion of him is flipped yet again to the negative side. His lashing out seems justified, but the consequences of his actions also seem entirely reasonable. Much like Alex, Mitch lives in a huge, luxuriously furnished house, and seems to have been just as successful financially as she. Also, from the few clips we saw of them as hosts, laughing and joking around, his more charismatic, friendly side is revealed, implying that he had a perfect life and he wasn’t such an unhappy person before the whole ordeal. Through his conversation with Alex, we also see another side of him, perhaps the most real one yet – vulnerable and emotional, asking her to stay and hugging her, even though she insults him and blames him for everything. The close-ups of his face and different tone of voice show that he has a deep connection with Alex and can be more personal with her than even his wife, whose exchange with him early was quite frosty and rigid. Overall, he seems to be the typical, rich man, a socially charming, humourous, yet selfish man who overindulges in what he can and can’t have, shown through his body language, behaviour and home. Similarly to Alex, he is emotional and needy, sometimes acting like a child, such as when he broke his TV, which suggests that their job is quite stressful and more personal/important than it should be for their health.