1 Notes to García and González 2 Notes to Nelson
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Notes 1 Notes to García and González 1. This chapter is included in the research project ‘Acción, emoción e identidad’ (Ref. FFI2012-38737-C03-01) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economía and Competitividad. 2 Notes to Nelson 1. 25–6 October, 2013. 2. See, for example, the work of Henry Jenkins and Matt Hills. 3. For an overview of developments, see Nannicelli and Taberham. 4. For a neuroscience perspective on empirical/experiential approaches, see Kircher and Leube: ‘Questions on cognitive and neural correlates of notions such as self-awareness, self-consciousness, introspective perspective or sub- jective experiences have re-emerged as topics of great interest in the scientific community. This is in part due to the lack of neuroscience grasping some- thing like a first person perspective with its methodology and an increasing unease with this situation among researchers’ (656). 5. See Nelson, State of Play, where I document the shifts to global marketing in digital circumstances which facilitated the production and worldwide dis- tribution of ‘high-end’ TV fictions. In short summary, such programming emerged in a forcefield of circumstances: digital technologies and satellite distribution; improved quality of sound and image through digital high reso- lution; finance generating an ambition to attract creative talent (some with film experience) mobilising a fundamental shift of value in the economics of TV3 ‘from conduit to content’. 6. For an informative overview of the lineage of the term and current thinking on ‘affect’, see Gregg and Seigworth. 7. For a full discussion of the variety and complexities of participatory engage- ments, see Gareth White. 8. Ellis established the concept of ‘the glance’ in television view in distinction from ‘the gaze’ in cinema established by Mulvey. 9. For an account of Poliakoff’s career and TV fictions, see Nelson, Stephen Poliakoff. 10. A slogan for modernism attributed to Pound and subsequently used in 1935 as a title of a selection of his poems. 11. I choose also to avoid the much-discussed sequence which affords another powerful ‘moment of affect’ from narrative fragments tangential to the Truman–Anderson conflict. In that celebrated sequence, photographic stills in black and white show a young Jewish girl separated from her parents, 223 224 Notes clandestinely brought up by neighbours and ultimately surviving their deaths in the concentration camps. 12. Writing of saturated frames, Butler notes that the average shot length (ASL) in Mad Men, though slow is actually shorter in duration than 1960s cinema where ‘[f]actors such as composition in depth, deep focus, widescreen fram- ing among others, can mitigate against faster cutting speeds ... because they need more time to comprehend’ (68). 13. Mad Men cinematographer, Phil Abraham, has spoken of its ‘somewhat man- nered, classic visual style that is influenced more by cinema than TV’ (qtd in Edgerton, Mad Men: Dream 64). 14. I am grateful to Alberto N. García for pointing out that the final shot of ‘The Strategy’ (7.6) bears out the thesis of ‘moments of affect’ over the protracted time-span of a long-form serial. The scene is ostensibly very simple: Don, Peggy and Pete sit at a dinner table. But the resonances of that image are tremendous, and the whole bodymind memory of the ‘experiencer’ must be fully at work. 15. For a fuller discussion, see Bay-Cheng, Kattenbelt, Lavender and Nelson. 3 Notes to García 1. Perhaps the most successful exception can be found in the character of Andy Sipowicz in NYPD Blue (ABC, 1993–2005). 2. The persistence of this antihero trend is provoking ‘narrative fatigue’. In fact, some fancy productions, such as Ray Donovan, The Knick (Cinemax, 2014–) or the AMC’s police drama, Low Winter Sun (2013), did not receive cri- tical praise because the figure of the antihero has become formulaic or clichéd. 3. Nurse Jackie (Showtime, 2009–15) or Rescue Me offer variations thereon, in both cases linked to addictions. 4 Notes to Pérez 1. Carroll is one of the main academics to have posited a series of arguments that are sceptical of the concept of empathy; Carroll also contends that the con- cept of sympathy is the best way of understanding the relationship between spectators and fictional characters: ‘Sympathy is the primary glue that binds us emotively to the protagonists and their fates in popular fictions’ (‘On Some Affective’ 175). 2. At the time of writing this chapter, a third season has yet to be produced. The series has also been syndicated in 13 countries, with a particularly successful reception in Argentina; it has also been the object of remakes in Italy and in the United States, where Spielberg has produced a ver- sion for Fox that premiered on 17 September 2014 titled The Red Band Society. 3. The intensity of the depiction of the group may possibly be one of the factors influencing the success with viewers (predominantly teen viewers) enjoyed by this series, which was initially produced for Catalonia by TV3, and then Notes 225 exported to the rest of Spain, where it has had viewing audiences of more than two million. 4. The relevance of Plantinga’s concept here is posited not only on the basis of the dominant scenes depicting the faces of the characters, but also on the content, with its evocation of sacrifice, and Lleo’s impending death: ‘To con- textualize empathy, films often attempt to elicit an empathetic response only after a protagonist has undergone some kind of trial or sacrifice, has neared the end of his or her life, or in some cases, has actually died’ (‘The Scene of’ 253). 5. We refer here to the term proposed by Smith in association with his concept of alignment: ‘To become allied with a character, the spectator must evaluate the character as representing a morally desirable (or at least preferable) set of traits, in relation to other characters within the fiction. On the basis of this evaluation, the spectator adopts an attitude of sympathy (or, in the case of a negative evaluation, antipathy) towards the character, and responds emo- tionally in an opposite way to situations in which this character is placed’ (‘Engaing Characters’ 188). 5 Notes to Weissmann 1. For example, what I will discuss in relation to Mad Men also largely holds true for Homeland (Showtime, 2011–) and The Wire (HBO, 2002–08). 6 Notes to Flamarique 1. As Balzac argues, ‘FASHION is no longer determined by a person’s wealth. The material of life, once the object of general progress, has undergone tremen- dous developments. There is not a single one of our needs that has not produced an encyclopaedia, and our animal life is tied to the universality of human knowledge. In dictating the laws of elegance, fashion encompasses all the arts (...)Bywelcoming,byindicating progress, it takes the lead in everything: it brings about revolutions in music, literature, drawing, and architecture. A treatise on elegant living, being the combination of inalienable principles that must guide the expression of our thought through exterior life, is, as it were, the metaphysics of things’ (26). 2. American literature has repeatedly described family and social life in these cities – for example, American Pastoral by Philip Roth, Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit by Sloam Wilson and The Lay of the Land by Richard Ford. 3. ‘Mad Men’s story arcs reveal that the era touted as one of nuclear family togeth- erness was often one of family separation with wives ensconced in suburbs and men in cities, often staying there over night and on holidays’ (Gillan 104). 4. ‘The power of the narrative of Mad Men is that it has been able to collect and represent part of our logic of masculine identification and show it to us in its entirety, without exaggerating’ (García García 385). 226 Notes 7 Notes to Baena 1. I would like to acknowledge the Spanish Government’s financial support of the research project: ‘Acción, emociones, identidad. Elementos para una teoría de las sociedades tardo-modernas’ (Ref. FFI2012-38737-C03-01). 2. The popularity of these programmes has been a matter of concern among critics. As a recent audience research study shows, heritage productions have led to a higher audience and are attracting a younger demographic than the producers expected: ‘In the post-2000 era of globalization and media conver- gence, new forms of transnational Anglophilia are becoming evident online among young global audiences which encompass both period and contem- porary (culturally) British film/drama genres and their stars. This includes a young, transnational following for ITV’s/PBS Masterpiece Theatre’s Downton Abbey’ (Monk, Heritage-Film 45). 3. Important social, technological and economic changes occurred during the Edwardian years. In general, it was a time of prosperity and wealth, as Great Britain still held a privileged political position in the world. The wonders of the modern world, which appeared in the 1880s and 1890s, brought the first rewards of modern industrialization and mass-produced abundance. Britain was at its imperial height at this time and one in three of the world’s population were her subjects. The Edwardian period also witnessed crucial changes in the British class system and British heritage, rescued by American capital. 4. We cannot classify these series under just one generic definition. While they participate in many forms of heritage production, their generic labels vary among a wide range of terms, such as period or costume drama, lit- erary adaptions, soap opera, or classic dramas in general. The different labels may also respond to a tendency to syncretism in contemporary TV drama that crosses generic boundaries in order to attract younger audiences (Vidal 33).