fresh of the boat – English 1102: Television and Feminism

Tag: fresh of the boat

The Cinematography in Fresh Off the Boat, similar to the rest of the sitcom genre, lends itself to a very upbeat and cheerful environment. The combination of bright, warm, colors and quick cuts creates a pleasant, lighthearted, atmosphere.

Color in cinematography serves as a valuable tool in portraying how the audience feels. Lighting and color are a huge aspect in the emotion of a scene, and through the use of bright colors, the show invites the audience to feel comforted and happy. For example, the Huang’s house is painted a bright yellow or white in most places and the blinds are always open. In Season 2 Episode 10, the Huangs celebrate Christmas, and to communicate this idea of warmth and family, there is not a single dark scene. The few scenes shot at night have bright lights illuminating it. This episode is especially bright in comparison to the rest of the season because it wants to communicate the happy feeling of family and togetherness .

Christmas at the Huangs

Cutting quickly between the actors talking also creates a faux excitement and energy that keeps the audience engaged. Whenever a character talks, the camera hard cuts to them with no transition. The camera keeps the characters face in full shot while they are talking, seemingly used to create a sort of intimacy between the audience and the characters. The show is also shot in single-camera, following the characters as they move around. This parallels the fast paced plot of the show, as the audience quickly follows each characters and their sub plots. Specifically in the episode about Christmas, the cuts are abundantly clear when the kids are arguing about presents to get their parents and the camera quickly shifts between each of the kids as they each but in to the conversation.

Eddie in close view

Overall, the cinematography in the show perfectly sets the scene for how the directors want the audience to feel through the use of bright colors and lighting and quick cuts.

Does hip hop make him supreme – or is it all a scheme?

By Sofia Soto-Tredunlo

On October 16, 2018

In Review Topic 2

One of my favorite parts about Fresh off the Boat are the voice overs. Eddie Huang, a middle schooler, narrates the first and final scene of every episode, but as an older post-pubescent man. As the main character, he is telling the story from his perspective and how he views the plot. Therefore, this implies that this is how Eddie sees himself. This is just a hilarious ploy by the writers to me.

The voice of this character is unique to say the least. He reflects Eddie’s love of hip hop by using popular slang terms, because those terms are ~cool~. The speech used by this narrator is based off the speech of the popular hip hop artists who act as Eddie’s role models. The voice drastically contrasts with the voice of the real Eddie Huang which is high pitched, and the slang terms don’t sound quite as natural, because he’s a little kid. When Eddie uses the same slang it looks like a kid who is pretending to be cool when in reality he’s not, but the narration voice really is. Again, what this says about Eddie is that he genuinely believes he’s really cool.

This says a lot about Eddie’s character. Eddie’s character struggles to make friends. He is often rejected by the kids at school. In season 1 episode 5, the episode starts out by Eddie narrating how he doesn’t get invited to any sleepovers. This statement alone is a bit odd, considering the narrator is an adult and adults don’t exactly have sleepovers (in the traditional sense of the term…). The narrator continues by saying he was “mad siked” about getting invited to the sleepover which is something a ~cool~ person would say. And then the shot pans to Eddie, a small pudgy middle schooler who lacks in eyebrows (no offense Eddy, still love you). Despite this you might start thinking Eddie was actually a cool kid, because he finally got invited to a sleepover and was making friends. But again, the show reminds us that he is not. The next shot is of Eddie’s mom telling Eddie that there is “no way” he’s going to that sleepover. Again we’re reminded that he’s just a little awkward kid (again no offense).

I mean look at him… his cheeks are so chubby.. he has baby fat!

This really just serves as a constant reminder that people view themselves as a little bit cooler than we actually are. Not just kids, adults too. If the joke didn’t apply to adults, it wouldn’t be funny. Obviously low self esteem is a real thing, but the way we view ourselves is never exactly how the outside world views us.

Typical TV show, but only in terms of cinematography and direction

By Jay Patel

On September 25, 2018

In Review Topic 3

Fresh off the Boat is not any typical TV show: well except when describing cinematography and direction of the show. Cinematography and direction can have a very important impact on the delivery of a show or movie; it can play a role of how suspenseful the situation is, give a feeling of the environment, and many other impactful roles. Just like any other show, Fresh off the Boat uses the typical shots, for example, shot reverse shot, pan, and zoom, and common environments. It has a mixture of long shots and quick cuts to really show what is going on in the scene.

These details often go unnoticed by the viewer, and to some extent that is the goal of the person filming: to fully immerse one into the experience of watching the show. This goal is surely met. The cinematography matches the environment and setting to where emotions can be displayed from what we see. To display conflict occurring between multiple people, the scene displays a shot reverse shot to emphasize the emotion felt by each person, instead of a single shot where the emotions of two people could be generalized. For the most part, the show has a bright setting, and that is what you would expect from a reality tv show with a family with young kids. So far at least, there have not been any emotionally dark time times and I would imagine that being the case as the show is made for families.

This episode (season 1 episode 2) did not really have any aspects that visually stood out compared to other episodes, but that is probably because I am still very early on in the series. As a side note, I really like this show so far and it has made me laugh multiple times, especially at the parts that are relatable! It’s a good break from the other shows I am watching that are more serious.

CLC reminds me of Kumon lol

Netflix and I – A Love Affair

By Sofia Soto-Tredunlo

On September 4, 2018

In Intro Post

Howdy, everybody! My name is Sofi Soto and I am a business administration major (showing scheller some love woohoo!). Business is a weird passion to have (trust me I know), but to me it is super exciting and rewarding to learn about. I am a first year and have every intention of graduating in 2022 in order to avoid being disowned by my parents – no pressure. I have a long journey at tech ahead of me, but I am very much looking forward to everything ahead.

me realizing I have four years left before I graduate

My past experience with English courses has been very traditional. It comprised mostly of analyzing literature and writing essays – nothing to get excited about. As much as I enjoy reading literature, it gets repetitive in the sense that there are so many modes of communication I have barely touched and have been working on written since a very young age. I am very excited to continue learning about electronic communication. It surprises me that despite being in the 21st century there is still a huge lack of electronic media education in most public schools. It is such a relevant topic in the modern workplace and think it is the most effective platform to communicate to today’s youth and eventually the world. Electronic media has a huge global impact unique to this mode of communication only.

I definitely struggle most with verbal and nonverbal communication – generally presenting myself on a regular basis. In terms of verbal communication I have tendencies to stumble on my my words due to lack of confidence. This lack of confidence also tends to impact my nonverbal communication through awkward hand movement and body language. I am hoping this class will help give me the practice I need to gain the confidence to correct these issues.

I am so excited to explore the realm of television. I am definitely a lover of netflix (and hulu I won’t discriminate). I spend hours on the platform every week. I need netflix to refuel like most people need coffee. This is why I am in this class. It made a lot of sense. I have never truly analyzed a show for social commentary, but am excited to see things from a new perspective.

I chose to watch Fresh off the Boat for this project. The show is focused on an Asian-American family who moves from New York to Orlando to open a restaurant. It intrigued me because of the central focus on an Asian American family which is not commonly represented in American television and I thought that it therefore could have some interesting social commentary to analyze. I also tend to enjoy more lighthearted shows and the structure of this as a comedy sitcom fits my preferences.

I am excited for a fun year! Until next time, bloggers!

Fresh off to 1102

By Bruce Qin

On September 4, 2018

In Intro Post

Hi everyone, my name is Bruce Qin. I am a freshman at Tech (Class of 2022); I am currently majoring in computer engineering but planning to switch to electrical engineering.

In highschool, I took AP Capstone AP English Language and Composition. These courses exposed to research writing and a wide variety of readings. ENGL 1102 is my first english class at Tech and I’m very excited to learn about Television and Feminism. Over the past years, I’ve been trying to improve my oral communication skills as well as broaden the types of books I read. We had annual public speaking events and I was able to try different types of presentations such as persuasive speech, TED talks, and interpretive reading. Being able to experience these different types of public speaking helped me become a better speaker and learn how to integrate the various components of WOVEN. This semester and in the near future, I hope to read both fiction and non-fiction literatures on different topics so I can gain more knowledge in distinct fields.

I never watch cable but I would often catch up on shows when they are released on Netflix. I have seen shows such as The Good Place, Sense8, Orange is the New Black, etc. However, when I rewatched The Good Place for ENGL 1102 and tried to understand the show rather than simply watching for the plot, it was a different experience. I was able to better understand how aspect such as color and music affected the atmosphere and the deeper meanings behind the comical commentaries. I’m excited to discuss about the TV shows we will be watching for class rather than simply binging through them on the weekend.

Fresh Off the Boat, TV show I will be writing about in blog post.

Similar comedy show about Asian-American family.

I have chosen to watch Fresh off the Boat to watch for my blog entries. It focuses on an Asian-American family trying to adapt to the American culture during the 1990s. I have seen a trailer of the show before and I’ve wanted to watch it but never had a chance yet. I have also seen another comedy show that had a similar plot of an Asian-American family making their way in the US and really enjoyed it. I’ll try to understand the show from different perspectives and think about what the director has done to develop the show.

English 1102: Television and Feminism

Dr. Casey Alane Wilson • Georgia Institute of Technology

Tag: fresh of the boat

How Cinematography in Fresh Off the Boat leads to an Upbeat Environment

Does hip hop make him supreme – or is it all a scheme?

Typical TV show, but only in terms of cinematography and direction

Netflix and I – A Love Affair

Fresh off to 1102

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