Welcome to the Sea of Echoes

Related to my last post on emotional journeys I wanted to write a beat by beat analysis of some show and record the emotions displayed.  I chose episode 3 of Glee as my subject.

The highly incomplete list of beats is below.  A few important points stand out:

Tempo is Fast

Feelings change every 1-5 second.  During most of the dramatic scenes the feeling being expressed changes quicky.  A scene might last 45 seconds or so, a line might last 5 seconds, so that’s ten lines per scene.  Many scenes have sub-second camera cuts showing reactions or hinting at future conflicts.

Modern writers rarely seem to dwell on the same emotion so after a feeling is expressed or stated they quickly move to another one.  This keeps the show moving quickly.

Transitional devices.  There are a few transitional devices in the writing of the episode that are worth mentioning.

Feeling vs feeling

The camera or dialogue cuts between two characters expressing conflicting feelings.  This could be fairly static or have some kind of build

Forced transition

A common comic device is to present a feeling of discomfort (like getting the door slammed in your face) followed by something upbeat (like a dance number).  This transitional device makes light of the suffering or unfortunate circumstances (getting thumbs cut off, being taken to the emergency room) and lifts the mood - sort of like the story shrugging its shoulders and moving on.  In some cases these emotional shifts are accompanied by actual sighs or musical cues to denote that a situation is comic.

Musical numbers

These typically stick with the deeper development of a single feeling. “Bust the windows out your car”.  Instead of the microfeelings of a single camera cut, the music and pull us deeper and deeper into feelings.  Because most musical numbers have single point of view it is hard to accomplish the rapid alternation of conflicting or independent feelings that can be experienced in theater.  This raises an interesting idea of a duet of feeling vs feeling.

Primary arc of feelings:

• Excitement -> nervousness/tension (pregnancy subplot)
• Resignation -> Tension -> Frustrated/Concealed Desire (romance subplot)
• Confusion -> anger vs confusion (qb+subplot)
• Challenge -> Challenge -> Success (acafellas subplot)
• Challenge -> Challenge -> Overcoming -> Success (choreographer subplot)
• Frustration -> Comfort -> Disappointment -> Reconcilliation (gayvention subplot)
• Fear -> fear revealed -> comfort -> fear restated (gay subplot)
• Disappointment -> frustration -> fear -> decision -> overcoming (law school)
• … and more …

Beats from episode 3

• excitement - i cant hold it in anymore
• terry’s pregnant - pride, suprise, excitement // worry
• sigh
• toast
• 1:03: I’m really happy for you son
• “i was a mess”
• “that’s my fault, boys learn that from their fathers”
• “i was saving up for … law school”
• “didnt have “
• “guts!”
• 2:12———— dance
• frustrated looks
• “what’s wrong with the choreography?” - shock, nervousness
• “we’re a team now” - venom, cruelty
• nervousness fear
• “did you ever perform Mr schuster?”
• <new problem>
• 3:41 ————
• “oh no, theres none at all”
• “it’s great its wonderful”
• 4:26 ————- break room
• comic relief / disgust - “cutting off his thumbs”
• nervousness, discomfort, awkwardness
• “my life is a disaster”
• “i dont have thumbs” - misery
• “for he’s a jolly good fellow”
• “it’s creepy” <sigh> -> “this is how we do it”
• “testotertones”/acafellas
• 7:56 ——-bedroom——-
• “i hope so”
• “it was like she was trying to make a twin” - happiness
• <nervousness, fear vs. excitement>
• <sex>
• 8:21 ——-cookies——–
• “i just dont have time for all of it anymore”
• “all those in favor of hiring dakota stanley?” - confrontation
• 10:00——-hallway
• “glee is my one shot” -
• “i’ve moved on and I’m focused on my career”
• “you have feelings for me and you just dont have the guts to admit it” (realization)
• “yes” - confrontation
• 11:18———
• “i will not be satisfied…” - pride, gloating, evil
• “go after these glee clubbers one by one” - anger
• “i need a fog machine” - greed, gloating
• 12:12 ——-locker
• “have you ever kissed anybody”  - longing
• “but I want to” - frustration
• “we are superior to all of them” - pride
• <holding hands> - closeness
• “i dont think I’m his type”
• 13:28 ——-nightclub that girl is poison
• i felt like i was finally a star
• “yay! ken…” - false pride
• “this is huge”
• “i need their
• “prison food”
• 15:44 ——— break room ————–
• here come the acafellas - pride
• “stop right there william” - conflict
• “who is josh groban”
• “no sandy”
• “he’s looking for an opening act”
• 17:38 ——– parking lot ————
• until midnight
• vocal adrenaline
• “dont - hes a monster”
• 19:19 ———- vocal adrenaline - mercy ———-
• get off my stage
• 19:54 ———- parking lot ———————
• <new problem>
• how are we gonna get $8000
• 20:20 ———- practice room ——————-
• “i dont think I can be in the band anymore”
• “howards out”
• “is that what that was”
• “i have some bad news”
• “acafellas pressure is too much pressure for henri”
• “officially doomed now”
• “it was fun while it lasted”
• “i dont think you should give up”
• 22:10 ———–laptop ————————–
• i’m quitting glee too
• i didnt quit glee
• have the guts to stick with it a little bit longer
• trust me - i know
• 23:26 ———– moms ————————–
• i’ve got star potential/a cougar never disappoints/my above ground pool cleaning business went through the roof <pride><sex>
• if you mess this up for me… <anger>
• 24:28 ———— practice —————–
• swing that big old bat
• 26:19 ———— gay vention
• we need to have a gay vention
• you can do better
• what if I cant? nobody notice us <frustration/anger // sadness>
• kurt is sweet to me <hope/connection vs sadness>
• 27:13 ————- car wash —————-
• <sex>
• gratitude vs venom
• make it official
• that we’re dating
• i’m in love with someone else
• rachel?
• <violence> broken glass
• <sex/dancing>
• 30:05 ————-video —————–
• <sex/anger/violence vs anger/shock/surpise/confusion>
• 31:00 ————-menus—————–
• “at walking”
• “frankenteen”
• “you’re freakishly tall”
• “maybe you need someone whos going to lie to you”
• “do i want to be a winner of not”
• “wait” - barbara streisand
• “we’re gonna win because we’re different”
• “you’re fired” - anger
• 33:27  ———- dressing rooms ————–
• <nervous>
• “thanks for beliving in me”
• “josh groban is here” - excitement
• 34:41 — acappella number/tick tock you dont stop—-
• <dancing> <applause> <jealous glances>
• <not standing>
• 35:00 ——– after
• which one of you is sandy
• “this is restraining order” <comic surpise>
• “explosive”
• 37:45 ——— parking lot ————–
• “im sorry”
• “you were really good”
• “josh groban loves an alcoholic”
• “you ok?” “i am” - its enough for me …
• “you inspire people” - pride
• “i’m going to law school” - hope/pride
• 39:45 ———- locker room ————-
• “im sorry/i hope it works out”
• “i’ve never told anyone before”
• “the whole point of the club is to express what is inside you” <hope>
• “i cant… i’m just not that confident” <fear, doubt>
• 41:23 ———- sues office ————–
• “that’s the smell of failure” <anger vs fear>
• “when you really believe in yourself you dont have to bring other people down”
• 42:29 ———- dancing —————-
• “it was really good”