Carnivàle season 1 episode 12

Analyze and Evaluate Carnivale

Introduction

Despite being cancelled after only two seasons on HBO (2003-2005), Carnivale has been admired by many people till now. It’s a surreal TV series which tells a magic story. Surrealism means the story is not controlled by time or place and it’s beyond the reality. Generally this TV show has two clues - Ben’s adventure in Carnivale and Brother Justin’s exposure of his evil nature. This show often talks about its evocation of the universal theme of good and evil. Throughout the show, there are many events to make people think of what is good and what is evil - everyone has his/her kindness and evil behavior. At first Ben was an escaped criminal while Justin was a respectable preacher. But staying in Carnivale, where people are generally weird but kind though they still have many shorts, Ben becomes better. While after experiencing many unfair things, Justin becomes evil. Both Ben and Justin have great talents, but Ben uses his power to heal people while Justin uses his power to affect people to reach his own purpose. In my opinion, though region factors are everywhere in Carnivale, it’s just the surface. The most important theme of this series is both sides of destiny. It’s difficult to tell what is good and what is evil, which is one theme of human history because good and evil always come along with each other.

While it has been criticized for the opaqueness of its narrative, it met with good critical response and even garnered many awards, including an ASCAP Award for Top TV Series (B Shulman. 2007). Paradoxically, the reason for the cancellation was also one of the main reasons fans enjoyed the show: the immense cost of keeping true to its staging in the Dust Bowl of Depression-era America. Daniel Knauf, the creator and main author of the series, said the show couldn’t have been done for less than its $3.5 million per episode budget. In addition to a large ensemble cast, Knauf cited the complexities involved with trying to create a realistic picture of 1930s America. The HBO series really did a lot to reproduce the scene at that time besides spending a lot of money. The creators also took special measures to reproduce the scenes like choosing narrative and words carefully to make them suitable for that time, coloring the show according to the time and place, lighting different scenes in different ways, using various kinds of music to create atmosphere, etc.

In this paper, I will analyze and evaluate the HBO TV series Carnivale to research how ten production elements - narrative and word choice, editing, camera angles and movement, relative position, color, shape, scale, lighting, sound and performance - express the time and place the story happened, create unique atmosphere, indicate the relation between good and evil.

Time and Place

Generally in most TV series, the time and place when and where the story happens are told directly in the beginning, but a good TV show should have the time and place shown indirectly during it. If a TV show can’t make its time and place known through other factors like words, clothes, colors, etc., then these factors don’t go with the show itself (Y Han, et al.2008). If so, the TV series’ reality is doubted. This paper will analyze and evaluate the HBO series Carnivale to show how the word choice, the color and the sound indicate the time and place when and where the story happens.

In all episodes, the creators use color that are similar to earth and sand, from people’s clothes to cars. This choice of color indicates that the characters are living in a place full of sand. From what the actors say later that can also know - they are in Texas. The time can also be inferred from the color. People of Carnivale are wearing clothes whose color is similar to sand, which indicates they are exposed to nature everyday. It is obvious from this that they can’t find jobs in city, so it must be a period of hardship for the whole nation - the Great Depression. Also from what they talk about their daily life, it is known they are living in a small town. Thus without being told where the story happens, it can be safely say that they are living in a small town of Texas. Compared to recent TV series, not much oral words are used. Through the whole series, audience seldom hear any slung and they never use complete sentences. From what they say, audience can know that the story happened years ago. Also, audience can hear cowboy music as the background music, which also indicates the place - western America.

In episode 1, season 1, Ben’s house was torn down. From what the driver say - their house was mortgaged to the bank - what always happened during the Great Depression and from the main color of all scenes-dust yellow, which creates a feeling of thirsty and hunger, audience can know it’s actually during the Great Depression.

In episode 10, season 1, Libby wants to go to Hollywood to make her dream come true. She wants to become as successful as a famous actress. The actress’s name she chooses that also indicates when the story happens - 1930s.

Atmosphere

Almost all kinds of TV series have their own atmosphere. Generally a comedy has a comfortable and funny atmosphere like Friends and The Big Bang Theory. A laugh or some music which is humor can make the plot become more interesting. A horror TV show has an atmosphere of terror and freak, like American Horror Story. An action show has an easy and dramatic atmosphere like Superman. But how to create the atmosphere the show need? These creators often emphasize on editing, lighting, color, shape and sound to create the atmosphere they want to present. This paper will analyze and evaluate the HBO series Carnivale to show how editing, lighting, color, shape and sound help to create a special atmosphere.

In the TV series, the difference between Carnivale and Justin’s choice of narrative and words are clear. Person of Carnivale always use words that is informal to express their thoughts and emotions freely while Justin is much different from them, he uses formal words like a saint. Different choices of words may indicate different meanings. First of all, person of Carnivale’s choices of words indicate these people’s sincerity and passion for life. Also it creates the atmosphere of freedom. But when Justin talks with his companion, they use formal words and even a lot of religious words. Their choice of words implies they are hypocrites inside. Man is the main body of the novel, no matter what ideas the writer wants to express. It is not so hard to know that there are three main things to perform a good novel character, which are dialogue, action and heart activity. Words of every Role, every kind of expression are able to exhibit the mental activity of the role. A successful TV series can be known that what kind of person this person is from the demeanor of the role, performing the role in this series vividly.

During the opening song, a lot of Tarot cards can be seen with the Gypsy tunes heard. The Tarot cards, along with the Gypsy music create the atmosphere of mystery since Gypsy is mysterious to most people. It’s said the cards in the beginning represent different meanings and fates concerning the main story of the TV series.

In episode 1, season 1, to describe Ben’s horrible dream, the director uses little light to create a dark world and sometimes the lightning lights up the world. Light source is the core of the plot in many series, and it is the inner spiritual sustenance of audience when they are enjoying the screen. When showing a picture of the only change of light and darkness immediately, the hearts of the audience will be attached to the light source in the picture, change their mind with the change of intensity of light. It’s typical in a horror film to use this kind of light in order to create the atmosphere of horror. Along with the sound which sounds risky and dangerous, it makes audience feel even more horrible.

Not only in episode 1, the whole series is full of the sound of wind, which creates a depressing atmosphere which stands for the Great Depression and people’s depression about their fate and the whole world. A great magic weapon of modern terror film is sound. Audience often see a situation in the movies, a loud noise is out suddenly when the picture of this plot is serene, which can cause a big hit of the hearts to the audience, but actually, later there appeared nothing particular horror on the screen, but the audience are scared to death all because of this sound. Sometimes the sound can be the back ground music of the plot or scream of somebody. Everything that is done here is for one purpose, to create a kind of atmosphere of terror.

Editing also plays an important role in creating the atmosphere. When Ben’s mother is lying on bed, Ben walks to her and she looks frightened. Audiences will curious about what he wants to do or what he has done to her mother before and they may even suppose that he will kills his mother. Later in this episode, it can be known that he has the talent to heal people while she believes in God and thinks she should die naturally. Then why not tell the story of his childhood at first? There in only one answer of this question that is to create an atmosphere of horror.

In episode 6, season 1, in a girl’s funeral, the background music is very soft. But that even adds to the sorrow of the people in Carnivale. When they are carrying the girl’s body to bury her, the camera angles and movement make sense. At first, it’s the overlook of the picture about what people of Carnival are doing. Some of them are crying while someone just keeps silent and someone is digging a whole. This scene creates the atmosphere of sorrow and desperation. Then the camera angle changes. It keeps in front of people like they are walking to the camera. It is seen that they are not walking to bury her, but they are walking to their own fate because they all know their fate won’t be better than the girl. They are in no charge of their destiny and they can die any minute. Society is so desperate, and everyone is living a hopeless life. Most of them are freak, and Carnivale is the only place that accepts them as who they are. They are brothers and sisters. It is easily to know that the atmosphere of sorrow and desperation from the camera angles and movement. The detail description is the fine description of the part of the object. It is the smallest unit of the image of the works, but it has no uniform requirement for the meaning of the object. This kind of method can be called montage method.

The montage method is to synthesize two or more elements into a new content. The famous master of the Soviet montage, film theorist and director Eisenstein mentioned in his book: in Chinese, the "mouth" and "dog" composite into "bark", you know, this is a montage. Both "mouth" and "dog" are noun, each of them has independent meaning, however, when they were to be grouped together, there will be a qualitative change, it changes into a verb ---" bark". Show them on the screen, the "mouth" and "dog" close-up clips together, it is natural that the audience realized that it is a barking dog, or is that there is a dog that is baking and they can even hear it. The montage method forms into a unique film language form. Montage in the movie is the slitting and combination of lens, or is the clip. The following is the famous example of a typical montage creation test, the same three lenses to take different editing method, it will produce different effects:

1, a person is laughing.

2, pistol directed.

3, a horror face

What this order of lens can lead to the audience is the character of cowardice and fear (JC Tang, M Rua, 1994).

In episode 9, season 1, when Justin talks to the reporter, the scene is dark with little light to show they are talking about something that can’t tell other people. Also the background music sounds dangerous. In fact, throughout the TV series, whenever Justin shows up, the scene is dark and the music sounded dangerous and uncomfortable. Through the description of the iconic scene, when the audience saw Justin with the dark background and uncomfortable music, audience can easily identify that something bad may happen later. A black background, unpleasant music together, let the audience can easily will be attracted into to the plot, which can be one of the most important reasons for the success of this series (B Beckerman.1970).

In episode 12, season 1, Libby is dancing on the stage while Sophie is watching her. The color of Libby’s clothes is the brightest color that can be seen in this TV show. American journal of psychology published a study showed that when women wore red clothes, males are attracted better and there will be doubled risk of sexual arousal. The researchers explain, red often implies a woman want to fall in love, is the most romantic color, will give deep impress to the men. In this plot, the red color shows how they enjoy staying with each other, and more importantly, it shows the affection between them. The red color creates the atmosphere of love.

Also in episode 12, season 1, Justin wants his father to kill him. The shape of the candle stick - very sharp, creates the atmosphere of tension and worry (M Fork. 2007). It also contributes to Justin’s getting more evil.

Good &Evil

When you were little kids, you were often told what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. But as you grow up, you are getting to be aware that there are no clear boundaries between good and evil. This paper will analyze and evaluate Carnivale to show how the relative position, performance, scale, color, angle indicate good and evil and the unclear boundaries between good and evil.

Excellent TV series always have their own unique artistic style; the formation of this style of art often has a great relationship with its unique character language. In all episodes, the difference of choice of words between Carnivale and Justin are obvious. For example, people of Carnivale use informal words of sincerity while Justin uses formal words of religion. On the surface, it just seems like a simple difference of cultural. But in fact, this is also a difference between good and evil. The good and evil can be felt by the audience in a variety of factors, but it was not told to the audience directly, this let the audience create a sense of substitution, they put their ideas into the series, and then the attractiveness of the TV series is increased.

In episode 1，season 1, Ben’s mom is lying sick in bed, while Ben sits at a distance. From normal thinking, someone was cold and far from his/her mom who was sick, most of the audience may think that Ben is not a good person at first. But it turns to be wrong, it is much different from the normal thinking, he is good. The relative positions on the screen stand for their different positions. First of all, through the description of this detail, make it bedding to the later. In the later of this series, it can be known why Ben was sitting at the distance from his mother who was sick in the bed rather than to take care of his mother. Secondly, it also formed a strong contrast to the results with the normal way of thinking, through the description of the later plot, making the unreasonable things reasonable. So that the film can be striking, letting people dare not to jump off before see the final results and this can increase its appeal greatly.

Besides, the colors can be used to represent good & evil sometimes (BB Fredholm. 1970). In episode 1, season 1, when Justin goes to a brothel, blood begins to rain. It’s the first time in the show that Justin begins to show his sins and desire. Red is the color of blood, in our daily life, bleeding often is not a expect thing. In many cases, crimson red can often express the feeling of a kind of bloody and terror. So the creators use red here- red rain and red light to show Justin’s change from good to evil.

In episode 2, season 1, when Ben and Justin go into a cafe for their dream, this is the first time they meet. In this scene, it is obvious that they are sitting in the same direction, shoulder to shoulder. They were thought to be opposite, but in the same dream, they are sitting shoulder to shoulder. Couldn’t it mean good and evil are not totally opposite?

In episode 3, season 1, actually, when Justin was trying to spread his thoughts to affect more people, the music was very soft and comfortable. This comparison is quite ironic. It indicates that Justin is just a hypocritical man who tries to reach his personal purpose.

In episode 4, season 1, when the storm was coming, the whole world became yellow. Partly, it’s because of the storm, but as a matter of fact, it represents the depression of people because soil yellow often stands for thirst and hunger. And when it turns to the next scene, it was much different; Justin and his sister were sitting in the church and talking, having nothing to do with the outside world. They wear clean dark clothes, which is totally opposite to people of Carnivale.

Shooting from different angles, there will be different expression to the same plot.

In episode 6, season 1, when people of Carnivale are sentencing the man who killed a girl, the camera switches from Simon’s angel to the criminal’s angel. Audiences have the feeling that audiences are both the criminal who is guilty and Simon who is sentencing. It makes sense because audiences feel Carnivale’s anger and the criminal’s fear. Audiences feel good and evil from switching the camera angel. By constantly switching lenses, people's psychological activity of different situation can be reflected, making the plot of the whole process vivid and exciting.

Music is another element that can be used to describe different kind of feeling. In episode 6, season 1, after they let the criminal go, Simon goes back for him and shoots him. From Simon’s eyes, audiences can see firmness and the determination to revenge. From the actor’s performance, it can be felt that Carnival is the representation of good. Good always wins. At the end of this episode, when they are heading south, the music goes on. Audiences can feel the good people’s sorrow and determination: though they are living in a world full of bad things and suffer loss, life still goes on. The goodness never loses (Khandramai，V. L, et al.2013).

In episode 9, season 1, Ben was hurt mentally by a woman and the old blind man spies on him with the women with beard as usual. Here the lighting is very typical. The camera angle is oblique top, so the characters can only be partly seen to create the atmosphere of peeping. Since Ben comes to Carnivale, they two have been spying on him. This atmosphere shows their care for Ben and their eager to know his secrets.

Also in episode 12, season 1, when Justin asks his father to kill him, his father lifts the candlestick, behind him is sunshine. With the sunshine, audiences can only see Justin’s head and his father’s face. This way of lighting indicates that Justin’s quest is evil. It’s the opposite of light. Also it means from the moment on, Justin no longer sticks to good and kindness, he embraces darkness.

In episode 4, season 1, when the policeman comes to Simon to get Carnivale away from the town, Simon is not afraid of him at all. Though he is short outside, he is tall and strong in mind. This element is scale. Scale shows Simon’s strength in mind. When the camera is near enough, to see Simon’s face in the screen, audience can only see the policeman’s leg. In episode 6, season1, when Simon goes to the policeman secretly, this scale is even more obvious. Simon represents good while the policeman represents evil. Evil seems strong and tall, but it’s week and short inside. Good seems weak and short, but it’s strong and tall in mind.

Conclusion

Though Carnivale was concelled after only 2 seasons, it’s the best TV series of HBO. Not only is its opinions about the world unique but also the technique to create it is creative. By analyzing and evaluating it with ten production elements, I even admire it more. The creators are really good at using these elements to make a good TV show. There are three aspects that can be appreciated in the TV series most:

1. Its music. Generally three kinds of music are used in it. One is the background music when Carnivale is calm and works well. Living with desperation, people still carry on hope with them. The second background music appears when Justin and his companion appear. It’s a kind of uncomfortable music that makes people feel frightened and dangerous. The third background music is the kind of cowboy music almost everywhere. Also along with the wind all year, they add to the TV show’s legendary color. In total, different kinds of music help to create different atmosphere. The music of this TV series is a huge success because it does accomplish its original purpose.

2. Its color. Generally, the main color of the show is similar to earth and sand. It helps to indicate the time and place when and where the story happens. Throughout the TV series, the main color keeps the same: Carnivale - yellow and Justin’s side - black. The difference in color implies their different position - good and evil.

3. Its lighting. Basically, the TV series uses a typical horror movie’s lighting. But it does have different lighting for different purpose. Generally the lighting of the show tends to be dark especially in season 1. Because in this kind of shows, it’s important to keep a secret in many aspects. So the creators always use little light to make the audience know what they should know and all the other details are concealed.

In general, after analyzing and evaluating Carnivale within ten production elements, it is clearer about both the TV show and the elements themselves.

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