Voices and Signs - The Piano
Frontline Analysis

(NB Media Studies or English teachers wishing to use this excellent programme for more advanced study should read the article Critical Thinking: Using Frontline (see http://www.aate.org.au/E_in_A/Oct%2097/972frye.html) from the Australian Association for the Teaching of English). 

NB this approach would apply equally well to other title sequences. 

Part A

In this section the teachers ascertains students' initial reaction to the sequence and gathers data for a more informed reading. 

1.	Show the sequence a couple of times uninterrupted. 

2.	Brainstorm onto the board all the words students come up with to describe the effect/feeling they get the sequence (eg. at this stage you might expect "excitement", "tension", "action", "current", etc.). Try to arrive at a consensus on the two or three words which best describe the sequence. 

3.	Then allocate to individuals or groups the responsibility for gathering data for an analysis of particular aspects of the construction of the sequence. In brackets after each aspect are some of the responses students might come up with. 

Group A - Shots

Look at the type of shots used (mostly close-ups, especially at the beginning but more use of mid and long shots as we get to the point of Mike Moore (the presenter) introducing Frontline. 

Group B - Shots

List the things which are the subject of the close-ups (often hands or fingers manipulating hi-tech equipment but also manipulating other things in a fairly effortless manner; cameras and other studio equipment; autocue screen). 

Group C - People

Who is the only person we see during this whole sequence? (the presenter -towards the end plus faceless studio assistants)

What are the people doing (Mike Moore is being made up and then assisted into his presenter's seat). 

What is our final image of Mike Moore as the show opens (a slow zoom to a close-up of him). 

Group D - Editing

Time the sequence and count the number of cuts (shot changes in the sequence). How often are we presented with a new image (once every XXXX)

Can you describe any shots which have movements within them - eg the subjects move or the camera is moving in a pan or tilt (there are a number of these). 

As Mike Moore prepares to take his seat what else do we see (intercuts of the video tapes rolling). 

Group E - Sound

Come up with a list of adjectives to describe the music (fast, strident, action packed, important, tense, repetitive). 

What other sounds and voices do we hear?

Group F - Special Effects

After the programme introduction we are presented with a series of images of world events? What are they framed in?

Part B 

Now that students have the analytical raw material it is useful to see if their initial impressions have changed eg. by asking:

a.	Brainstorming onto the board a new list of words to describe the impact of the sequence (this will include some of the original list but by this stage, perhaps with some guided questioning, we might also expect words like "made-up" "manufactured" "fabricated"  "created" "built". However if the words don't come from brainstorming the teacher could move straight to 2.)

b.	Students now watch the sequence again and use the raw material they have gathered to demonstrate that an important reading of the sequence is the "constructedness" or "made-up" quality of television, including current affairs and news television. Some of the answers they might come up with are included in brackets. 

Group A and Group B - Shots

The use of close-ups, especially of hands and fingers manipulating hi-tech equipment gives a sense of the ease of manipulation of information. 

Group C People

The fact that we don't see any people attached to the hands provides a sense of the faceless people who "make" the news for us. The only time we see a whole person is towards the end - when the construction has already taken place. He is simply there as a front-person, carefully stage-managed by faceless assistants who guide him to his seat in front of the auto-cue. 

Our final view of Moore is a slow zoom to a close up as he introduces the programme with "sincerity" and "authority". 

Group D - Editing

There are 25 frames per second and even within those shots there is often panning, tilting or people moving. This all gives a sense of breathless action which lends weight to the "reality" of the construction. 

As Mike Moore prepares to face his audience the intercuts of the tapes rolling communicate that whatever is coming has been carefully pre-packaged. 

Group E - Sound

As with the fast paced editing the repetitive, fast and dramatic music helps establish the authority of the construction as it reminds us of the music we are so used to in this genre. 

The ambient sounds and faceless voices help establish the "reality" and sense of focused action but the voices, like the hands belong to the faceless creators of the news. 

Group F - Special Effects

The images of world events are framed inside a circle which we discover in the O in Frontline. 

Readings of this could include:

·	the world can only come to us through Frontline
·	the world is presented to us through the Frontline "prism"
·	the only view of the world we get is that brought to us from Frontline.  

© Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand (First published 1998)