Modern family review
The key element of a successful and engaging TV show, for me at least, is consistent fast-paced storytelling, in which I feel an entire spectrum of emotions; happiness, sadness, fear, suspense etc... This episode of Modern Family achieved incredible and successful fast-paced storytelling through its use of panning/zooming, multiple subplots, and use of several things going on at once. The panning and zooming used created an incredible amount of suspense when needed. This choice of filmmaking style made the episode more dynamic. If the episode had been a single static image of the computer screen, I would have become immediately less interested in the story taking place because of the lack of visual stimulation in the form of movement. The three main subplots of the episode were about the haircut, desire for popcorn, and Andy's hat. These different stories, however simple, created another layer of complexity to the episode that further increased my interest. They acted as interjecting points in the main story, so the audience did not become disinterested or bored in the the main story. They similarly acted as emotional breaks and comic relief from the anxiety created by the main story. A third component that made the episode engaging was the use of multiple things going on at once, such as Claire's multitasking when video chatting (she read several articles, browsed Facebook, shopped, and surfed the web). This further prevented the audience from becoming bored, and like the subplots, acted as comic relief, furthered the story visually, and enabled a wider array of emotional reactions from the episode.
