WHAT IS IT?
popular 1950s tv show by rod serling
each episode is a mixture of self contained fantasy, science fiction, suspense or horror
often concludes with a macabre or unexpected twist
introduced many americans to serious scifi and abstract ideas through tv
the term "twilight zone" predates tv program, originally meaning "grey area"
intelligence analysts in the early cold war labeled a country a twilight zone if there was no definite us policy on whether to intervene militarily to keep it from going communist
serling chose the title and said only after the series did he discover the twilight zone was also a term applied by the us air force to the terminator- the border between night and day on a planetary body
CENSORSHIP
alfred hitchcock criticized the medium's limitations, saying "i was not permitted to have my senators discuss any current or pressing problem" he said of his 1957 production the area, which was intended to be an involving look into contemporary politics
twilight zone frequently used science fiction as a vehicle for social comment
networks and sponsors infamously censored all potentially inflammatory material
ignorant of the methods developed by writers such as ray bradbury for dealing with important issues through seemingly innocuous fantasy
scifi characteristics
advanced tech
special effects
extra terrestrial
futuristic
THEMES
dangerous/sinister side of knowledge
vital issues about humankind
loss of personal individuality
good versus evil
prophetic nature
anxiety about technological progress
TWILIGHT ZONE THEMES
nuclear war
mass hysteria
mccarthyism- campaign against creative industry, created blacklist of directors who had communist sympathies
episodes such as the shelter or the monsters are due on maple street offered specific commentary on current events
other stories, such as the masks or the howling man operated around a central allegory, parable, or fable that reflected the characters' morals or philosophical choices
HOMEWORK/activity
watch and review an episode of zone
address what historical/cultural/social factors the episode comments on
how is that an effective/ineffective way of communicating commentary
CRITERIA A
annotated script
storyboards (shot list, actual storyboards, overhead diagrams for entire film)
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