Entertainment: mood cues

Self-tutoring about movies and TV: the tutor mentions mood cues.

From when I was a kid, I recall laugh tracks on comedy shows. It’s been decades since I watched such a show. However, mood cues are common on dramas as well, in the form of music.

When one’s not watching the show, but in an adjoining room, the music may still be audible even though the script isn’t. From the other room, one can, therefore, tell whether the scene is happy or sad, etc.

The situation brings attention to the idea that a musical cue is used to suggest the mood of a given scene. Watching the scene, won’t the audience already know its accompanying mood?

I recall, in the early 80s, a comedy without a laugh track which, though well loved, didn’t last long. Someone who really liked the show, and was disappointed when it was cancelled, told me that people weren’t always sure when to laugh. Typically, the viewers counted on the cue of a laugh track to understand comedy; the show without one was too hard to decode, for many.

Fight Club, which I saw in the theatre, seemed to be similar. Although not necessarily branded a comedy, it was full of irony, so very funny. Yet, the audience didn’t anticipate this, since they were expecting a movie about fighting. As I watched in the theatre, it seemed to me the humour of Fight Club confused many, since they weren’t told when to laugh.

Source:

looper.com