Category: YouTube

Information is vital, yet finding the most reliable source is increasingly becoming a challenge despite the spread of mass media. A few decades ago, news channels were limited to a few newspapers, TV channels, and radio stations. However, these sources were more reliable since trusted newscasters broadcasted them at specific times. Nowadays, social media, blogs, and YouTube channels have increased the freedom for people to report information, which affects the credibility and reliability of the news. In the YouTube video “How to Choose Your News,” Damon Brown offers insightful techniques to absorb and evaluate information to determine its trustworthiness (TED-ED). I searched and considered my source of information, The New York Times, using Brown’s suggestions to assess its credibility.

Although I consume the news these days from social media due to the easy access through smartphones, I rely more on The New York Times for trustable information. I hardly trust any reports on social networks since most users are not qualified journalists and only post information for likes and comments. The only time I take serious news from social media is when shared by reliable news outlets, organizations, and correspondents. Despite being an American daily newspaper, the New York Times has a global readership and reports from different countries. Therefore, it is a popular newspaper with a significant international following.

As much as I have always read The New York Times newspapers to understand what is happening worldwide, I researched the news source to know its reliability. Firstly, I read a few articles from the source online to determine the cited evidence, tone, and author’s expertise. I noted that most reports are written in a professional and objective tone, contain quoted information, and evidence are cited throughout. The New York Times follows strong professional standards while reporting information (Bonnet and Rosenbaum 104). Secondly, editors avoid opinionated or biased language, even on emotion-triggering information. Thirdly, the information is reported by qualified reporters and correspondents from different parts of the world. That means the newspaper relies upon first-hand information from their trusted employees covering the stories on the ground. Apart from using first-person reporting in some news, The New York Times does not show any evidence of bias.

Even though The New York Times is not a scholarly source, it should be considered reliable. It has existed for almost two centuries, and Americans have relied on it for information. In addition, the newspaper applies all the required professional standards while presenting the news stories (Welbers and Opgenhaffen 47). Their reports have cited evidence, do not use biased language, include quotes, and do not use anonymous sources. Therefore, its information can easily be verified if one doubts it.

Overall, social media has allowed information to reach us faster but is not a trustable source. Most people posting news stories online are not qualified reporters and do not take the responsibility of verifying the information before sharing. However, most conventional media outlets, such as newspapers, including The New York Times, are more reliable sources. Their reports are verifiable due to the use of evidence and a writing style that meets professional standards. Therefore, it is paramount to understand how to evaluate and verify news sources to avoid consuming fake and biased information.

Works Cited

Bonnet, Jennifer, and Judith Rosenbaum. “Fake News,” Misinformation, and Political Bias: Teaching News Literacy in the 21st Century.” Communication Teacher, vol. 34, no. 2, 2020, pp. 103-108. Web.

TED-ED. “How to Choose Your News – Damon Brown.” YouTube, Web.

Welbers, Kasper, and Michaël Opgenhaffen. “Presenting News on Social Media: Media Logic in the Communication Style of Newspapers on Facebook.” Digital Journalism, vol. 7, no. 1, 2019, pp. 45-62. Web.

Abstract

It is no secret that YouTube is one of the most visited websites in the whole world. This is because it is the leading website as far as video sharing is concerned. This paper traces YouTube back to the days of its inception and how it has evolved over time to be what it is today. I examine the advantages of this invention as well as the disadvantages

Timeline

The 1920s: the first-ever display technology which was referred to as a cathode ray tube (CRT) is invented. This was the foundation of viewing videos of videos (Bug Club).

The 1970s: IBM Company comes up with a color display that had the first-ever color graphics adapter that rendered four colors. This meant that videos could now be seen in color (Bug Club).

2005: Youtube is co-founded by two gentlemen, Chad Hurley, and Steve Chen. The two were colleagues at PayPal. They worked as designers and engineers respectively. The two friends had met at a party and taken some videos.They experienced a lot of difficulty in trying to share the videos and that got them thinking about how many others on the globe found themselves in such a state. They decided to tailor a solution and it led to the birth of YouTube. The 15^th February 2005: The YouTube.com domain was activated 23^rd of April, 2005. Three months after the domain was activated, the first video “I at the zoo” is uploaded. Since then, YouTube has been responsible for transferring and sharing millions of videos the world over. The diagram below illustrates this:-

Introduction

YouTube began with one video upload in 2005. Since then, the California-based company has seen major transformations and achievements. By December the same year of debut, YouTube’s pages received over million hits a day (Art). The groundbreaking video for YouTube was when the video entitled “lazy Sunday” was uploaded. The websites hits per day skyrocketed from 50 million to 250 million per day. The traffic to the website continued to skyrocket until they hit the 7000 million mark per day. Perhaps it was this success that made MySpace and Google come up with their versions of YouTube but they never saw the light of day. By May 2006, Google developed an interest in purchasing the company, and an agreement was realized. Google bought YouTube to the tune of 1,650 million dollars.

The diagram below sheds further light on the impressive growth of YouTube in the last five years.

Advantages of YouTube

One of the biggest advantages of YouTube is its critical role in entertainment. Whether it is a video of an event that you want to share with friends or a clip of a music video or a movie trailer, YouTube is the p[place to find that and more. This is the reason YouTube has become the third most visited website on the internet (Hardy).

Another important use for YouTube is helping Education. Even those that visit the website with only entertainment and leisure in mind learn something either through the video of a song or a video posted by an expert outlining the steps to follow in doing something. There are thousands of online video tutorials on almost any subject. Many students go to YouTube to access these education videos and tutorials.

Last but not least, YouTube has become a powerful tool for video marketing. As Jarboe explains in his book, a business entity can post a video on YouTube explaining the services and goods that it offers (26-42). The target audience is millions of potential viewers while it costs nothing at all to post the video. This is a very effective marketing tool for startups that may not have enough capital to invest in other forms of traditional marketing.

Disadvantages of YouTube

The biggest disadvantage has been the concern that YouTube infringes on copyrights of music, movies, and other types of videos. Despite the disclaimer of the company, users are still free to upload the videos at free will. Universal Music Group claimed that the company owed tens of millions as a result of copyright infringement. Youtube has had to tackle lawsuits in this regard (Zappone).

The other challenge YouTube has is revenue. While it attracts a lot of money through advertising on the website, the revenue collected is not seen enough to pay for the web sites maintenance alone. (Hardy)The company also faced a lawsuit that had nothing to do with videos. It was about their domain name. The issue was before youtube.com was registered, there was already another company by the domain utube.com. This company sued YouTube claiming that their choice of a name that resembled theirs had made them receive overwhelming traffic from people who were actually looking for YouTube.

Conclusion

If past performance is anything to buy, YouTube will no doubt continue growing in leaps and bounds. It is interesting to note that YouTube is only a few years old yet has managed to become one of the websites with the largest number of hits. YouTube has indeed impacted life both in the social as well as in the business aspects.

Works Cited

Bug Club. History of Monitors. 2010. Web.

Hardy, Hessel. “GooTube”. Forbes Magazine, 2008. Web.

Jarboe, Greg. You Tube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day. Canada: Willey Publishing Inc., 2009.

Zappone, Christian. Help! YouTube is killing my business!CNN. 2006. Web.

Zibreg, Christian. Happy Birthday YouTube. 2010. Web.

Helvetica was developed in the year 1957, by a great designer named Max Miedinger with a contribution from Edouard Hoffmann. It is a broadly used sans-serif typeface in the whole world. Akzidenz Grotesk and other German and Swiss designs greatly influenced Helvetica. Helvetica has quite a long history. It gained its popularity in the 20th century due to the hard work of Swiss designers.

The Helvetica typeface is one of the most prominent typefaces in the world. It has been used for every communication process. It is global because it works excellent. Helvetica’s popularity in society is explained by the fact that this typeface assists in the reading process owing to the simplicity of the design.

A film is known as Helvetica on YouTube, which largely reflects on typography, and graphic design has been developed. This film reflects on the spread of one typeface as a part of a greater dialogue about its effect on everybody’s day to day life. The film assesses built-up spaces in the main cities and the population that lives within them. The film draws our attention to the design, advertising, psychology, and communication and, thus, makes us appreciate thousands of words that we come across in our daily endeavors. Helvetica is a modification of the typeface with a more structurally integrated set of heights and widths, improved legibility, punctuation marks, and spacing in numbers.

Helvetica typeface is everywhere, it spells out tax forms, labels, street signs, and company logos. Nowadays we live in a media-saturated atmosphere that exposes us to a daily stream of information. Helvetica has many fans but not everybody is a fan because some people find it dull and boring. Many people are seen to complain about the font. This is greatly reflected in many users of google chrome who are complaining, especially on the font size. Many people are actually trying to find some means to rectify the problem, with some methods being more successful while others being less.

This is also present on YouTube, where some people are seen to complain of the typography known as Helvetica neue. It is important to note that the font is entirely used on YouTube to display the options and categories present. But in essence, Helvetica is seen as a simple clear typeface that represents the word it spells out. It is important to acknowledge that Helvetica is a true work of art. Many hands drawn fonts have been created in an effort to replace Helvetica. This was especially done by postmodernists in 1970s and 80s who tried to create something less boring and, thus, came up with several hand drawn fonts which they saw as being more expressive and honest.

In conclusion, Helvetica is a true work of art that has transformed communication through lettering. Just like it is common in most text books, street signs and advertising literature, it is also present on YouTube. It is present also in almost all the electronic communication media such as mobile phones. Therefore, it is paramount to realise the weight and simplicity of the letters which this font displays. It simply draws one’s attention and, thus, it is used widely in advertisement, logos, signs, and textbooks, as indicated in the YouTube’s short film “the trailer.” Helvetica is displayed in every corner of the world and, thus, is the most popular sans-serif typography.

The rapid development of Internet technologies and the emergence of social media structures affect the marketing methods and strategies greatly. Nowadays, consumers are engaged in communication with other consumers: they exchange opinions and information freely. The user-generated content is regarded as the critical element affecting the decisions for purchasing items and goods (Mir and Rehman 637). The posts and customer reviews create the risk factors for the marketing strategies efficiency, and thus it is clear that marketing managers need to refine and adjust their decisions based on the current influences coming from the multiple Internet sources such as YouTube.

Nowadays, YouTube is one of the most famous and prominent Internet sources with user-generated content. The large amounts of information are dissimilated on the web site every day, and the video content impacts people’s opinions and attitudes (Bachrach 16). Many producers choose to generate content through the Internet source as well. On YouTube, the producers’ content videos target a vast number of different people; therefore, the organizations have the opportunity to attract new clients and consumers. However, the widespread dissemination of information creates the risks of the widespread negative assessment by the users.

According to recent research, when the producers promote only positive aspects of their services and goods to increase their commercial abilities, the consumers prone to be skeptical and critical about it (Cheong and Morrison 41). Moreover, in the Internet realm, the customers’ motivation is commonly driven by the ratings and reviews of other purchasers, and even one negative rating can ruin organizational reputation if it is not managed correctly.

In the Internet network environment, the individuals are affected or even persuaded by common opinions and tend to share it with others. The ratings can be regarded as the dominant force influencing marketing success or failure while the video content itself has a lesser impact on the majority of users. “Brand information on social media becomes more credible when multiple users express the same opinions about it in the form of comments, tags, etc.” (Mir and Rehman 640). Credibility provokes the further creation of the brands’ positive image.

The potential clients’ decisions are affected both by the quality and quantity of uploaded videos related to the product. Therefore, the managers need to elaborate on the marketing strategies that would be focused on the rational yet positive video content promotion to increase brands’ popularity and provoke the users’ perception of the credibility and usefulness of the product.

Works Cited

Bachrach, Judy. “The ‘Low–Tech’ Election Year: Viral Videos Shape a New Politics”, Science & Spirit, (2008): 16-17. Print.

Cheong, Hyuk Jun, and Morrison, Margaret. “Consumers’ Reliance on Product Information and Recommendations Found in UGC.” Journal of Interactive Advertising 8.2 (2008): 38-49. Print.

Mir, Imran Anwar, and Kashif Ur Rehman. “Factors Affecting Consumer Attitudes and Intentions Toward User-Generated Product Content On YouTube.” Management & Marketing 8.4 (2013): 637-54. Print.

The present scorecard can be useful in determining the overall vision and the current situation in marketing concerns for You Tube Company. The scorecard should be used from bottom to the top starting from the strategies for the marketing department, which complies with the company’s objectives. Accordingly, the operations and the business process outlines the current efforts for implementing achieving the objectives, targeted toward you tube customers. The customer’s graph, on the other hand, represents the perspectives of each type of customer, with the each operation and business process targeting specific type. Finally, each type of customer is targeted toward a specific financial measurement. The graph can be useful, due to the ability for updates and modifications that will represent the current situation in marketing. The current graph represents a close-to-ideal situation in assessment mode. In the future changes in each section will lead to changes in the sections to which they are targeted, e.g. change in strategy, will lead to a change in the business process, and accordingly to customers’ perspectives and financial measurements.

Revenue plan

Market share of YouTube Corporation is close to 60% of all the internet video services. Originally, it is a big marketing operation service, as numerous entrepreneurs are uploading their commercial videos, and gain exposure from YouTube using viral video strategies. It is stated that 6.2 million tune into YouTube.com daily.

The pricing of the services entail the fee for uploading commercial video.

• YouTube General: $50K or greater spend on YouTube within 90 days.
• YouTube Brand Channels: $200K or greater spend on YouTube only.
• YouTube Contests: $500K or greater spend on YouTube only.
• YouTube Homepage Roadblock: $175K/day flat fee plus a $50K incremental spends on Google and YouTube over 90 days ($225K or greater total spend).

Premium flight dates may require a higher initial flat fee. (Barnes, 2009).

As for the revenues, Lastufka (2008) emphasize that YouTube has $500 million of revenues per year.

Marketing Budget

The personnel of the company is divided into technical and administrative parts. Originally, technical personnel is responsible for the proper functioning of the system.

This analysis presupposes the analysis of the marketing expenses in comparison with the Gross Profit in the context of the incomes and market share. Originally, the tendencies are represented on the graph, while the real situation is featured with the possible fluctuations.

Profit plan

The analysis of the profit plan generally entails the calculation of the net profit, taking into consideration the matters of sales revenues, margins, ROI, ROS and net marketing contribution.

Break-even analysis

This analysis presupposes the analysis of the marketing expenses in comparison with the Gross Profit in the context of the incomes and market share. Originally, the tendencies are represented on the graph, while the real situation is featured with the possible fluctuations.

Performance scorecard

Income Statement

Originally, the matters of Return on Sales are stated in the previous slide. In comparison with the previous year, the results of 2009 appear to be rather satisfying, and, it should be emphasized that the market of internet video advertising is rather stable, as the marketing performance and sales of YouTube are growing stably.

The only ratio, which should be paid attention here is the operating income.

• 2006 – $ 30 400 000;
• 2007 – $ 45 300 000;
• 2008 – $ 80 500 000;
• 2009 – $160 000 000.

Reference List

Barnes, S. (Ed.). (2009). E-Commerce and V-Business: Digital Enterprise in the Twenty-First Century (2nd ed.). Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann.

King, N. J. (2008). Direct Marketing, Web Advertising, and Consumer Privacy: Ensuring Adequate Disclosure and Consent Mechanisms for Emerging Video Advertising Practices. Federal Communications Law Journal, 60(2), 229.

Lastufka, A., Dean, M.W. (2008) “YouTube: An Insider’s Guide to Climbing the Charts” O’Reilly Media, Inc.

An individual’s ability to create a professional image while simultaneously fostering and sustaining positive working connections with the public is greatly enhanced by keeping their personal life secret. It is possible to damage their reputation at work if they let their personal life have too much of an effect on how they behave on the job. One’s personal life can be kept private without giving the impression that they are unapproachable at work if they set up some reasonable limits, practices self-control, and tries to keep their work and home life separate. YouTube channels have significant impacts on people both publicly and privately as well as the advantages it yields to the owners.

It is significant that Mamie and Jhon keep the channel active for another year or two and work toward gaining one million members. They have already achieved a great deal of success in developing their brand, and they have a sizable fan base. They have a fair chance of achieving their objective if they can maintain quality in the content they produce. In addition, YouTube has already demonstrated its support for the channel by presenting them with a check in the amount of $150,000.00. It demonstrates the channel’s potential to generate additional future revenue.

On the other hand, Jhon may be getting anxious about the attention their private lives have received lately. If this is the case, Mamie ought to have compassion and encourage you in your endeavors. After the current season’s conclusion, they can decide to discontinue the channel and move on to other ventures. If Jhon does not feel comfortable continuing the channel, this is an excellent alternative for him to consider. Thanks to this opportunity, they would be able to concentrate on other initiatives that they are enthusiastic about. No matter their choice, it is critical that they are on the same page and support one another. It is a significant choice that will have repercussions for both of them. They need to make sure that they give themselves enough time to consider all of their alternatives and come to a conclusion that is beneficial to both their relationship and their professions.

If they do not keep up with the channel, they will miss out on possible cash, which is one of the drawbacks. Suppose the couple decides to discontinue their YouTube channel. In that case, they will no longer have access to that source of revenue, even though it has the potential to generate a significant amount of revenue for them. They can miss out on possibilities to develop their brand and increase exposure for their company. They risk receiving negative publicity if they suddenly quit broadcasting on the channel.

Since Jhon is most concerned about the exposure of his relationship, they need to agree on precautions that will make it possible for them to keep most of their relationship business private. They might decide what information should be made available to the general public. Creating precise lines of demarcation between their job and personal life not only improves their productivity at work but lowers the stress they experience in their personal life. There will be more time to relax and fewer opportunities for exhaustion (Bataineh, 2019). Even if couples do not wish to discuss their personal lives with the public, they still have the opportunity to cultivate positive working relationships, making their time at work more fun and productive by being friendly with one another.

In conclusion, People’s public and private lives are profoundly influenced by the channels they follow on YouTube. If people want to present themselves in a professional light and make and retain good ties with the public, keeping their personal lives under wraps is a must. Suppose one sets some boundaries, exercises self-control, and tries to keep work and home life distinct; in that case, they can protect their privacy without creating the appearance that they are unapproachable on the job.

Reference

Bataineh, K. adnan. (2019). Impact of work-life balance, happiness at work, on employee performance. International Business Research, 12(2), 99. Web.

Today we can observe the tendency of a constant development of the sites which provide visitors with the opportunity to share their videos with the other people in order to find the necessary and interesting information or to have fun. YouTube is one of the most popular sites among those users of the Internet resources who are interested in different kinds of online video. The level of the competition among these sites depends on the question of the popularity of Google resources and YouTube among the users.

What are the reasons for such a rapid progress of YouTube? It is obvious today that YouTube became “synonymous with online video sharing thanks to its brand strength and loyal user base” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits). Moreover, the popularity of YouTube became to increase quickly from its opening in February of 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim.

YouTube was worked out as a site where people could upload, view and share their personal or professional videos (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits). The trends in our modern society accentuate the people’s desire to share their thoughts, ideas, and the peculiarities of their everyday life with the help of social networks and sites with online video.

In spite of the fact Google had its site Google Video which “allowed users to search captions from TV shows”, it was not as popular as YouTube because there was no opportunity for visitors to “provide the actual videos” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits).

Thus, there appeared the necessity of changing of the policy of Google concerning Google Video, of making more effective decisions and working out more effective strategies. The site was greatly developed. However, in 2006 there was made the revolutionary decision by Google to buy YouTube. “Google purchased YouTube for $1.65 billion” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits).

Thus, what are the peculiarities of developing of YouTube as the part of Google? We can determine several significant aspects of the development of the site. All the intentions of Google executives are aimed at the further growth of the possibilities of the site. Nevertheless, “Google planned to retain YouTube as a stand-alone service while continuing to nurture Google’s existing video service” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits).

The advantages of YouTube are in the fact that people can upload videos of different formats there, comment them, share with their friends, and give the annotations. The changes in the work of the site and a lot of innovations are directed toward the 19- to 35-year-old group of viewers of online videos who shares video clips with their friends and put links to them (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits).

However, the commercial success of the site depends on the effective advertising policy. “Google executives believed the deal would help transform their company into a global media powerhouse and provide new audiences for the targeted advertising that was the lifeblood of Google’s earnings” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits). That is why “in October 2007 Google introduced a program to include advertising within YouTube videos” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits). It was considered as a great progress in the industry.

In spite of the fact YouTube as the part of Google is one of the most successful sites, the necessity of its constant progress depends on a number of competitors in the industry such as MySpace and Hulu. Thus, in 2005-2010 “the emergence of competition in the video-sharing market continued to be rapid and Web trends were increasingly volatile” (Cool, Seitz, and Mestrits).

Thus, YouTube keeps the position of one of the most influential sites providing online video. YouTube and Google follow the tendency of a constant development and widening of the audience because of the effective policy of the company.

Works Cited

Cool, Karel, Seitz, Matt, and Jason Mestrits. “YouTube, Google, and the Rise of Internet Video”. hbr.org. 20 May 2009. Web.

Introduction

Comedy as a kind of art is a multifaceted tool that combines physical acting and laughable narrative which are accomplished by a particular setting. In the contemporary world that is closely connected with the Internet, the video platform YouTube is the source of information for millions of people. The crew of Saturday Night Live (SNL), whose videos might be easily found on YouTube, is famous for their creative approach to addressing social, cultural, and political issues in their live sketches. However, SNL owes its success and public appraisal to the numerous talented actors who team with the original SNL cast and bring outstanding performance to life. One of the best examples of such productive collaboration is the sketch titled “Space Station Broadcast” starring Steve Carell. The masterful dark humor, in combination with a catastrophic setting, laughable lines, and hilarious physical acting, makes this piece an exclusive video that contributes to the contemporary comedy culture. In this paper, the characters, acting, language, and resemblance with prominent styles and techniques in comedy will be presented to validate the quality of humor in “Space Station Broadcast” by SNL.

Plot overview

In the episode, the crew of an international space station under the guidance of Captain McGovern played by Steve Carell is participating in a live questions-and-answers session with the American school children. In the course of answering the questions, Carell’s character encounters numerous unexpected events. Firstly, he is informed that there has been a breach in the laboratory section but that it is safe because the problem has been eliminated. However, the animals which participated in an experiment onboard the space station start floating in the cabin showing no signs of life. Trying not to ruin the live broadcast with the students, the captain tries to maneuver between solving the problem and communicating with the children. Finally, a Russian astronaut’s frozen body appears behind the illuminator, and while the crew tries to save her, the broadcast stops.

Setting and Props

The scene is assembled with poor decorations and props which are intentionally applied to create a humoristic effect. Not only the actors are dressed in NASA suits, but also monkeys and a cat were the participants of the experiment. Also, the artificial images of the stuffed animals which were used to represent the frozen bodies of monkeys were too obvious, which also contributed to the comic background.

Language

In the background of a setting that already makes people laugh, the actors’ lines only increase the level of humor in the sketch. When Captain McGovern reacts to a monkey’s broken arm, he screams “Oh God, no-no-no-no-no” (“Space Station Broadcast – SNL” 00:02:28-00:02:36). In this phrase is a resemblance of Steve Carell’s character from “The Office,” a famous American TV show, who said the same line. The phrase is highly recognizable and is often associated with the actor. That is why this technique makes the episode funny retrieving the real experience from the audience. When Aidy Bryant’s character introduces herself, she says that her name is Hailie “like the comet and like Eminem’s daughter” (“Space Station Broadcast – SNL” 00:01:31-00:01:36). These references to modern figures and shows ensure the relation of the comedy to contemporary culture that resonates with the audience.

The more humorous effect is achieved with the help of puns which Steve Carell uses several times throughout the video. The word “apollo-gize” is pronounced with an emphasis on Apollo, the name of the American space mission (“Space Station Broadcast – SNL” 00:01:23-00:01:25). Also, the actor advises the students to “comet” to their studies, thus transforming the word ‘commit’ to the space-related one (“Space Station Broadcast – SNL” 00:02:00-00:02:03). Such words sound funny because of the humorous intention of the character to add profession-specific vocabulary to his speech.

Physical Comedy

Slapstick

Slapstick evolved with silent movies and the performances of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Although this form of comedy is regarded as one of the oldest in the history of American film, it remains relevant in the modern world too. Slapstick occurs in the background of a particular social context, which is modern for the viewers. It reflects the kinds of things people might find funny at a particular period of their social experience. Therefore, slapstick is a powerful tool in the comedy of all times if it is applied with a sense of “social temporality” (King 159). The performance style in the analyzed sketch is marked with features of slapstick where the absurd flow of events creates a comic background on which characters need to engage in exaggerated physical acting. From this perspective, the episode shows its resemblance to the style of Rowan Atkinson or Steve Martin who acted out the similar comedy of absurd and chaos.

Resembling the acting style of Buster Keaton, Steve Martin, and Rowan Atkinson, Kate McKinnon presents a hilarious bit when acting a frozen corpse of a Russian spacewoman. Steve Carell’s comment on it makes the situation even funnier when he says, “Do not worry. That cosmonaut is fine. The Russians are used to being cold” (“Space Station Broadcast – SNL” 00:04:20-00:04:25). In such conditions where one unexpected turn of absurd events leads to another, a viewer is continuously exposed to funny plot and acting both in visual and audible forms.

Body Language and Physical Performance

The physical comedy of all the actors involved in this sketch can hardly be overestimated. Body language is represented in comic physical performance when the actors simulate floating in the cabin of a spacecraft. The funny facial expressions of the supporting SNL actors are very vivid and make the spectators react to them with laughter. Mikey Day and Leslie Jones’ behavior in front of the camera, which is showing them live to the students on Earth is also spectacular. The scenes where Steve Carell breaks a monkey’s arm, a cat’s face disappears, or Day’s character accidentally hits Carell in the face with his feet are all bright examples of quality physical performance.

Conclusion

In the contemporary world where the Internet is being filled with new information daily, and the number of videos on YouTube is increasing, it is difficult to find quality comedy to enjoy. However, the SNL crew has many quality jokes to present. One of their best works is the episode titled “Space Station Broadcast.” The combination of outstanding physical performance, intentionally poor decorations and props, and hilarious lines with puns makes this video one of the best comedy pieces available from YouTube today. A spectator is constantly exposed to new portions of humor in all its forms, thus not stopping to laugh throughout the whole performance. Its timeliness and relevance to the contemporary culture allows for resonating with people and, in its turn, contributes to the scope of the comedy genre.

Works Cited

Berlant, Lauren, and Sianne Ngai. “Comedy Has Issues.” Critical Inquiry, vol. 43, no. 2, 2017, pp. 233-249.

King, Rob. Hokum! The Early Sound Slapstick Short and Depression-Era Mass Culture. University of California Press, 2017.

“Space Station Broadcast – SNL.”YouTube, uploaded by Saturday Night Live. 2018, Web.