Communication between various actors in any given screen setting is one of the most essential aspects to consider, for the audience’s sake, especially, due to the fact that effectiveness in communication and delivery is the main tenet that contributes toward effective progression of the scene. This is one of the aspects that Carter Bays and Craig Thomas put into consideration while writing the script for the comedy-drama “How I Met your Mother”. At the same time, considering that this is a drama-series, communication is one of the most essential things for the movie director to put into consideration, and Pamela Frayman, the movie director, has effectively achieved this, by creating an effective balance between the characters’ communication and the scenes’ transitions. Therefore, this is a developed communication network between the script writers, the comedy director, the actors and the audience in that developed sequence.
One of the most essential things to note concerning the communication aspect in the comic drama series is the fact that both the script writers (Carter Bays and Craig Thomas) and the director, Pamela Frayman, have put communication into an optimum consideration, since this is the most effective aspect that enhanced delivery in comic drama. While Carter Bays and Craig Thomas have ensured effective communication between the characters in the comedy and the audience back at home, Pamela Frayman has enhanced communication between the characters themselves, being part of her task. This brings the audience to the question, what is the main theme that the organization of this comedy-drama seeks to answer and satisfy? This draws the audience’s attention.
The script writers selected and were inspired by the day to day activities that take place in the lives of average people in the city of New York, and have adopted this to be the theme across the entire series. In the comedy, the series focuses on the life of Ted (as played by Josh Radnor) who is an architect, and his life with his friend in New York; Lily, a junior level teacher and Marshall, who is studying law. The focuses on how much friends and peer groups influence each other in decision making, and this is evident whereby Ted suddenly gets compelled to getting a girlfriend, since Marshall, his friend who also studies law, proposes to his longtime girlfriend.
At the same time, the comedy focuses on the social organization of families, particularly, the modern day families and relationships, which in this case, includes friends’ and romantic relationships. Through the four characters, Carter Bays and Craig Thomas effectively communicate with the audience, whereby they have based the comedy on the real life, day to day issues that affect families and the society today. This leads to audience to wonder, how does the comedy-drama’s plot relate to the day to day lived of the American people? As seen, the script has focused on the aspects that affect friends’ relationship, by instilling a comic aspect on the same. According to Beebe & Masterson, this is called the theory of reasoning, whereby the audience can effectively and directly draw conclusions to what the communicator or narrator (who are in this case Carter and Craig) are saying, without necessarily having to verbally and directly pass a message (1990).
Pamela Frayman, on the other hand, has played an essential role in upholding communication between the characters in the movie, and this has majorly contributed in not only effective communication between the characters, but also in scenes’ transitions. Scenes’ transition is an essential area to look at, since creation of captivating aspects such as suspense is necessary. For example, the bitter-sweet relationship between Ted and Stinson, his self-appointed best friend, is one of the ways through which Frayman has effectively shown how friendship affects various peoples’ relationships and decision making. This is called delegated communication (Beebe & Masterson, 1990)
References
Beebe, S. & Masterson, J. (1990). Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices. 10th edition. New York: Scott Foresman & Co. pp. 89,112-19.
