Mythbusters, Part I
(Note: This post was originally written in October 2013)
First, I want to thank all of you for keeping the blog's stats up while I was away. If you follow me (Kilted Writer) on Facebook, you know I was traveling for my 25th high school reunion. It was a great time, more so than I would have ever expected. Now, though, it's back to work. I want to be as prepared and up to date as possible for my presentation at the Castle Rock Writers Conference on November 23rd.
Unlike previous posts, which have focused on "film and fiction" this one will look at the popular series, Mythbusters. This is not a fiction series, but it is produced for entertainment value. Now in its 14th season, I think they've succeeded. Part of that success can be seen in the interactions of the cast members as they set out to confirm or bust various "myths" from all parts of society. The chemistry between the cast members can be partially explained in terms of mind, body, and spirit.
In fact, the team's interactions fit nicely into a model I have used to explain other series. It is what I have come to call the "family" model. There is a mind character, a spirit character, and a team who makes up the body character. In a family construct, this would be the father, the mother, and the children, but in other constructs, it includes two authority figures and a team of individual who work for them in some way. That's what I will show in this post.
The body character "team," when analyzed individually, make up another set of mind, body, and spirit, which I will illustrate in Part II of this post, later this week.
I'll get into these characters a little deeper in my next post. For now, you just need to see the build team as the group that gets the work done. They take the ideas and turn them into reality, a lot like the "team" in The Mentalist. In early seasons, the team acted behind the scenes and were rarely seen on camera, but they were there. Somewhere around season four, they started to get more time in front of the camera, but they still focused on building the rigs needed to test the myths being addressed by the show's main hosts.
In more recent seasons, the team has some of their own myths to bust, but still work as a build team when needed.
Three key characteristics that define Jamie as mind character follow him throughout the series. First, he has a reputation for being the "safety officer," with an eye for potential problems. He is more of a planner and definitely has a "measure twice, cut once" mentality. In the episode where they tried to crush a compact car between two semi trucks, only Jamie saw the steering rig needed reinforcement, but when he explained his reasoning, everyone agreed.
Second, Jamie is reluctant to make predictions. Many of the myths they analyze and rigs they build have numerous variables associated with them. It is impossible to make any kind of informed prediction because they rarely have enough information to do so.
Third, Jamie is usually the one who explains the more difficult intellectual pieces associated with the myths they test. In earlier episodes, Jamie narrated the "Warning: Science Content" segments. Even under pressure, he if very cool, emotionally. After testing a rocket engine, he comes across as very "matter-of-fact" when talking about possibly being a victim of a violent explosion.
Adam displays more of a "measure what? I'll just cut 'til I get it right" mentality. In the "Confederate Rocket" episode, he tests the nitrous oxide Grant is making by inhaling a little. In the same episode, he is cheering wildly about the "successful" rocket engine test while putting out the fires it had caused in the shop. In an episode investigating the effects of body piercings on lightning strikes, he gets his tongue pierced.
Where Jamie is reluctant to make predictions, Adam is constantly making detailed predictions. In the rocket episode, he predicts 60% chance of a lot of flame and not much else, 5% chance the rocket blows up, 20% chance of success, and 15% chance that something they could not "remotely predict" occurring. He also did the math in his head to see if it added up to a hundred percent or if he needed to make further predictions to make up the difference. In later episodes, he tries to goad Jamie into making at least some kind of prediction and shows shock when Jamie does offer up an opinion about the outcome of a test.
Where Jamie explains things in very precise and scientific terminology, Adam explains things in adjectives and sound effects. When describing the rocket engine test, most of the description involves exploding sounds and violent hand gestures. In the episode about crushing the compact car between two trucks, Adam played "big rig driver" in one of the test trucks, including engine and horn noises. Adam's propensity for play is a key factor in defining him as the spirit character.
Note: This analysis is based on the persona the cast members portray in front of the camera. They may be very different people when the camera isn't running, and you can see glimpses of that from time to time, but it is the "role" they play in front of the camera that creates the mind, body, and spirit chemistry that resonates so well with the viewers.
First, I want to thank all of you for keeping the blog's stats up while I was away. If you follow me (Kilted Writer) on Facebook, you know I was traveling for my 25th high school reunion. It was a great time, more so than I would have ever expected. Now, though, it's back to work. I want to be as prepared and up to date as possible for my presentation at the Castle Rock Writers Conference on November 23rd.
Unlike previous posts, which have focused on "film and fiction" this one will look at the popular series, Mythbusters. This is not a fiction series, but it is produced for entertainment value. Now in its 14th season, I think they've succeeded. Part of that success can be seen in the interactions of the cast members as they set out to confirm or bust various "myths" from all parts of society. The chemistry between the cast members can be partially explained in terms of mind, body, and spirit.
In fact, the team's interactions fit nicely into a model I have used to explain other series. It is what I have come to call the "family" model. There is a mind character, a spirit character, and a team who makes up the body character. In a family construct, this would be the father, the mother, and the children, but in other constructs, it includes two authority figures and a team of individual who work for them in some way. That's what I will show in this post.
The body character "team," when analyzed individually, make up another set of mind, body, and spirit, which I will illustrate in Part II of this post, later this week.
The Body Character: The Build Team
I'll get into these characters a little deeper in my next post. For now, you just need to see the build team as the group that gets the work done. They take the ideas and turn them into reality, a lot like the "team" in The Mentalist. In early seasons, the team acted behind the scenes and were rarely seen on camera, but they were there. Somewhere around season four, they started to get more time in front of the camera, but they still focused on building the rigs needed to test the myths being addressed by the show's main hosts.
In more recent seasons, the team has some of their own myths to bust, but still work as a build team when needed.
The Mind Character: Jamie Hyneman
Three key characteristics that define Jamie as mind character follow him throughout the series. First, he has a reputation for being the "safety officer," with an eye for potential problems. He is more of a planner and definitely has a "measure twice, cut once" mentality. In the episode where they tried to crush a compact car between two semi trucks, only Jamie saw the steering rig needed reinforcement, but when he explained his reasoning, everyone agreed.
Second, Jamie is reluctant to make predictions. Many of the myths they analyze and rigs they build have numerous variables associated with them. It is impossible to make any kind of informed prediction because they rarely have enough information to do so.
Third, Jamie is usually the one who explains the more difficult intellectual pieces associated with the myths they test. In earlier episodes, Jamie narrated the "Warning: Science Content" segments. Even under pressure, he if very cool, emotionally. After testing a rocket engine, he comes across as very "matter-of-fact" when talking about possibly being a victim of a violent explosion.
The Spirit Character: Adam Savage
Adam displays more of a "measure what? I'll just cut 'til I get it right" mentality. In the "Confederate Rocket" episode, he tests the nitrous oxide Grant is making by inhaling a little. In the same episode, he is cheering wildly about the "successful" rocket engine test while putting out the fires it had caused in the shop. In an episode investigating the effects of body piercings on lightning strikes, he gets his tongue pierced.
Where Jamie is reluctant to make predictions, Adam is constantly making detailed predictions. In the rocket episode, he predicts 60% chance of a lot of flame and not much else, 5% chance the rocket blows up, 20% chance of success, and 15% chance that something they could not "remotely predict" occurring. He also did the math in his head to see if it added up to a hundred percent or if he needed to make further predictions to make up the difference. In later episodes, he tries to goad Jamie into making at least some kind of prediction and shows shock when Jamie does offer up an opinion about the outcome of a test.
Where Jamie explains things in very precise and scientific terminology, Adam explains things in adjectives and sound effects. When describing the rocket engine test, most of the description involves exploding sounds and violent hand gestures. In the episode about crushing the compact car between two trucks, Adam played "big rig driver" in one of the test trucks, including engine and horn noises. Adam's propensity for play is a key factor in defining him as the spirit character.
Note: This analysis is based on the persona the cast members portray in front of the camera. They may be very different people when the camera isn't running, and you can see glimpses of that from time to time, but it is the "role" they play in front of the camera that creates the mind, body, and spirit chemistry that resonates so well with the viewers.
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