As I watched Laura Bush, the first lady of our nation, introduce President Bush's remarks to the Republican Convention via satellite on Tuesday night, all I could think was, "Man, the Republicans are really into blurry flags this year." You see, behind Mrs. Bush was a huge massive gargantuan screen, on which was an image of a distractingly flapping U.S. flag. The problem was it was so big that the only things you could see in the TV frame on CNN HD were a few stripes and a few stars — all blown up so big that they looked like mush.
And that was just the beginning.
Politics aside (really!), after watching most of both the Democratic and Republican conventions, I have to say that the clear winners in the contest to put on the best TV production are the Dems. That mammoth screen was just one misstep in the GOP's presentation, albeit the largest — literally (as Joe Biden would say). Follow the Continue link to read the others… and why they matter.
Lesson 1: The TV Audience Always Wins
You might say that the quality of the TV presentation is largely immaterial for a political convention, that the event is put on for the delegates and the party members who are there, that it's a rallying event for the party, not a campaign ad. You might say that — if you were colossally naïve. As anyone who's ever been to a live taping of their favorite talk show knows, the TV audience is king.
Go to a taping of, say, The Daily Show and you'll be surprised by how small the studio is, how often Jon Stewart has his makeup fixed, how they'll sometimes do the same joke twice because the sound guy didn't quite get the applause right the first time ("…so would y'all mind faking it for Take 2?"). It's all about making the experience perfect for the TV audience. And why not? Compared to the millions of people watching at home, the few dozen seeing the show live are negligible. It's the most basic numbers game you can get.
So, Republicans, before you greenlight another giant screen, think for two seconds how that's going to look on TV. Better yet, get someone really media savvy and think about how easy it would be for mischievous YouTubers to remove the backgrounds from speechgivers and superimpose the First Lady onto some footage from Triumph of the Will. Sure, the Democrats had Barack Obama next to some Jumbotron-level screens, too, but those were off to the side (and, surprisingly, more modestly sized), so they didn't distract from his speech on TV. And yeah, some of the earlier speeches from the Pepsi Center indeed had Bill Clinton and others speaking in front of a big blue screen, but it generally didn't distract, and there was nothing nearly as visually disturbing as Rudy Giuliani looking like he was giving a speech in front of wall of mud (a close-up of the harbor in a picture of the New York City skyline).
Lesson 2: Hire a Director
I have no scientific count on this, but it seemed to me there wasn't the same unity with the signage in the GOP crowd. People holding up signs at the Dems' convention did so at the same time and all showing the same side. I'm just guessing, but I think someone probably told them to do that. While the Republican side definitely had more (allegedly) homemade signs, people in the crowd were holding up "Country First" and "McCain/Palin" and "Energy Independence" (yeah! policy!) pretty randomly. Having a morass of different signs isn't exactly bad, I suppose, but nothing hits home a message like a thousand people holding up the exact same sign that says "Change."
And didn't it look like those booths behind and to the left of the stage at the GOP Con were empty seats? Who's idea was that? You've got the woman who just might be a heartbeat away from the presidency on stage, and you're making her look like she can't outsell Earth, Wind & Fire.
There were plenty of crowd gaffes at the Republican convention, too — I saw way more cues to people yawning, ridiculous outfits (that elephant hat was just wrong), not to mention that protester getting hauled out during Palin's speech. While I can hardly hold the convention planners responsible for the crowd, if they had consulted a TV director beforehand, CNN might not have had all those opportunities to make the GOP look bad.
Final Lesson: The High-Tech Edge
A lot has been made of the Democrats' technological savvy in this campaign, mainly how they've dominated the online arena this time around. That's why it's surprising to see the Republicans are still struggling in the last tech contest, especially since we cracked the code on creating good TV presentations ages ago. The Internet is great at doing things like getting lots of people to donate money who otherwise wouldn't, but for presenting yourself to the world its audience is still too splintered to compare with the potential of a television audience. In politics, arguably nothing matters more than how you look on TV, and if the conventions are any indication the screen has a distinct blue streak.
editor@dvice.com
By Lol at 9:13 PM ON 09/04/08
I don't think anyone really expected the Republican convention to be better produced than the Democratic. The Democrats are the ones who have embraced tech and flash in their campaign the most, as you said.
And, sure, that affects people. The problem is, no matter how the quality is, what the speaker says affects them more. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, but you could sway a lot more people by saying some off the wall thing like "I'll give everyone a check for a hundred grand (about on the level of some of this election's promises on both sides :D) than by having great visuals.
And when it comes down to it, the fact is the Dems have too many things going against them. No matter how much you think people hate George bush, that's not enough to win. Most people are outside of the tax brackets which will benefit from their tax breaks, and free insurance won't begin to make up for how much the rest of us will lose from our check (those who have managed to land a job that doesn't have some form of insurance). Hardly anyone supports the kind of "gun reform" Barrack Obama speaks so broadly about, other than a few far left liberals in the north. What have the dems got? OMG, the vp's daughter, who lives in alaska where there's nothing to do but drugs and sex, is pregnant. Of course, she's plenty old enough, she's going to be able to raise the baby fine, and she's getting married to the baby; but that's plenty of reason to completely discredit a campaign, right?
Lol
By Lol at 9:16 PM ON 09/04/08
Correction: Getting married to the baby's father; if she was getting married to the baby that would be a pretty big personal flaw :D
By muckraker at 9:49 PM ON 09/04/08
Only 20 minutes to go before John McCain's big speech and he's still taking a nap.
McCain has voted with Bush 90% of the time. Are you willing to take a 10% change that this "maverick" will take the necessary steps to fix the country GWB screwed up?
We need someone like FDR to come in and totally turn things around. God willing, Obama will fix the problems and send the Neo-Nazi Repulicans packing.
By R00B0y at 10:26 PM ON 09/04/08
"Gargantuan , I love that word, you rarely ever get to use it in a sentence now days" - Daryl Hannah
By umm at 10:40 PM ON 09/04/08
Nice of you to come to your conclusions before the convention is even over. You will fit in nicely with the rest of the idiot media.
By GLJ at 11:30 PM ON 09/04/08
McCain only voted with Bush 45% of the time if you eliminate all the nonsense votes like naming post offices and celebrating winning basketball teams. Not exactly a rubber stamp for the Bush administration.
On the tech, I think this article is mostly correct.
By ScaredOfTheMan at 11:32 PM ON 09/04/08
Why all the angry republicans? The post is about who puts on a better show, who makes better use of the technology available (amazing considering this is a tech blog). Nothing more, not platform or character.
As for who will win, who is better, blah blah blah, we will find out really soon. Go vote and maybe your side will win.
By Muckraker at 11:33 PM ON 09/04/08
McCain is a true American hero and he should have been elected President in 2000, instead of that moron GWB. It would be foolish, however, to elect McCain in 2008 purely for sentimental reasons. America truly needs someone to rebuild our country from TOP to bottom. God willing, Obama will fix the problems and send the Neo-Nazi Republicans packing.
By NODVICE at 12:54 AM ON 09/05/08
I find it sad that a tech blog that i've always liked felt the need to jump into the political arena and cast their ballot early. Do tech, not opinion politics. Ridiculous.
By Murc at 1:44 AM ON 09/05/08
I agree with "NODVICE".
Theres allready a million political blogs out there...cant I have one that doesn't involve politics...
By JT at 2:57 AM ON 09/05/08
Woh, I really expected more from Dvice than this immature garbage. Seriously! You guys are talking about organizing a convention! That's like organizing a county fair! The conventions are just public events, they're not films that are supposed to be directed. You must really be scrounging for something to blog about. You guys are about technology, if I want to read about politics I'll go to CNN instead. Please, just stick to the tech.
By Craysh at 5:28 AM ON 09/05/08
@Muckraker
Too bad you really don't know what you're talking about.
Keep saying "Obama will fix the problems and send the Neo-Nazi Repulicans packing" (Like you've said twice already) and ignore the fact that the worst problems in this country has happened in the last two years. You know, when the Democrats took over the House and Senate and have refused to do anything that would help with the current problems.
Perhaps you should reconsider your phrase:
Obama for President! 4 More Years of the Last Two!
By Anonymous at 6:15 AM ON 09/05/08
Harry potter for president!!!
Maybe with a touch of magic all our problems will be fixed.
By DelosWorld at 5:16 PM ON 09/05/08
Because image is so much more important than substance these days...
By deltacoz at 6:06 PM ON 09/05/08
in response to muckraker the true neo nazi is obama. You think our country is in bad shape now it will get much worse under an Obama presidency. Obama hasn't doing a single thing he promomised when elected to the senate so belive in me when I say he won't do a damn thing as a President. He may bring our troops home too early and that would be a big mistake.
By Eamonn at 11:36 PM ON 09/05/08
Dear God, is there no end to NBC's interference in this election and their need for Obama to win? Peter Pachal, what a lazy, none article, trying to masquerade itself as intelligent media/technical analysis. Were you forced to write this because of some internal NBC, Universal, Vivendi memo? It's a pity you didn't hold off until Palin spoke. The truth of the matter is that the RNC blew the viewing figures out of the ballpark as I write. Technically it was much better and cleverer than you give it credit for.
One more thing! In some levels you have now ruined SCiFi.com for me. I no longer feel the same way towards this site and TV channel after your article. I agree with NoDvice and others. This should be strictly tech but I guess neutrality is a myth.
By Muckraker at 12:31 AM ON 09/06/08
To those whom have chosen to attack me personally.... I would never attack your comments. Moreover, I never argue with fools.
By JT at 2:33 AM ON 09/06/08
I'm going to have to agree with Eamonn. Ever since I read this article, I always get a sour taste in my mouth when ever I think about dvice.com, the Sci-Fi channel, or any of the tv series it produces, of which I used to love so much. 2008 really was the year the journalism failed.
By JT at 3:17 AM ON 09/06/08
Muckraker, ad hominem is Latin for "argument against the man." No one here is doing that, they are only pointing out the flaws in what you said.
By saying that republicans are Neo-Nazis, you are implying that republicans are socialists. The official name of the Nazi party between 1933 and 1945 was: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP). Translated into English this says, National Socialist German Workers’ Party. The irony in what you said, is in the fact that Obama is for larger government, a major key in Socialistic countries. What McCain and republicans stand for is smaller government, which is key in a capitalistic society.
You could consider this an attack on you personally, but understand, I in no way attack you as a person, I attacked your comment, but not you personally. If I were to call you an idiot, or even say that you are a fool, that would be a personal attack. I in no way believe either of things are true. Only that you were mistaken in calling republicans Neo-Nazis.
By Epicurus at 12:45 PM ON 09/06/08
Prescott Sheldon Bush, Geo. W. Bush's grandfather, was (allegedly) a Nazi sympathizer. But I suspect Muckraker is talking about hatred of people - not size of government. In that regard he is perfectly correct, the current administration has done nothing for the common man.
By socrates2 at 9:05 PM ON 09/06/08
Who cares which was better produced? The Republican convention still had the highest ratings. And in the end that is what matters
By Epicurus at 10:40 PM ON 09/07/08
"By socrates2 at 9:05 PM ON 09/06/08
Who cares which was better produced? The Republican convention still had the highest ratings. And in the end that is what matters."
I'm sure people were wondering if McCain would feed them the same old crap they've had for the last eight years.