Prompt:
Watch/listen to an episode of something: TV show, newscast, pod-cast, etc. Summarize it. We are doing a bit of shift here--we are still describing in clear detail, but we are prioritzing which information is important for readers, and trying to take something long and condense it. We will of course lose texture, but we should still have a sense of the whole episode and its important details.
Response:
The Pilot episode of Mad Men, one of today's most popular shows on television, is a perfect introduction to the characters that drive the following several seasons. The episode opens with a shot of the back of Don Draper's head, and he is seen sitting at a restaurant, brainstorming on a napkin. The first scene illustrates a conversation between Don and a waiter, in which he proves his professional talent by engaging the man in a passionate conversation about Lucky Strikes cigarettes.
Following this scene is an introduction to the next major character of the series. When the door to her apartment opens, we are given a taste of woman whose profession is creating cards, and whose demeanor is sassy and playful. In this light, we meet Midge. Though she takes us through the following morning, the next scene of the episode takes place at Sterling & Cooper, the advertising corporation for which Don works. After being given a small taste for the office atmosphere, we are brought into the next major character's office; we are introduced to Pete Campbell. The shot of him is short, but a sense for his young and enthusiastic character is very clearly portrayed. The camera cuts to something else going on in the office- a conversation that sets quite a few standards.
Joan and Peggy are the next in line for introduction, and Joan's instructional opening to Peggy's new job as secretary reveals the sexism inherent to the day. Specifically, the description of a secretary as being a "mix of mother and waitress," and the executives sometimes wanting "something else," is a clear cut way of promoting this idea. The following interaction between male and female executives in a meeting carries it well.
The next major scene is one in which Peggy goes to an OB/GYN for birth control pills. It is obvious that she's understood the significance of her femininity, and her next move is accentuated by the doctor's choice to warn her of being too "friendly". Though we do not know Peggy well yet, her naivety is made apparent.
In the next series of shots, we are introduced to Rachel Menkin, the daughter of a Jewish department store owner, who arrives at the ad agency looking for a way to reinvent the store. She is clearly a smart, powerful woman, and Don's reaction to her does not hide his frustration at the fact. He storms out of the meeting with the words "I will not let a woman talk to me like this," and we are left wondering what exactly is so great about this man's ability to advertise. The next scene, of course, reveals it; in the meeting with Lucky Strike, the brand for whom Don was brainstorming in the beginning of the episode, he has a moment of unprepared revelation in which a brilliant advertising move is made.
Rejuvenated in spirit, and pushed by his boss Sterling, Don proceeds to take Rachel out to dinner in order to charm her into another meeting. Meanwhile, the junior executives go to a strip club in honor of celebrating Pete's soon-to-end bachelordom. While Pete makes an ass of himself by harassing a woman at the club, Don seems to open up his views a little to Rachel, who disagrees with his refusal to believe in love, yet becomes intrigued enough to return for another meeting.
Pete, disenchanted with the evening and clearly feeling vulnerable, shows up later that night at Peggy's door. Though she doesn't know what she's doing, she lets him in. Don, on the other hand, also returns home... to his wife and kids. The last scene shows him sitting on his kids' bed, looking down at them lovingly, with his wife in the background watching him.
Overall, a beautiful beginning to an incredible show.
