Four More Yearssss

Four More Years provided a candid and distinctive presentation of the political process and involvement revolving around Nixon’s reelection. TVTV’s use of unique techniques, such as button fade-ins and camera interviews, display the significant effects that this guerrilla television can expose to its viewers. Throughout the movie, I was somewhat able to empathize with what was being presented before me even though it was a long time ago. The camera’s position was mostly close to the people for most of the time and it seemed as if I was interviewing them myself since the voice often came from the background. There were also times during the movie in which watching it was rather difficult because of the quality, camera placement, or problems with the sound—sometimes there would be white circle reflections on the screen or I would not be able to listen to the interviewee because of the lack of amplification in sound. I also found it really interesting when the camera pans up and down the person they interviewed. When it first happened with Nixon’s daughter, I thought that there was a sense of perversion present; however, they also did that to other men that they had interviewed.
The technicalities involved with making this movie seemed to present the ability of a simplistic camera and crew to cover major stories revolving around a presidential election, like foreign wars or the economy. In addition, scenes that usually would be edited out today, such as when the interviewer is trying to get a reporter to speak to him but refuses, are still placed into the movie as a means of showing all the sides of the story. I also think that this piece of television was able to incorporate the various realms of reelection—the different races of voters, the different topics, and etcetera.
I think that this movie is vastly different from what is being presented on the news now involving elections because of the different techniques, presentations, and perspectives being placed on the television business today. Since the creation of this video in 1972, technology has also helped advance the quality of television and what it means to be ahead in the business. I thought it was also interesting how TVTV interviewed reporters from other television companies and how they were not too happy about the format of the program. I also believed that there was a dramatic effect of the television at the end because it demonstrated the ability of television and technology to present viewers with various perspectives—that ranged from the women’s to the young supporters’—and be at different places at one time. The T.V. can be seen as the tool that the user uses to be omniscient because he or she sees all the coverage regarding an event, like the political process of reelection. Although most television networks are quite conservative or careful in what they choose to air, it seems as if TVTV provided a good framework for showing some radical behavior and conservative behavior as well.