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Introduction to TV drama. Your exam. You have 2 hours to complete 2 sections A & B.
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Your exam • You have 2 hours to complete 2 sections A & B. • One of the sections is about Audience and Institutions which is what Mr Ryan is doing with you, the other section is TV drama, in which you will watch an extract and write an essay focussing on how they director uses camera/mise en scene etc to get their plot across to the audience as well as discussing the representation of characters, props, settings etc.
Representation • The way in which the media presents the characters to us. • E.g. teenagers may appear to be trouble makers on Eastenders but in Skins they may be represented as ‘cool’ street wise etc.
Film language revision • Take up a whole page and in each corner write the following categories: • Mise en scene/lighting • Camera • Editing • Sound Underneath each heading write as many terms as you can remember that belong in the category.
TV drama • What TV programmes do you think come under this category? • Brainstorm as many as you can.
Analysing TV drama • Write the following headings leaving 4 lines between each one. • Mise en scene • Setting • Characters • Plot/events • Length of episode • Themes
Next, choose a genre from the list below and make lists under the headings. • Hospital drama (Casualty), teen drama (Skins/Hollyoaks), period drama (Cranford), crime/thriller (Spooks/The Bill), sci-fi (Dr Who)
Then, choose a main character from the list and write a paragraph detailing how these characters are typically represented. Give at least one specific example from a programme you have seen. • E.g. old woman might be a gossip, teenage girl might be a tart etc
Soap opera • Perhaps the most obvious, and popular of TV dramas. • Discuss this question with a partner • What is the responsibility of a soap opera? To present society ‘as it is’ or as it ‘should be’ • What are the typical conventions of a soap opera? Make a list.
Soap operas employ some distinctive conventions (3 slides) • The constant illusion of real time • Precise continuity tease devices and cliff hangers • Combinations of action (information for the viewers) and enigma (questions raised by the viewer) Eastenders murder plot • The dominance of two shots and over the shoulder shots of conversation • (over 90% of soaps and devoted to conversation)
Establishing shots (of locations) and tableaux (groups of people composed dramatically) • Coverage of current social issues • Narrative flow and a nostalgic and perhaps outdated depiction of community • Meeting places that allow for gossip to circulate
Interweaving storylines in each episode • Partial closure of storylines • Music used as a motif (e.g. the drums at the end of Eastenders) • The dominance of diegetic sound (except for Hollyoaks) • Highly symbolic costumes and set design (e.g. the type of curtains) • A kitchen sink mise en scene (naturalistic, domestic, personal)
As we watch this extract make notes on the following: • Who (which characters) are in the shot and how are they represented? • How does the mise en scene make the extract believable? • What does the camera do and why? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZyA2ezhtqA&feature=related
Analysing soap operas • Read through your notes and write a paragraphs answering this example exam question: • How are the camera and editing techniques used to represent the characters to us?
Example paragraph • The men in this extract are represented as carefree compared to the women. Gayle is at home with the older ladies worrying about her release while the men are in the pub drinking. The camera starts on the pub scene as a medium shot to show the setting and the two male characters. We are positioned behind the bar so we can see the new character enter through the door. When the man says that he has some bad news there is a jump cut to an over the shoulder shot from the other side of the bar so we are made to identify with the speaker.
Homework • Write 150 word analysis of another scene in this extract on your blog or on paper.