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TV Drama Notes

Textual Analysis and Representation


The four forces at work in media production, which can be used for framework
for analysis:
Technological
Economic
Cultural
Regulatory
Representation is a cultural force as it relates to tastes, identifies and interests
shaped by the culture we inhabit and is also related to regulation, this is because
people have the legal means to have OFCOM intervene for controversial
representations which they can find harmful or inaccurate. Representation is
also linked with economic forces.
Micro Level
Working at micro levels involves separating the pieces of the texts frame by
frame involving the:
Camera angles
Movement, shot composition
Use point of view
Specific edits and transitions
Cutaways and visual effects
Dialogue/sound/music
Lighting
Props and costumes
You will need to pay in-detail attention and pause, rewind and replay short send
sequences to be able to observe the creative decisions made in the production
process.
This builds up to work at macro level. This is all about drawing conclusions
from micro work about how the sequence of it represents people, events, places
and themes. Also how it manages to create a sense of reality and still be
dramatized.
Overall macro analysis consists of Narrative, representation and genre.
Microanalysis consists of camera, sound, mise-en-scene, editing and special
effects.
Watching television programs is an active process and the audience makes the
meaning, this gives us a three-stage process:
o Analyze the microelements of the text
o Conclude from the micro range of macro representations
o Consider how all types of people could respond to these representations.

Representation
Television programs such as, live sport is technically a mediated, constructed
re-presentation of the match through the medium of live representation.
An example of this is a tie

It is worn on special a occasion which represents formality and it carries


connotations of smart and posh things.
Example 2 clothes

The clothes you wear present an image of you as you would like to be seen by
others.
Example 3 Bedroom

The way your bedroom is decorated and designed, the way everything is laid out
and presented including signs and symbols, reinforce your identity to yourself
and people who may enter your room.
The media takes something that is real, a person or event and they change its
form and thats what we end up looking at, this is called mediation. The cultural
meanings something may carry are referred to as - connotations
Verisimilitude
TV programs are a form of media text in the context of representation and how
the media, represents the world. We are usually concerned with the
representation of, gender, age, ethnicity, types of people or groups, place, time
periods and themes. However representational codes rely on a sense of
authenticy- the clothes, props, settings, music and mainly the Dialogue. When
exploring representation in tv or radio dramas, we would ask questions like:
1. What kind of realism is being attempted by the program?
2. Who is being represented and how?
3. Who isnt being represented?
4. Are there any stereotypical represented characters?

5. Is there a dominant view of the world represented in the drama, or can there
be several views to choose from?
6. What different responses would audience members have?

Television Drama
Teen dramas-

A broad sub-genre including programs such as Hollyoaks and skins, these series
are concerned with the balance between social issues. This relates to the age
group, which has been targeted, and it creates an attractive representational
range of recognizable character types. Social issues are addressed (e.g. crime
pregnancy, relationships, alcohol, drugs and sexuality.)
Soap operas-

The conventions of a soap opera aims to add up to the recognizable overall


representation of domestic real life that tries to be recognizable to the public
as everyday things, yet it has to be melodramatic and exiting. Some certain
conventions are:
- Tease devices and cliffhangers
- Precise continuity
- Coverage of current social issues
- Constant illusion of real time
- Interweaving storylines in each episode / Partial closure of storylines
- Dominance of diegetic sound
- Establishing shots
- Dominance of conversation shot types

Period DramasMany period dramas are literary adaptions to pleasure the audience from this
way of consuming classic fiction. So they are normally linked to classic novels or
plays and offers a set of pleasures which are different to the dramas that are set
in our own world, contexts and times. It is very expensive to produce as high
quality acting is expected. Sometimes a different spin is offered on things, and
put on representational devices.

Hospital DramasThey interplay out vicarious pleasures at witnessing trauma and suffering. They
have a balance of two narrative themes which are : public health and the
treatment of illness. However they explore the workplaces interactions and
relationships. These feature a range of character types and can be referred to as
stereotypes. Recurring characters often are seen a lot such as surgeons, police,
paramedics, ambulance, hospital staff, elderly and children patients.

Crime DramasThere are two types of crime dramas


- the one-off crime dramas, tend to focus on the kinds of crimes that create
the most anxiety among the public which are watching.
- A long running TV crime dramas have a variety of sub-plots over time that
help to build up a sustained audience interest in the relationships between
characters.

Shared ConventionsCharactersWho offer shorthand representations of real types of people (or stereotypes)
NarrativeIt is visually presented and demands high levels of active audience
understanding
Mise en scene(Costume, props, lighting, locations and elements of performance- they add up to
an instantly recognizable atmosphere)
CameraworkEnsures continuity and creates drama through visual conventions
Dialogue, sound and musicCreates a balance between verisimilitude (the believable logic of the texts world
which appears real) and drama (which tells the audience how to feel)

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