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ASSESSMENT
G322: Key Media Concepts (TV Drama)
The exam is 2 hours (including 30 mins for viewing and making notes on the
clip) .
Candidates are required to answer two compulsory questions ‐ each question is
q p yq q
marked out of 50.
AIM: By the end of the lesson, you will…
There are two sections to this paper:
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation (50 marks)
• Understand the requirements of your exam
Section B: Institutions and Audiences (50 marks) ‐ see the case studies for The
•Distinguish TV Drama from other genres Inbetweeners Movie and John Carter. You should have also researched
•Be able to analyse representation in a range of media texts. your own examples of an independent British film and
mainstream Hollywood film.
SECTION A SECTION B
Section A: Textual Analysis and Representation
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
You will watch an ‘unseen’ TV extract from a TV drama (a one‐off drama series or serial
drama programme scheduled on British TV, including some sourced from other One compulsory question to be answered by candidates based upon a case
countries). study of a specific media industry (we will study Film and Video Games).
You will answer one compulsory question dealing with textual analysis of various We will choose one of the topic areas in advance and prepare you for it. You will
We will choose one of the topic areas in advance and prepare you for it You will
technical aspects of the languages and conventions of moving image media. Candidates need to know contemporary institutional processes of production,
will be asked to link this analysis with a discussion of some aspect of representation distribution, marketing and exchange/exhibition at a local, national or
within the sequence: international level as well as British audiences’ reception and consumption.
Camera Angle, Shot, Movement and Composition There should also be some emphasis on the students’ own experience of being
Mise‐en‐Scène audience.
Editing
Sound
What is TV Drama? TV Drama is…
YOUR TASK ‐ Starter
A story that is presented in a dramatic way and
1. Write a list of the TV Dramas that you know! explores a range of genres
2. Put them into groups and label them appropriately. Dramatic programming that is scripted and
3. How have you decided to group them? Why? normally fictional
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TV Drama Sub‐genres Teen Dramas
A ‘sub‐genre’ is where genres are subdivided into even more specific
categories. These depend entirely on the target audience
empathising with a range of authentic characters,
What sub‐genres can you think of? age‐specific situations and anxieties.
E.g. Skins.
Watch a clip from 4OD or on Youtube:
W h li f OD Y b
Think about the target audience.
Who are they? How do you know?
Period/Costume Dramas Medical/Hospital Dramas
These are often linked to ‘classic’ novels or plays and We witness trauma and suffering on the part of
offer a set of pleasers that are very different to patients and relatives with a set of staff narratives
dramas set in our times. that deploy soap opera conventions.
p y p p
E.g. Downton Abbey E.g. Holby City, ER, Scrubs.
As you watch this clip
think about the target audience. As you watch this clip
Who are they? How do you know? think about the target audience.
Who are they? How do you know?
Police/Crime Dramas Remember
These work in the same way as medical/hospital It is rare to find a TV Drama that fits all.
dramas but we can substitute the health context for Audiences like choice and different audiences find
representation of criminals and victims. appeals in different types of media texts (Uses and
E.g. The Bill.
E g The Bill Gratifications, Blumler and Katz)
Gratifications Blumler
As you watch this clip What is in each TV programme has been constructed
think about the target audience. to appeal to those audiences.
Who are they? How do you know?
Representation is constructed – your task is to
deconstruct how it has been created using technical
language.
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Representations can change over
Representation time…
The process by which the media present to us the
‘real’ world.
The Sun, 1998
Headline ‘Banished
Banished
Beckham’
Okay, that’s harsh – The Sun, 2001 Headline
I’m stereotyping!! ‘Glorious Golden Balls’
Other factors that affect Key points
representations: For many of us, the media are the key source of our
understanding of the world.
Audience positioning – consider how different
For example, what is it like to live in Australia? If you
categories of audiences will react to you. have not been there, how do you know this?
Interaction between other groups (important when Many people believe that the media are a powerful
looking at characterisation within TV Drama).
looking at characterisation within TV Drama) means of shaping our attitudes and beliefs – what does
f h i ttit d d b li f h td
Cultural ideology – we hall have expectations about this mean?
how certain characters and groups should react,
behave and operate within society.
Exam spec has changed – no longer is the extract
exclusive to UK but can be an imported TV drama
shown in the UK. How does the above affect this?
7 groups of representation How accurate is the media?
Class Can we trust the representation that is being made
Sexuality to be an ‘accurate’ portrayal?
Disability
Regional identity
R i l id i
Age
Ethnicity
Gender
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STEREOTYPING YOUR TASK
What does ‘stereotyping’ mean?
“The portrayal of people or places through a few Look at the images on your table.
obvious characteristics”
What is the stereotype of British youths? Answer the following questions on the images.
You will be required to feed back your answers!
Things to think about…
How accurately do they represent young people in
Britain?
Are the images a positive or negative
representation?
YOUR TASK Homework/independent study
1. Research examples of the following TV Drama sub-genres: Choose a TV Drama to watch before next lesson
• Teen Drama (Monday)
• Period/Costume drama
• Police/crime drama Choose a specific representation to analyse
• Medical/hospital drama Make notes and be ready to feed back to the class on
M k d b d f d b k h l
2. Look for representations of the following within each genre:
Monday about what you have found!
• Class, Sexuality, Disability, Regional identity, Age, Ethnicity,
Gender
END OF SESSION 1
YOU WILL FEED BACK YOUR FINDINGS TO THE REST OF THE
CLASS!
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Deconstructing
What is it?
Looking at the choices made in production. Picking
them apart. We will ‘deconstruct’ the text.
AIM: By the end of the lesson, you will be
What should we look at?
able to deconstruct a TV Drama extract.
STARTER: Watch the following extract…
Camera (angles and movement)
(Put your homework on your desk ready for collection) Sound (dialogue, effects, music)
Editing (pace, transitions)
Mise en scene
YOUR TASK Future Focuses
Time to deconstruct another extract!
You will be either a 1, 2 or 3…
There are more areas to focus on. You
should also be looking at shot types, special
If you are a 1, you will focus on camera (angles and effects, props, costume, hair and make‐up,
p p p
movement).
movement)
setting, colour, and lighting.
If you are a 2, you will focus on editing (pace,
transitions).
If you are a 3, you will focus on sound (dialogue, See other presentations on editing, camera
effects, music). and sound.
FEEDBACK
CAMERA
Let us recap what we know about camera.
ACTIVITY: Match the camera shots, angles and
movements to the definitions. Write the correct
mo ements to the definitions Write the correct
AIM: By the end of the session, you will understand realism
AIM: By the end of the session, you will understand realism term above each definition.
and apply this to extracts from a range of TV dramas.
Now tell me, what shot is this?
STARTER: Complete the terminology test!
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CAMERA: ACTIVITY
Watch the following clip from 24.
Note down (in a list) every camera shot, angle and movement
you see!
Now, in pairs, discuss the use of these shots and answer the
following questions:
WHY was that shot used?
What effect does it have?
Write an account for the significance of each shot (and
sequence of shots used) in explaining the setting/location and
social context.
This slide assumes you’re a 24 fan or can have access to any of
the amazing episodes.
REALISM REALISM
WHAT IS IT? Characters and narrative are plausible – they help to
convince audiences and provide the effect of reality;
A style that attempts to represent the real
world.
TASK:
Read the extract on your worksheet, then
watch the following clip. Consider how the
narrative, mise‐en‐scene, camera and sound
are constructed to represent reality.
REALISM REALISM
Mise‐en‐scene – designed to look realistic (appropriate Camerawork –
Camerawork – although stylised and contemporary,
sets, locations, dress and lighting); aimed at conveying realism;
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REALISM MISE‐EN‐
MISE‐EN‐SCENE (RECAP)
Sound – mainly diegetic but non‐
Sound – mainly diegetic but non‐diegetic sound is not What is mise‐en‐scene?
intrusive. Everything that appears before the camera.
What can be included in ‘mise‐en‐scene’?
Set, props, actors, costumes, composition, lighting.
ACTIVITY: Watch the following extract and describe
the mise‐en‐scene of the scene.
GIVE AS MUCH DETAIL AS POSSIBLE!
Answer the following question… HOMEWORK
Discuss the ways in which the following extract from KNOW THE APPROPRIATRE TERMS
Shameless constructs the representation of social class
using the following: USE THE CORRECT ONES!
• Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
• Camera shots angles movement and composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise‐en‐scène
ACTIVITY
Using the worksheet, analyse the following
extract from Primeval.
As in the exam, you will see the extract four
times.
During the first viewing, you will not be able to
AIM: By the end of the lesson, you will have analysed the make notes.
representation of gender within a range of TV drama extracts.
STARTER: Complete the terminology test.
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8. 4/30/2012
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.co.uk/
ON YOUR OWN
Discuss the ways in which the extract constructs the
representation of gender using the following:
Camera shots, angles, movement and composition
AIM: By the end of the lesson, you will create your own character representation.
Editing
STARTER:
Sound Look at the still images from TV dramas and answer these questions:
• What sub‐genre of TV drama does it belong to?
Mise en scene • How do you know?
• Who is being represented?
• How are they being represented in this image?
ON YOUR POST‐IT NOTE… Stuart Hall – Key Points
Write YOUR definition of representation (and your name) and go and Hall emphasises the importance of visual representation –
stick it on the whiteboard. the image seems to be the prevalent sign of late modern
culture.
Representation – to present/to depict.
p p p
The word suggests something was there already and has
been represented by the media.
Representation is that which stands in for something else.
Representation is the way in which meaning is given to the
Watch the following video and be ready to discuss. things which are depicted that stand in for something.
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REPRESENTATION
What questions do we need to ask ourselves when we
look at representation within an image (or an extract)?
WHO is being represented?
IN WHAT WAY are they being represented?
WHO is representing them in this way?
WHY are they being represented in this way?
In the representation FAIR & ACCURATE?
ACTIVITY: Go back to your still images sheet – answer
all of the above questions about each image.
QUESTION SEMIOTICS
WATCH THE FOLLOWING
VIDEO…
Representation is not present just in people… it’s in
places and ideas too.
The study of signs.
Does representation in media texts alter how we see Developed by Ferdinand de Saussure (1974).
the real world around us? We make meaning through the creation and
interpretation of signs.
Signs can be words, images, sounds, odours, flavours,
acts, objects.
The word sign is used to describe anything that carries
meaning ‐ whether it’s a word, a symbol/image, or a
sound.
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SIGNS ACTIVITY
Because of their nature, we have to view signs as Look at the following images and make a note of:
having two distinct parts: The Signifiers
The signifier ‐ the physical sign itself The Signified
The signified ‐ the meaning carried by the sign
Alternatively, we can think in terms of the denoted
meaning (what the thing is), and... the connotations
carried by the thing.
It is important to remember is that signs are
polysemic: open to many interpretations.
YOUR TASK
You will be given a character from the list. You must create a storyboard (minimum 5 slides)
to tell the story of them taking a trip to the shops. How would you represent them? Use all
the technical codes to add understanding to your storyboard.
‘A trip to the shops…’
Characters:
Things to think about:
• How would they get to the shops? Technical
• A teenager
codes:
• Middle class,
middle aged man
•
•
What might they buy?
What would they wear? • Camera work
PRESENTATIONS
• Elderly person • How would you frame it? • Editing
• A disabled person • How would you edit it? • Mise en
• Housewife scene
• What would we hear?
• Doctor • Would they go on their own? • Sound
You should continue to look at TV
Drama clips and practise analysing
them.
Presentations on the other key areas are on a separate
presentation.
presentation
Visit www.alevelmedia.co.uk for more ideas and
suggested activities.
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