2. Purpose
• The purpose of Dexter is to leave a tense
atmosphere for the audience making them want to
know more about Dexter as a character and how
he became who he is in the show.
• Supposed to leave the audience on edge but
sympathetic for the character and to understand
what he goes through as the TV show Progresses
and you see a change in Dexter as in a way he is
like the hero of the Series
3. Form and Style
• Length of one episode is 50 minutes, the story is
abut a blood spatter analyst working for the Miami
metro police department who goes out and kills
people who have killed others and got away from
the justice system. the idea is to leave the audience
in a tense atmosphere; wanting to further watch the
TV show different themes: Justice, death,
4. Content
• Key characters are: Dexter Morgan, Debra Morgan,
Angel Batista, Harry Morgan, Vince Masuka and
Maria LaGuerta. These characters were of key
importance to the show as we could see how Dexter
could manipulate them at work to think he was an
ordinary person who works and then goes home but
really goes out killing people who deserved to die.
5. Meaning
• The meaning of the show could be that anyone
around you; your closest friends, co-worker could be
hiding a secret. Or that the justice system isn’t
perfect and there are people still out there who kill
people. Crime doesn’t end; no matter what you try to
do to stop it
• Shows that peoples morals are very different, some
are loyal to the justice system and others will do
anything to escape it.
6. Genre
• Crime drama/ thriller.
• The TV show definitely puts a spin on the Genre as
the protagonist is the killer in the show and you
follow his story. You sympathise from him as he has
a genetic impulse to kill people but he has a code to
only kill other murderers, so you support him
through the series.
7. Target Audience
• TV ratings from IMDb gave an 8.9 out of 10 for
Dexter
• Won 2 golden Globes, following another 40 wins
and 176 nominations.
• Show was aimed at a target audience of 16 and
over because of its chilling, innovative and
stimulating format. The series effectively captures a
variety of codes and conventions which are typically
associated with the “thriller genre”.
8. Frequency
• You would need to watch the show from the
beginning to understand why he has this impulse to
kill.
• you also need to watch from the beginning to help
understand how he developed from his original state
and how he learned to sustain the urge to kill.
• Was shown every week for 12 weeks as there is
only 12 episodes per season.
9. Production Process
• To create a long form TV show there are multiple steps. The
first step is pitching the initial idea. First the idea is pitched to a
studio, then once the show has the studio backing it they will
take it to a network and pitch it there. If the studio and network
like the idea, they will refine the idea, change the things they
want and write draft pilot script. Over time this script will be
refined until it’s the best it can be. Once the scrip has been
finished they will start with casing. This is choosing all the
actors that they want to play characters in the show.
• Once the actors are chosen, filming and post-production will
take place. Once the pilot has been completed it will be
advertised and shown at an event. From hear the show will
receive feed back and be asked questions. If the initial feed
back is positive the show will be developed into a series.
