This document provides information and guidance for students taking an exam on television drama representations. It includes: 1) Examples of representations that could be analyzed such as gender, ethnicity, and social class from past exam questions on various TV shows. 2) An overview of common television drama genres and technical codes to analyze like mise-en-scene, camerawork, editing techniques, sound, and semiotics. 3) Tips for studying including taking structured notes, understanding media language, selecting relevant examples from the text, and writing concisely and readably within the time limit.

1. G322
review

2. what do you have to do?

3. Exam task
• the question

4. Possible representations
• gender
• ethnicity
• age
• status/class
• sexuality
• regional identity
• disability/ability

5. past questions
• Monarch of the Glen and age
• Dr Who and gender
• Hotel Babylon and ethnicity
• Primeval and gender
• Hustle and gender
• Merlin and status/class
• Hotel Babylon and ethnicity

6. TV drama genres

7. Crime

8. Soap

9. Medical

10. Historical

11. School

12. Action

13. how it is marked
• EAA 20 (explanation, argument, analysis)
• EG 20 (use of examples)
• T 10 (use of terminology)

14. skills
• note-taking
• understanding technical codes/knowing
media language
• relating technical codes to representation
• backing up points with examples
• keeping it readable
• writing it in the time

15. mise-en-scene

16. decor props/objects
lighting posture/
setting/location
gesture
mise-en-scene performance
colours choice of actor
hairstyle
placement in the frame
costume make-up

17. Semiotics
signifier/signified

18. prize

19. camerawork

20. tilt pan track
low
focus
angle movement
high
Camera
framing shot distance
inside outside ECU CU MS LS

21. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot

22. Continuity editing
A master shot is a film recording of an entire dramatized scene, from start
to finish, from an angle that keeps all the players in view. It is often a long
shot and can sometimes perform a double function as an establishing shot.
Usually, the master shot is the first shot checked off during the shooting of a
scene—it is the foundation of what is called camera coverage, other shots
that reveal different aspects of the action, groupings of two or three of the
actors at crucial moments, close-ups of individuals, insert shots of various
props, and so on.

23. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot
• 180 degree rule

24. Continuity editing

25. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot
• 180 degree rule
• shot/reverse shot

27. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot
• 180 degree rule
• shot/reverse shot
• eyeline match

29. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot
• 180 degree rule
• shot/reverse shot
• eyeline match
• match on action

31. Continuity editing
• master shot/establishing shot
• 180 degree rule
• shot/reverse shot
• eyeline match
• match on action
• insert shot

32. other features of editing
• cross-cutting
• graphic match
• ellipsis
• montage
• types of transition

33. Your turn
• 30 mins, shoot all of these techniques and
produce a 30 sec clip which illustrates
these.
• why? this will reinforce what we have just
been through and make it easily
recognisable in the clip.
• 3 groups everyone must be included.

34. Sound
• music
• dialogue
• ‘atmospheric’
• diegetic and non-diegetic
• ‘sound bridge’

35. ways of taking notes

36. Grid

37. Camera Mise-en-scene Editing Sound
Method block of flats location
costumes
Effect establishing shot of the entire council
estate
urban fashion
Purpose shows the poor lifestyle and up-bringing
stereotype for hodies

38. location angle shot/reverse
point to cover costume
concrete urban look down on her boy/girl argue
data-
Grid
examples, evidence
reinforce or asbo kids
challenge stereotypes?

39. scan of handwritten script (BAD)

41. organising your answer

42. Structure
• four areas...four sections?
• constant reference to the representation
• no big intro- get on with it
• keep conclusion short

43. opening sentence
In this sequence from xxx, the technical features
combine to construct representations of yyyyyy
concluding sentence
As we have seen, the representation of
xxxx is constructed by the combination of
the technical codes in the sequence.

44. Top tips
• have a system for your notes- PDQ
• be selective from the text- richest
moments
• know your terms- media language
• make it readable on the page- highlighter,
paragraph gaps

45. Tv Drama study day