This document provides guidance on how to analyze representations in a TV drama for an exam section. It explains that students will watch a 4-5 minute clip and analyze how it constructs representations of gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, class, physical ability, and regional identity. Students should discuss camera shots, editing, sound, and mise-en-scène. It defines various camera shots and angles, editing techniques like shot/reverse shot and match cuts, different types of sound usage, and elements of mise-en-scène like production design, lighting, and costume. The document aims to equip students with the technical vocabulary and analytical framework for examining representations in television drama.

1. Lauren Hurley
HOW TO ANALYSE A TV DRAMA

2. SECTION A OF THE EXAM
SECTION ONE
You will watch a 4 – 5 minute piece of TV drama. Then you will be asked to complete a textual analysis of it,
discussing how it constructs a representation of:
• Gender
• Age
• Ethnicity
• Sexuality
• Class and status
• Physical ability/disability
• Regional identity
This will be done by using the following areas
• Camera Shots, Angle, Movement and Composition
• Editing
• Sound
• Mise-en-scène

3. CAMERA SHOTS, ANGLE, MOVEMENT AND
COMPOSITION
• Shots: establishing shot, master shot, close-up, mid-shot, long shot, wide shot, two-shot,
aerial shot, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot.
• Angles: high angle, low angle, canted angle.
• Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.
• Composition: framing, rule of thirds, depth of field – deep and shallow focus, focus
pulls.

4. EDITING
• Transition of image and sound: continuity and non-continuity systems.
• Cutting: shot/reverse shot,
• Eyeline match: characters looking at each other eye to eye
• Graphic match: a cut or transition such as a cross fade to a shot showing an object of a very
similar shape in the same place on the screen. For example, a shot of a round traffic light
crossfades into a shot of the rising sun where the round sun emerges through the circle formed
by the traffic light.
• Action match: an action followed by a shot of the next logical action.
• Other transitions: dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take,
slow motion, ellipsis and expansion of time, post-production, visual effects.

5. SOUND
• This includes the use of:
diegetic and non-diegetic sound, synchronous/asynchronous sound, sound effects, sound motif,
sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing, sound
perspective, soundtracks, score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.

6. MISE-EN-SCÈNE
Including:
• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.
• Lighting; colour design.