TV drama

Amber bush, Amelia barrett, Steph webb.

A genre

A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.Horror, romantic, comedy, action, western.

Sub genre

A subcategory within a particular genre:drama – crime, soaps, medical, costumes

Medical drama

A medical drama is a television drama in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical area. Medical/hospital dramas play on the human fascination of witnessing horrific events. They often share narrative similarities with soaps but can also be more informative/educational than soapsCasualty, holby city, er

conventions between all medical dramas

A convention is a widely accepted device used in television dramas.Setting – ambulance, hospital Characters – doctors, nurses Mis-en-scene – hospital clothes, props, equipmentNarrative – experience for caring for patients technical language

Conventions of CrimeSetting- Crime genre are set in a well known city or capital that is created to be a dangerous place this is because there is a high crime rate there.Characters- two crime solve discuss with each other are crime solvers, criminals, victims, family and friends of victim.Narrative- includes a crime that needs to be solved, at the end the crime is solved and criminal is punished, lead characters will have a back story and include there personal life in the narrative, there is also a mystery for the audience to solve.Camera angles- the camera normally follows the detective who is solving the crime, there is close ups and extreme close ups when the crime is on the verge of being solved or intense moments.Lighting- the lighting is often dark when showing the criminal Mis-en-scene - include guns, weapons, laboratory equipment, police cars/banners, magnifying glass and newspapers, and the criminal is in dark clothes this is to stereotype of a criminal.Music- monotone humming in the background to create tension towards the audience.

How do we know Crime is a TV Drama?

• Involves a crime and a criminal.• Is a program not a film.• Follows the different types of characters.• The crime is always solved by the end of the

episode or series.

Soap Opera• Conventions that are found in soap operas

include:• Domestic themes and personal or family relationships occur

repeatedly between the characters. • Setting – The setting of soap operas are usually set around a

small, central area where the soap opera is filmed. • Central meeting points – These are points in the soap opera

where all the characters regularly go.• Cliff hangers – These are used when a dramatic situation

happens in the soap but the end is not shown until the next episode.

• Characters – these are used to allow for the audience to relate to the situation and the help pilot the plot.

• On going – Series do not have a particular start or end as they usually run all year round.

• Scheduling – Soaps are usually scheduled for target audience and is usually shown on specific days and specific times related to the target audience.

• Includes real life issues – things like death, birth and marriage are often shown to Example are, eastenders, emmerdale, coronationstreetmake the soap as real as possible.

• Emmerdale http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHztlneqnVo

• Er http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6mb_Nz9rsw

• Gladiator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNGVMIwamL8

Conventions of costume

• Any costume dramas are set in earlier times.

• Costume dramas give the audience a sense of how life in those days were different to how life is today.

• Relies heavily on mise en scene due to the costumes, props, lighting and setting.

• Plotline usually concentrates on love, family and relationships.

Costume TV dramas as usually based upon/or simply includes a distinguished historical event that occurred. They also feature characters from that historical event to clarify the event properly.

Downtown abbey, gladiator, spartacus

Narrative theorists Russian theorist, Tzvetan Todorov, suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure. They begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored this is used in the TV drama’s crime, medical and costume.

Vladimir Propp, who came up with the theory that there are only a certain number of characters, who appear in narratives. It is easy to spot the hero and villain in most cases. Example is the hero who leads the narrative, is usually looking for something to solve like a mystery.

Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that all narratives had to be by conflict that was cause by a series of opposing forces. he called this the theory of Binary Opposition, and it is used to describe how each narrative has its equal and opposite. Examples include good/evil or poverty/wealth.