TV Drama ♡

 Thursday 16th November 2023  

Television : Industries & Audiences 

LO - to research the history, companies and regulators in the television industry. 

Publicly owned TV channel - public broadcasting, which receives government subsidies and usually does not have paid advertising interrupting the show.

Commercial Tv channel - Commercial broadcasting is primarily based on the practice of airing radio advertisements and television advertisements for profit.

Convergence - making a product available across different platforms, in order to reach different audiences

Watershed - designed to prevent children from seeing unsuitable material, which Ofcom defines as "everything from sexual content to violence, graphic or distressing imagery and swearing."

segmented market -the process of breaking down and organising your target audiences based on shared characteristics like demographic information, behavioural habits, and geographic location. 

Mainstream -The mainstream media refers to conventional newspapers, television and other news sources that most people know about and regard as reliable.

self-regulating - when a company regulates their own product 

Franchise - licence from a company of a product to use format/show/ideas. 

channel surfing -he action or practice of quickly looking at one television channel after another by use of a remote control.

PSB - Public service broadcasting made for the benefit of the public. 

Tv licence -a legal permission to install or use television equipment to receive (i.e. watch or record) TV programmes, as they are being shown on TV or live on an online TV service, and to download or watch BBC programmes on demand, including catch up TV, on BBC iPlayer.

Scheduling - A plan which shows the various platforms on which a company will advertise and the dates, times, durations, positions and types of advertising to be placed on them during an advertising campaign.

Conglomerate - A conglomerate is a large company composed of a number of companies (subsidiaries) engaged in generally unrelated businesses.

Research Task 

- Tv was introduced in the UK in 1936. 

- in 1965 there were only three TV channels, BBC 1, BBC 2 And ITV

- In 1955, Following the Television Act of 1954 which made commercial television in the UK possible, ITV first began broadcasting in 1955 on Channel 3 in the London area.

- Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 3 (ITV1; and STV, in Northern and Central Scotland), Channel 4/S4C (Wales), Channel 5.

- Uk Tv is regulated by Ofcom 

- The Law/Parliament regulated TV in the 1960s 

- TV in the 60s was in black and white since coloured screens weren't invented yet.  regulations have changed drastically since the 60s, things that weren't allowed to be aired then may be allowed now and vice versa. 

Thursday 14th December 2023            TV Audiences 

LO - to explore how audiences costume TV dramas and the appeals. 

Television can be watched on many different streaming services, on a TV,  computer, laptop or mobile device. you can search for it online to find it to watch on command whenever you want. It can be watched live, on catch up or recorded/saved (time shifted). 

people still watch Tv live so that they can interact with it (voting) and so they don't get spoilers. 

Theory - The Active Audience 

- this focus on debates as to whether an audience is active or passive

- A passive audience accepts and believes everything a media text tells them. They are easily Influenced and don't question any message conveyed. 

- An active audience interacts with a media text and makes its own decisions about whether to accept and believe everything. They question messages and may interpret meanings differently. 

Audiences now have much more more channel competition (channel surfing) 

Scheduling

- scheduling is deciding when something will run on TV. 

- peak viewing time is 6pm - 10:30pm

- Audience ratings are measured by the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. (BARB) 

The Watershed

- overseen by ofcom, Its between 9pm and 5:30am 

- during these hours,  broadcasters can show content that is not suitable for children up to the age of 15. 

- 18+ rated content cannot be shown until after 10pm 

- unsuitable material includes sexual content, violence, graphic or disturbing imagery or language. 

TV Drama 

- serial TV drama is defined as any television drama that is organised into a series of episodes (As supposed to one-off dramas) 

- Typically a series contains 3-12 episodes

- A serial has a continuing plot that unfolds in a sequential episode-by-episode fashion. 

- Tv dramas typically follow main story arcs that span an entire season: they often have complex narratives and key characters that evolve as the season continues. 

Sub-Genre Task

- crime drama (sherlock) 

- period drama (peaky blinders) 

- Teen drama (the vampire diaries) 

- sci-fi drama (stranger things)

- fantasy drama (game of thrones) 

- political drama (suits) 

Thursday 11th January 2024                   The 1960's

LO - to research the social, historical and political context of the Avengers. 

Do Now : 1960s 

- music (Elvis Presley, The Beatles)

- fashion (miniskirts, colourful shapeless dresses, Coco Chanel, Mary Quant, Flower power (Flowery patterns), women began to wear trousers, ) 

- World events (TV (3 Channels), England won the world cup, protests/strikes, silent films, moon landing, pop-art, hallucinogenics (marajuana) 

'63

- The Beatles release their first album, “Please Please Me“.

- 70,000 marchers arrive in London from Aldermaston, to demonstrate against nuclear weapons.

- U.S. President John F. Kennedy is shot dead in Dallas.

'64

- BBC Two begins broadcasting in the United Kingdom

- The House of Commons votes to abolish the death penalty for murder in Britain.

- MLK civil rights movement 

Social and Political Context

 - famous bands = The Beatles, The rolling Stones, The kinks, The Beach Boys. 

- The Labour party was in power and Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister.

- Illegal drugs, mainly hallucinogenics were a big part of 60s culture, especially in youth "hippies". 

- Vietnam war and the cold war was being fought during the 60s 

- Civil rights protests were common, especially the MLK led protests for equality no matter of someones race. Freedom of speech protests were also frequent.

- Birth control was a large scientific development that changed women's lives in the 60s.

Main concerns in the 1960s: 

- the cold war 

soviet countries had an unspoken rivalry with other countries surrounding them, the threat of invasions was high and countries thought that they'd be infiltrated by spies. 

- nuclear threats 

Any nuclear weapons used could destroy an entire country and its population so this was a huge threat to some countries in the world 

- Espionage (the practice of spying or using spies) 

Thursday 18th January 2024     The Avengers(1965) 

LO - research the TV show The Avengers 

1. ABC (from season 4 onwards) & Itv produced the Avengers 

2. mainstream adult target audience, secondary audience was older teenagers. 

3. The first episode of The avengers aired on the 7th January 1961.

4. There are 6 seasons of the Avengers, thats 161 episodes.

5. The last episode of the avengers was aired on the 21st April 1969.

6.  The average budget for each episode was reportedly £56,000, which was high for the British industry. 

Main characters and info 

- Patrick Newell - John steed 

- Diana Rigg - emma peel 

- Aired 21:05pm on Saturday nights 

- Attracted an audience of 7 million by season 4

The episode : The town of no return 

- the narrative: 

- the characters:

- How the episode shows social and cultural context (the mid 60s):

- Audience appeal: 

Thursday 22nd February

 The Avengers: Extract Analysis

LO - to explore element of media language and practice how to analyse an extract.  

Media Language:

- Camerawork 

- Mise-en-scene

- Editing 

- Sound

Camerawork:

- Shot type 

- Camera angles 

- Camera movement

- during the fight scenes, the camera was handheld.

- there were lots of low angle shots of the main characters.

- camera was shaky during moments where the main character was in danger. 

- the camera tracks the metal door as it rises, revealing the main character. this builds suspense. 

Mise-En-Scene:

- Highkey and Lowkey lighting 

- Location/set

- costume/hair/makeup

- props

- suitcases and big coats, travelling somewhere

- semi lowkey lighting inside the inn, this gives off a dark and eerie atmosphere. this makes the inn feel kind of suspicious. 

Editing:

- shot/reverse shot

- Juxtaposition

- Non-continuity editing

- Crosscutting 

- fast paced editing 

- transitions; dissolve, wipe, fade

- Post-production effects

Thursday 29th February 2024 

cutting on action - convention of action sequences. 

Cut-away - flashbacks, showing thoughts, notice particular objects, cutting to something different, foreshadowing.

cross cutting - to show cuts between two things happening at the same time. 

Match cut/graphic match - cutting from a shot to a similar shot by either matching an action or composition, links the scene. 

Fade in/fade out - to or from a black screen 

montage - multiple clips edited together usually to symbolise a passing of time. 

Graphic match - candle flame and fire. linking to where ms peel might be. 

cutaway - "ms peel left" cuts to her bags. proves he was lying.

fast cuts - shots become shorter when he's in danger. emphases speed and excitement. 

They have used short fast cuts in the fight scene. This shows the speed of their movements and conveys a sense of excitement for the watcher as its an action scene. 

sound:

- Music 

- Diegetic/Non-Diegetic

- Sound effects 

- Sound bridge (connects two scenes through sound)

- Voiceover

- Parallel sound (sound matches what you're seeing)

- Contrapuntal sound (sound doesn't match what you're seeing)

non-diegetic music to set the scene

parallel sound

contrapuntal sound

They have used non-diegetic sound such as music that sets the scene. This is done when the man pulls a gun on ms peel. the. music changes from a soft song to a rhythm that sounds connotes danger, this shows us that ms peel may be in serious trouble in the situation. this builds a sense of excitement for the watcher. 

Thursday 7th March 2024 

  The Avengers:Extract Analysis

LO - to explore extract based questions and how to answer them effectively. 

1. Camerawork, sound, mise-en-scene, editing

2. two 

3. 5 

They have used short fast cuts in the fight scene. This shows the speed of their movements and conveys a sense of excitement for the watcher as its an action scene. They have used non-diegetic sound such as music that sets the scene. This is done when the man pulls a gun on ms peel. the. music changes from a soft song to a rhythm that sounds connotes danger, this shows us that ms peel may be in serious trouble in the situation. this builds a sense of excitement for the watcher.

Thursday 21st March 2024

1960's society:

- racism, sexism (civil rights movements)

- drugs being a massive part of culture

- labour party was incharge

Television in the 2010s - CUFFS

LO - to explore the context of the 2010s and the effect on TV shows and audience. 

Thursday 28th March 2024               Cuffs: lesson 2 

LO -  

Thursday 25th April 2024     CUFFS & Social Context

LO - to analyse representation and influence of social and cultural context in CUFFS. 

In the cuffs episode the police were represented as officers who were trying to enforce the law and do their job but were constantly being disrespected by the public. 

Jake is represented as an officer who got the job he did through family privilege. He is originally represented as unqualified and makes mistakes to prove this, however later on in the show he improves and learns from his mistakes which gains him respect from the team. He openly states that he is gay but is not represented as a "stereotypical gay" man. He is represented masculinely and has no shame when announcing to Ryan that he is gay. This shows that there is much more acceptance of different sexualities in 2015 compared to the 60's. 

Felix is represented as a mentally and physically strong  character who is very empathetic and calm in situations. He is very intelligent and chooses to be alone, this is represented in the part of the episode where he solves a crime alone and calmly talks to the criminal without any weapons. He shows empathy and chooses not to bombard the criminal. His method works.