G322

TV Drama and Representation

and

Audience and Institutions: UK Film

The Key Points

TV Drama and Representation

• Section A of the exam.• 30 minutes to watch clip (4 times) and

make notes.• 45 minutes to write your response.• Don’t bother with introductions or

conclusions: these won’t gain you any marks.

• Consider using note-making time to ‘plan’ your answer.

TV Drama and Representation

• You must comment on…

– Camera– Sound– Mise-en-scene– Editing

– Representation

• Failure to discuss any of these areas will reduce your mark!

And how they link to…

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, and variations of these.

• Angle: high angle, low angle, canted angle.

• Movement: pan, tilt, track, dolly, crane, steadicam, hand-held, zoom, reverse zoom.

• Composition: framing.

Sound

• Diegetic and non-diegetic sound; synchronous/asynchronous sound; sound effects; sound motif, sound bridge, dialogue, voiceover, mode of address/direct address, sound mixing.

• Soundtrack: score, incidental music, themes and stings, ambient sound.

Mise-en-scene

• Production design: location, studio, set design, costume and make-up, properties.

• Lighting; colour design.

Editing

• Cutting: shot/reverse shot, eyeline match, graphic match, action match, jump cut.

• Other transitions, dissolve, fade-in, fade-out, wipe, superimposition, long take, short take, slow motion, post-production, visual effects.

Representation

“representations of individuals, groups, events or places…”

• Gender • Age • Ethnicity • Sexuality • Class and Status • Physical ability/disability • Regional identity

Keywords…

• All the terminology mentioned on the previous slides are keywords.

• Other you could mention include…– Realism – do the different techniques used

work to make the piece realistic?– Verisimilitude – the construction of a

believable world.– Stereotypes – how we expect people and

places to be.

What could you be shown?

Type of drama

• Teen dramas• Soap operas• Period dramas• Hospital dramas• Crime dramas

Examples…

• Skins, Hollyoaks.• Eastenders, Corrie,

Emmerdale.• Rome, Bleak House, Life

on Mars.• Casualty, Holby City.• The Bill, Prime Suspect,

Life on Mars, Cracker, Morse, Frost.

• Realism?• What are they used to represent?

The Mark SchemeLevel 4

Explanation/analysis/argument (16-20 marks)

• Shows excellent understanding of the task • Excellent knowledge and understanding of the technical aspects used in the extract • Excellent discussion of the extract’s representations, clearly linked to textual analysis • Clearly relevant to set question

Use of examples (16-20 marks)

• Offers frequent textual analysis from the extract – award marks to reflect the range and appropriateness of examples

• Offers a full range of examples from each technical area • Offers examples which are clearly relevant to the set question

Use of terminology (8-10 marks)

• Use of terminology is relevant and accurate

UK Film

• Section B.

• 45 minutes to respond to 1 question.

• Question will ask you to discuss the processes of production, distribution and exhibition in British Film.

• Your answer should make reference to specific examples from the case studies we have studied.

The Case Studies

Your answer can should contained detailed examples.

You can refer to:

• Working Title• FilmFour• BBC Films• The UK Film Council (leading to Screen Yorkshire)• The BBFC• Verve Pictures (Bullet Boy)

• You should refer to one main case study and use other examples to back yourself up.

Production / Distribution / Exhibition

The question requires you to discuss these three areas…

• Production – Processes and decisions that take place when making a film.

• Distribution – Advertising, merchandising and delivering the film to the market

• Exhibition – The different ways in which the audience can ‘consume’ the film.

You should also make reference to…

Synergy

• In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product (and all its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate, e.g. films, soundtracks or video games.

• Walt Disney pioneered synergistic marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing arrangements.

Synergy in Film…

• 20th Century Fox, produces, distributes and markets films

• Owned by News Corporation..

• Which is Owned by Rupert Murdoch…

• Who owns: Sky, News International, Harper Collins, MySpace…

What does all this mean????

Proliferation (through technology)

• Downloading – itunes, ipod, apple TV

• Digital Piracy – DVD’s, filesharing

• Social Networking Sites – marketing and buzz

• Accessibility – everywhere???

• Control – industry/audiences

“The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences”

What does convergence mean and why is it important?

• When two or more technologies come together to create a new technology.

• Audiences: Everything in one product.

• Institutions: Audiences tied to one product.

Technology – The Digital Age

UK vs Hollywood• Hollywood dominates.• Different cultural values and appeals.• Successful partnerships…

FilmFour relies on joint partnerships with other companies to make films:

• Slumdog Millionaire = Celador Films, Pathe Pictures• Trainspotting = Polygram, Figment Films• Four Weddings = Polygram, Working Title

FilmFour relies on American studios to distribute their films to an international audience:

• Slumdog Millionaire = Fox Searchlight• Trainspotting = Miramax Films• Four Weddings = Gramercy Pictures

Your Experiences

How do you consume films?

Us challenging them…

• Remember that YOU are a key part of the film industry.

• YOUR behaviour influences what they (the institutions) do.

• Be prepared to comment on the power of the audience!

The Question

• Discuss the issues raised by an institution’s need to target specific audiences within a media industry which you have studied.

Or maybe…

• What issues / decisions do institutions face when releasing their products?

• How do audiences influence institutional decisions?

The Mark Scheme

Level 4

Explanation/analysis/argument (16-20 marks)

• Shows excellent understanding of the task • Excellent knowledge and understanding of institutional/audience practices – factual

knowledge is relevant and accurate • A clear and developed argument, substantiated by detailed reference to case study

material • Clearly relevant to set question

Use of examples (16-20 marks)

• Offers frequent evidence from case study material – award marks to reflect the range and appropriateness of examples

• Offers a full range of examples from case study and own experience • Offers examples which are clearly relevant to the set question

Use of terminology (8-10 marks)

• Use of terminology is relevant and accurate

Revising

• The blogs• The booklets and resources• The internet• Youtube

• And these…– http://blackpoolmedia.wordpress.com/category/repres

entation/– http://6thformnoodle.blogspot.com/search/label/Year

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