Unit 25:Film and Television StudiesOutcome 3

Ethan MclaughlinConor Glynn

In the following essay I will discuss different forms of television and film, their narrative types, their genres and how they differ from others and analytical approaches to films and television shows. I will be using the television show “Breaking Bad” as an example for these different points, I will be talking about different aspects of the show including its narrative structure, how and why its realistic, its many different genre and how the show was analysed.

Forms:Fiction- Fiction is when the events that take place in a TV show or film are not real, the events, characters, and possibly the location are imaginary and did not happen or exist in real life. There are countless examples of fiction stories including TV shows like “Lost” and “Dexter” as well as films like “The Lord of The Rings” and “Back to the Future” This would be the form that “Breaking Bad” would be characterized as, Walter White, his family Jesse Pinkman and the things they all do are entirely made up and did not happen in real life. Documentary- A documentary is type a film or TV programme that tells the factual story of an event or events that occur/ occurred in real life. There a lots of documentaries with subjects ranging from nature to crime to outer space. Examples of documentaries include “Cosmos”, “How it’s made” and “Cops”News- The news is information about events that are currently happening in the world. News programmes covers a wide variety of topics, including sports, politics, war and celebrities. There are a lot of different news programmes on lot of different channels for example “BBC news”, “Sky News” and “CNN”Advertising- this is when goods and services are shown to the public in an attempt to get them to buy them. Advertisements are shown in a number to places including billboards, during breaks in television, before a film in a cinema and on websites. Promotional- this is very similar to an advertisement however it advertises events such as boxing and wrestling matches as opposed to consumer products like cars or furniture Hybrid- A hybrid is when multiple forms or genres are seen in one product, that product can be either a TV show or a film, for example if product placement is seen in a fictional film (an example of this being the Converse shoes in I, Robot) it is a hybrid of advertising and fiction. Another example would be the mockumentary type of film where fictitious events are presented in the style of a documentary examples of this hybrid would be the films “Borat” and This Is Spinal Tap”. In terms of traditional genres, 2011’s “Cowboys & Aliens” is a mix between Si-Fi and western. “Breaking Bad” is a mixture of several genres, it’s a drama, crime, thriller, mystery and action rolled into one show. There is also occasionally product placement within the show; an example of this would be the time Walter White ate at a Dennys’, an American restaurant chain.

Narrative:Linear- a linear narrative structure is when a film or TV show goes in chronological order from start to finish. The story does not use anything that would show the past or the future, like a flashback or a dream sequence. The advantage of this is that the story is easy for the audience to follow and understand what is going on. There is a possible disadvantage with a linear narrative; the audience may find it boring or predictable. An example of a story that uses the linear narrative structure would be the TV show “24” where events take place on order in a span of twenty-four hours.

Non-linear- A non linear narrative structure is when a film or TV show is not told in complete chorological order and the plot is distorted because of time involving the past, the present and the future, these kinds of stories usually have a lot of flash backs and other things that would show the future of the past, like a dream sequence. The advantage of a non linear story is that the audience can be shown events that have happened in the past or will happen in the future and it will help them understand the story, however if a story has a lot of different time periods and is not in chronological order it may confuse the audience on when those events take place or how they relate to the larger narrative. An example of story that uses a non-linear structure is the film “Citizen Kane” where the film jumps round in different times of in Charles Kane’s life

Single strand- a single strand narrative is when a film or TV shows focuses on one character. Even though there are typically a few minor characters and an antagonist, the focus will always stay on one central character throughout the entire plot. An example of a film that makes us of a single strand narrative would

be the “Harry Potter” series, which mainly focus on the titular character. The advantage of having a single strand narrative is that the audience will spend all their time with that character which may lead to good character development. The disadvantage to this may be that the audience might get bored with the one characters story and will want to see how his or her actions affect the people around them.

Multi Strand- a multi strand narrative is the opposite of single strand narrative. It is when a film or TV shows focuses on several characters and their individual stories. The advantage of having a multi strand narrative is that the audience will get to see how one characters actions affect another person or lots of people. The disadvantage of having multi strand narrative is that the audience may find one characters story more interesting than others and they wont be interested in another’s characters story. Realist – When a film or TV show makes use realist narrative it means that the events and plotlines within the story are set within reality and they could possibly happen within our world. The advantages of having a realist narrative are that the audience can easily relate to the characters as they might be going through very realistic situations. The disadvantage of a realist narrative is that the stories can possibly become boring and repetitive. Anti realist- When a film or TV show has a narrative that is not realistic and has stories or plotlines that could not happen within our world. An example of a story that isn’t realistic would be TV shows like “Star Trek” or a film like “Star Wars” where the science fiction aspect of those story make it anti realist. The advantage of a story being anti realist is that the writers can basically do what ever they want and create stories about anything. A possible disadvantage would be that after a while the show could become stale and repetitive and plotlines with the same basic story are repeated over and over again.

Open-ended- A open ended story is when a film or TV show ends with the audience guessing what will happen next, typically ending on a cliff hanger. The advantage of having an open-ended story is that it will keep viewer retention by making the audience want to see what will happen to the characters. However this may cause a problem because people can possibly get frustrated if the story does not end and keeps going cliff-hanger after cliff-hanger. Examples of open-ended stories are Television shows like “The Walking Dead”, examples of films that are open-ended would be things like “The Lord Of The Rings” or “Back To The Future” where the audience knows that there is more to come from the story and the characters at the end of the first or second films.

Closed-ended- a close ended story is when the film shows the complete and finished story, where all the loose ends are tied up. Advantage of having a close-ended story is that the audience will see the entire story and they will not have to wait for the sequel or the next episode. An example of a film that has a close-ended narrative would be Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” where the full story is told in one film, all loose ends are tied up and there’s is no need for a sequel.

Single episode- this is when a programme has only one episode. This lone episode may be due to the quality of the product and it was cancelled before a second episode was green lit an example of this would be Hitler based sitcom “Heil Honey I’m home” However a single episode could also be a single episode documentary like the 1984 film, “Threads”Serial- A film serial also known as a chapter play are short stories that use to be shown before a feature film in cinemas, these stories typically end in cliff hangers so that the audience would have to return the following week to see what happens. An example of a film serial is “Flash Gordon” which was a 13-episode serial that ran in 1936. The advantage of a serial story would be audience retention, people would come back to see another episode because of a cliff-

hanger. The disadvantage would be that people might get tired of seeing constant cliff hangars at the end of episodes.

Series- this is a when a film or TV show has lots of different films or episodes that all revolve around the same characters or in the same world. These stories are open ended, leaving room for more episodes or sequels. Series are associated more with TV shows “Breaking Bad” is a series, it has different episodes that all revolve around the same characters in the same world and time period. Some films also have series’ like Marvel studios films which are a series of films that take place within the same universe, know as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Breaking Bad:When chemistry teacher Walter White is diagnosed with cancer, he decides he has nothing to lose. Determined to ensure that his family will have a secure future, Walt embarks on a career of drugs and crime, he begins this by manufacturing and selling methamphetamine with one of his former students, Jesse Pinkman. In terms of narrative, “Breaking Bad” has a mixture of both a linear and nonlinear, its linear because Walter White’s story mostly takes place in chorological order, however there is occasional non linearity in the show, showing events that take place in the future or took place in the past, an example of the nonlinear story would be in season 2 where they show the aftermath of a plane crash at the beginning of several episodes, but the plane crash does not happen until the final episode of the season. “Breaking Bad” also has a mixture of single and multi strand narrative. Its single strand because it mainly focuses only one character, Walter White, every event that happens in the show can be directly related back to Walter and his action, the show also has a multi strand narrative because it focuses on 4 or 5 main characters and their individual stories, for example in one episode the audience may see apart of Walter’s story, Jesse’s story or Skyler’s story and all of these stories will interconnect and be related to each other in some way. In terms of realism “Breaking Bad” has a very realist narrative, the events, characters and stories that featured in the show are very realistic, I think the reason for the shows realism is to help the audience empathise and feel for the characters, as the more realistic characters and setting makes the story and the show as a whole more believable. The show is often credited for its scientific accuracy, this is an example of the shows realism, it had a science supervisor who looked over the scripts, provided dialogue and drew chemical structures which would be used as props. “Breaking Bad” also has an opened ended structure, some episodes and seasons end on cliff hangers an example of a cliff hanger would be the mid-season finale of season 5, where one of Walter’s family members discovers his criminal behaviour. It is also closed ended in the sense that we see the entire story throughout the series, yes there is a open ended structure in lots of individual episodes however there are no loose ends by the final episode. Overall, Breaking Bad is a great example of a show that incorporates different types of narrative, like linear story telling and a mixture of both single and multi strand narrative.

As I said before “Breaking Bad” has a mixture of quite a few different genres. It is a drama, crime, thriller, mystery, contemporary western, action and a few others. It is a crime drama because it deals with Walter White and his associates all of them being criminals. It is a thriller because it has an exciting, interesting story with suspense coming from whether Walter will be caught by the police or be killed due to his actions. It’s an action show because it has action sequences like car chases, gunfights and regular fights throughout the show, it also has some hints of a black comedy, with occasional jokes during dark and serious moments. Contemporary western are TV shows or films that have American settings, use Old West themes and settings like the anti-hero, open desert landscapes and gunfights, they also takes place in the American west. “Breaking Bad” has a antihero, Walter white, has a lot of scenes that take place within a desert, an example being where Walter and Jesse cook crystal meth, the show also has

several gunfights, one in the episode “To'hajiilee” for example. “Breaking Bad” also takes place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which is in the American West.

Genre:Soap opera: A soap opera is a genre that has story lines that deal with the everyday lives of lots of characters. These stories are very realistic and usually focus on the relationships between different characters. Soap operas are typically open-ended in narrative and allow for more episodes and more stories. Examples of Soap operas include “EastEnders” and “Coronation Street” I think people enjoy the soap opera genre because the stories and plotlines usually deal with situations that a very realistic and the characters are also realistic so the audience can relate to whatever situation the show has and considering that most soap operas have open endings the audience will want to watch the next episode to see what happens next.

Crime drama: Crime is a genre that has story lines that focus on the lives of criminals, what they do and how they do it. A lot of stories can also focus on the people trying to catch the criminal, the detectives, the investigators and the police involved in the case. If it is a TV series, most crime dramas will have an open ended structure leaving the opportunity for more episodes or stories. Examples of crime dramas are “CSI”, “Bones” “Sherlock” and “Luther”. I think people like crime dramas because they are suspenseful and full of mystery and they can keep the audience guessing.

Consumer: These are programme that deal with consumer products, things that the public can buy. These types of programmes can be shopping channels like “QVC” or consumer advice shows like “Watchdog” and “Supershoppers”

Sitcoms: A situation comedy is a genre that focuses on several characters as they deal with relatively realistic situations, such as relationship problems in a humours tone. Examples of sitcoms are “Friends “and “How I met Your Mother”

Chat shows: A chat show is a genre of programming that has people discussing subjects; this can be one on one or with a group of people. The subject matter can changes depending on what the hosts want to talk about but it usually revolves arounds news, some chat shows also have celebrity guests. Examples of chat shows include “The Graham Norton Show” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”

Reality TV: This is a genre that documents real people in real life situations however its different from a documentary because it focus on the drama and entertainment not education. Examples of reality television are “The X Factor” and “The Biggest Loser”

Analytic approaches:Audience profiling: A term used to describe characteristic of an audience of a particular form this task has to be preformed before a company can release a new product into the market; this product can be a film, TV show or an album. There are a lot of factors that are involved in audience profiling including: Age, gender, race, and education. A common form of audience profiling is demographics, this defines the population by the work they do. It breaks them down into 6 groups and they are labelled by their income and status. Another form of profiling is psychographics, which is when people are put into 7 groups based pm their personality, values, opinions, attitudes and values.

Audience analysis: This is when media companies attempt to lean more about their audience, they will find out things like who they are, what they think and how they can appeal to them. This is helpful because it can make companies understand their audiences and therefore tailor things like advertisements and TV shows to themTypes of readings: Readings are basically how the audience reacts to a product be it a film, TV show or a website there are several different types of readings; a preferred reading is when the audience responds the product the way the producers wanted or expected. A negotiated reading is when the audience partly agrees with the product. Oppositional reading is when the audience disagrees with the product. Aberrant reading is when the audience interprets something differently from what was intended by the creator.Signification: What does a film or TV show attempt to say, what is its significance and what it symbolises. This can be done through things like allusion, metaphors, allegory or similarities in the plot. An example of a film that has significance is the “Lord of The Rings” trilogy, which is a big allegory for religion. An example of signification within “Breaking Bad” would be the painting of a man in a rowboat rowing away from his family; this painting represents Walter White distancing himself from his family because of his actions.

Codes and conventions: Codes are signs that create meaning, divided into technical and symbolic, technique codes are the ways equipment is used to tell a story for example a camera, symbolic codes are beneath the surface and more subtle for example a metaphor or an allusion to something else. And conventions are accepted ways of doing things, these can possibly be clichés. Narrative analysis: This is when the story of a TV or film is examined, they will examine the characters, what they do, why they do it, the themes of the film, if it has any allusion or metaphors. This examination may be done by the general public or a professional critic. Being one of the biggest television shows ever “Breaking Bad” has been analysed a lot by fans and critics. This analysis can include theories about the show, its themes and metaphors. An example an analysis of “Breaking Bad” would be the theory that Walter adopts the traits of the people he killed.

Conclusion:It is clear that “Breaking Bad” is somewhat unique when it comes to television shows; it incorporates many different genres like action, thriller and drama. It also makes use of a lot of narrative devices, for example a story that is both linear and non linear. The show is also subject to lots of narrative analysis, people discussing the themes and symbolism of the story. I learned that these things (types of narrative, genres and analysis) could be applied to any and every TV show or film.