TV DramaCamera Angles

SO WHAT IS IT?

• TV Dramas - are situations that occur in the characters’ lives which the audience can relate too. The story would follow one or more main character and follow other characters in which they meet in the series.

CrimeIS WHEN VIOLENCE,

DRUGS AND ABUSE

OCCUR IN THIS DRAMA. IT

IS OFTEN PERUSED BY A

POLICE OFFICER OR

INSPECTOR

SoapIS WHEN DRAMATIC SCENES

HAPPENS TO MOST CHARACTERS

AND THEIR TRYING TO SOLVE

THEIR OWN PROBLEMS

ComedyIS WHEN HUMOUR AND

JOKES OCCUR IN THIS

DRAMA

Thriller/Horror/ Fantasy

IS WHEN SCENES OF

HORRIFIC EVENTS OR

SUPERNATURAL EVENTS

OCCUR IN THIS DRAMA

Sci-FiIS WHEN UNLIKELY EVENTS OCCUR

WHICH CAN BE SCIENTIFIC, SUPER

POWERED OR OUT OF THIS WORLD

EVENTS HAPPEN TO CERTAIN

CHARACTERS IN SPACE OR ON

ANOTHER PLANET

MedicalIS WHEN THE

CHARACTERS WORK IN A

HOSPITAL OR SOME TYPE

OF MEDIA SECTOR.

CHARACTERS ARE MAINLY

DOCTORS AND NURSES

Period Drama

IS A DRAMA WHICH IS SET IN

THE PAST RATHER THEN THE

PRESENT AND SHOWS

CHARACTERS OF DIFFERENT

BACKGROUNDS AND

INTERESTING EVENTS ON

WHICH HAPPENED BEFORE

SchoolIS WHEN SCENES ARE

MAINLY SITUATED WITHIN

A SCHOOL. IT WOULD

USUALLY CONSIST OF

ARGUMENTS, FIGHTS.

Action

Audience Theory – Stuart Hall:• Dominant reading - reader fully accepts the preferred reading

(audience will read the text the way the author intended them to) so that the code seems natural and transparent.

• The negotiated reading – the reader partly believes the code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests.

• The oppositional reading – the reader’s social position places them in an oppositional relation to the dominant code. They reject the reading.

Representation Theories

• Laura Mulvey – argues that cinema positions the audience as male. The camera gazes at the female object on screen. It also frames the male character watching the female.

• We watch the girl; we see the male watching the girl; we position ourselves within the text as a male objectively gazing at the female.

• Can be applied to other media forms also.

REALISM

Camerawork – although stylised and contemporary, aimed at conveying realism;

CAMERA: ACTIVITY

• Watch the following clip.• Note down (in a list) every camera shot, angle and movement

you see!• Now, in pairs, discuss the use of these shots and answer the

following questions:• WHY was that shot used?• What effect does it have?• Write an account for the significance of each shot (and

sequence of shots used) in explaining the setting/location and social context.