Television Drama Series’ Incorporation of Film Narrative

Innovation: 24

Television Drama Series’ Incorporation of Film Narrative

Innovation: 24

Nelson Zagalo, Communication and Arts, U. of Aveiro

Television, Aesthetics and Reality 2005Television, Aesthetics and Reality 2005

Zagalo, N., Barker, A., (2005), Dramatic Television Series as Film Narrative Innovation, in International Conference Television, Aesthetics and Reality, Jul. 2005, Aveiro, Portugal

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Golden Age

“the amazing American series (…). There, we have knowledge, a sense of discourse, of linkage, of ellipse, one science of framing and editing, one dramaturgy and a game of actors, which have no equivalent anywhere else.” (Chris Marker, 2003)

American TV series have “increased the cognitive work they demand form their audience, exercising the mind in ways that would have been unheard of thirty years ago” (Steven Johnson, 2005)

Joel Surnow (2003) refers to the new television as a land of opportunity for creative and original artworks, a freedom promoted by cable television that allows artists to transcend the limitations of Hollywood dictated by economic globalization.

American TV Drama Series

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Golden Age

. Series with, Complex Narrative Structure and Complex Content

. A structure developed by Steven Bochco in 1981 with the “Hill Street Blues” series; successful structure but not enough at the time to become dominant.

. The format seems to be adopted by every new series in the XXI century.

Drama Series

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Chronology

1981 - 1987 - Hill Street Blues

1992 - 2002 - X-Files

1994 - ER1999 - West Wing, The1999 - Sopranos, The2001 - 242001 - Six Feet Under2004 - Lost2004 - Desperate Housewives

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The Concept

Soap Opera open plot structure and complex continuity

+ Hollywood Film Style

complex form (editing, cinematography and acting)

=

New Television Drama Seriescomplex narrative structure and complex form, permits new

and complex realism

New TV drama

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New Drama Forms

Soap Operas – Storytelling extended through yearsCBS “The Guiding Light” is credited by the Guinness Book as being the longest soap opera ever told. Is in the air since 1952.

Hollywood – Storytelling concentrated in 2 hours

TV drama – runs between months and years

Results: Narrative Structure is borrowed from Soap Operas and enhanced

a) Multi-Threaded

b) Multi-Episode Story Arcs

c) Multi-Characters

complex narrative structure

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New Drama Forms

a) multi-threaded

Higher and interwoven information flow means more complexity and so a Higher Cognitive Workflow

Various plots per episode and simultaneous

Part of a “The Sopranos” episode (Steven Johnson, 2005)

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New Drama Forms

b) multi-episode story arcs

Information Fragmentation

Ep.1 Ep.2 Ep.3 Ep.4 Ep.5 Ep.6 Ep.7 Ep.8 Ep.9 Ep.10

Extended plots through series season

Extended characters development

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New Drama Forms

c) Multi-Characters

Ensemble Characters and Increased Social Networks

Desperate Housewives (2004)

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New Drama Forms

Soap Operas – quick and serial produced with little resources

Hollywood – big resources and time for each production

New TV drama – more resources than soap operas but less than film

Results: Style is borrowed from Hollywood

a) Natural mimicry of light

b) Shot seamless Interior and exteriors

c) Framing not conditioned by camera predetermined positions

d) Shot in film, not in video as soap operas.

complex style form

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New Drama Forms

a) natural/artificial Lighting

Six Feet Underthe natural light mimicry

2001

The Guiding Lighthomogeneous unnatural

shadowing2005

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New Drama Forms

b) Interior-exterior sets

The Guiding Light fake outside terrace

episode from 2005

LostIn a real beach

2004

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New Drama Forms

c) complex framing

Desperate Housewives35 mm Film

(2004)

American Beauty35 mm Film

(1999)

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New Drama Forms

. Hospital Emergency Room day-by-day (ER)

. Psychoanalysis of a Mafia Mob (Sopranos)

. Funerary Family social living (Six Feet Under)

. Plane Crash Survivors Tragedy (Lost)

. Vicariously live in real-time a day of a fiction world (24)

TV New Realism

The use of soap opera narrative structure in conjunction with Hollywood film style, permits the development of a new TV realism

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Case Study: 24

Analysis of the first season of the drama series, 24

It is named 24 because the action on the show occurs in "real-time". One season covers the events of one day in the life of Jack Bauer. Every episode covers the events of one hour in that day. So 24 episodes for 24 hours.

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Case Study: 24Multi-Plot

(A) Prevent the Assassination of a presidential candidate(B) Save kidnapped wife and daughter (C) Find the traitor within organization(D) Unveil the presidential candidate son of being a murderer

multi-threaded and multi-episode story arcs

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Case Study: 24Uncertainty

(a) Hero wife is raped by kidnappers(b) President candidate divorces is wife in the Election

Day (c) Hero wife dies at the end

Creative liberty, the use of Unpopular Content

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Case Study: 24Characters web

4 Families; 15 characters, each one of them plays at least for one episode a central role; This permits Hundreds of plot connections, and an infinite amount of information flow

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Case Study: 24Dramatic Artifices

. Clock (mean of 10 displays per episode)

- Emphasise strong sense of suspense, ticking on-screen from time to time. (Hitchcock element)

- Shifts between diegetic and non-diegetic plans, augmenting the participative feeling of the viewer

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Case Study: 24Dramatic Artifices

. Cell phone (mean of 20 calls per episode)

- Transformation of text time into a new type of verbal space.- Helps maintaining the action flow for 24 hours- Conveys the feeling of simultaneity actions ongoing

. Multi-screens

- It picks the “verbal space” developed by the cell phone and creates a new visual space inexistent

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Case Study: 24Form as Reality Simulation

. Digital video texture

- Gives a familiar home video feel

. Handheld camera

- Imitates human visual perception

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Case Study: 24Concept as Reality Simulation

. Synchronicity – moment for moment

Each watching moment, corresponds to each hero moment - > establishes common touch point between viewer and hero that makes him feel as participative in the world.

Viewer knows events are not true, they are fiction, but time is passing for real in his life during the viewing.

Clock, makes the connection between fiction and reality. It works like a glue that unifies the suspension of disbelief and the simultaneous breaks - > puts the viewer in an alert state, a continuous shifting between passive and active roles.

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Conclusions

. TV Drama Series are increasing not only the cognitive demand on the viewer but also the emotional pace.

. They are so demanding in terms of mental activity from the user that we should start thinking about it not only in terms of a viewing activity but as a participative interaction (videogames).

. TV Drama series, are growing and stealing more and more audience from film. Series are becoming quickly the content most downloaded in the internet.