Sexual identity in TV drama

Heterosexual male

·         soldier

·         fireman

·         muscular

·         suits – business

·         jack the lad

·         less clean cut

·         gym

·         office

·         pub

·         family

·         sport

Homosexual male

·         feminine

·         high pitch voice

·         camp

·         androgynous

·         well dressed

·         care a lot about appearance

·         bright flamboyant

·         daring with dress sense

·         wine and cocktails

·         fashion, make-up artists, hairdressers, designers

·         bitchy and gossipy

Heterosexual female

·         make-up

·         flirtatious

·         long flowing hair

·         smell nice, flowery fruity

·         high heels

·         secretary

·         cleaners

·         housewife, mother

Homosexual female

·         short hair

·         less bothered about appearance

·         baggier clothes

·         trousers, no dresses or shirts

·         extreme make-up or no make-up at all

·         butch

·         coach, sports teacher

·         military

·         bus driver

·         security

Youth Positives –

·         Attractive

·         Adventurous

·         Lacking in responsibility

·         Sociable

·         Start of lives, long future ahead

·         Fun

·         Innocent

Negatives –

·         Vulnerable

·         Childish

·         Rebellious

·         Lazy

·         Restrictions

·         Conformity

·         Hormonal

·         Stereotyped

·         School and education

·         Rude

Old age positives

·         Experienced

·         Wise

·         Respected

·         Educated

·         Responsible

·         Wealth

·         Freedom

Negatives –

·         Health

·         Mentally and physically weakening

·         Free but not young, unable to do everything

·         Less sociable/ lonely

·         Vulnerable

·         Victimised

·         Boring

·         Grumpy

·         Dependant, perhaps burden

Skins notes

Rowdy slow men’s music

Masculine place, dog

Lots of commotion slowed

Laughing

Typical bar scene, drunken antics, blurred slow senses, people playing pool, lively, and karaoke

Youths causing trouble fireworks, Lots of drink

Increase in music and pace, noise increases

Fighting, blood, police, sirens, rioting and everything out of control

Upbeat music throughout fighting and running

PEE – Point, Evidence, Explain

As the group of teens consume more and more alcohol they begin to behave uncontrollably and their senses start to blur and slow as they get drunk. The scene blurs and the camera wobbles and the dog barks in slow motion representing how the surroundings are becoming more distorted. The pace quickens and there are lots of quick cuts as more people join in the scene and the action picks up. As the fighting starts the music picks up in pace and we can hear the noise and commotion behind the music which we couldn’t really hear in the beginning. The high amount of alcohol the teenager’s intake shows their lack of responsibility and regard for the rules and causes the commotion, the disturbance of others and the fighting.

Mise en scene Walking stick o Hoodie y Wheelchairs o Grey hair o Wrinkles o False teeth o Low-key lighting o Retirement home o Medication o Net curtains o Park y Shopping centre y	Cinematography High angle (looking down) Slow pans and slow pans Slow and static, tripod Handheld shaky (young)
Sound Loud shouting talking Loud music Large groups Laughing Quiet Lots of silences Gramophone record crackly	Editing Pace, short sequences Quick cuts, montage,/continuity Match on action Fades and close ups

Youth and old age

Pan of the island – so we can see how desolate and empty the island is. Also shows the scale of the environment and how far he has to travel

We see everything from his point of view – associate with him and build a relationship, struggle to move in sand, we see how hard he has to work just to move

Father gave him a basketball – know he used to love basketball, still does, got it from his father, strong relationship with his father, gift is a push or support from father

Never used to be disabled – says it’s a new him, old room used to be upstairs, still wants to play basketball

Jump cut – shows how time has passed, emphasises time it takes him, helps us identify with his situation

Disability in TV drama

 The Inbetweeners

Mise en scene – Verisimilitude – park is a realistic place that we can all identify with, environment is realistic, natural lighting, represents summertime, disabled woman couldn’t get away from Frisbee in the air but geeks could run away from mob of boys chasing them. Foreign, female carer, lack of communication because of language

Sound – language used, using term ‘gay’ as an insult, male sound of men playing football, shouting and cheering,

Editing – gender and women being objectified, men are hormonal driven, ‘cool’ guys playing football (male dominated sport) whilst geeks play Frisbee, disabled people seen as victims – when geek tries to get his Frisbee off disabled woman it seems like he’s stealing it.  

Camera angles – high angled view looking down at the girl in the wheel chair, emphasis on her disability

In his life 1991 study, Paul Hunt identified 10 stereotypes that the media use to portray disabled people:

1.       The disabled person as pitiable or pathetic

2.       An object or curiosity or violence

3.       Sinister or evil

4.       The super cripple

5.       As atmosphere

6.       Laughable

7.       His/her own worst enemy

8.       As a burden

9.       As non-sexual

10.   Being unable to participate in daily life  

Codes and Conventions

The codes and conventions in media can be separated into 3 distinct groups -
- Technical (camera techniques & shots),
- Symbolic (ie clothing, colours)
- Written and audio (music etc).
These give the text meaning and determine the response of the viewer.

 

For a horror...

 

      CODE                         CONVENTION
eg. knife, blood, mask --> chase scenes, good vs evil

stories - they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often but not always, end happily.

camerawork - particular kinds of shots are used e.g. sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and in particular close ups to show the characters emotions.

stoires use dialogue to tell themselves. occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).

music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.

particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identinfiable - police cars, blue lights, operating theatres, scalpels,triage/ reception areas in hospitals. icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.

Exemplar essay paragraph

Connotations such as manual masculine feelings. However the female is in charge of the stereotypical male vehicle. Therefore this suggests equality and an improvement of women within jobs and status compared to the traditional domestic duties. Even though the women within the extract portray dominance through props, the male characters continually illustrate dominance. For example the males usage of the guns for example, the shot gun in the barn and the hand gun involving the key protagonists. This contrasts to how the brunette women displays authority by attempting blackmail. Overall this could suggest males and women are equally dominant although just portray it through different criteria.

Film editing

The general idea behind editing in narrative film is the coordination of one shot with another in order to create a coherent whole.

The system of editing employed in narrative film is called continuity editing – its purpose is to create and provide efficient and artful transitions.

In filmmaking, the task of selecting and joining camera takes is the editing of the film. In the finished film, the set of techniques that governs the relation among shots (Bordwell and Thompson).

Editing is the process of preparing language, images, or sound through correction, condensation, organisation, and other modifications in various media… Editing is therefore, also a practice that includes creative skills, human relations and a precise set of methods.

Juxtaposition and meaning

Edwin S. Porter, The Great Train Robbery, 1903 – shots in sequence create meaning for audiences. From exterior shots to set, audience is encouraged to believe the event they see are immediately sequential.  (Exterior train pulls away- -> Interior train carriage --> exterior, roof of train)

The Kuleshov effect

Lev Kuleshov, circa 1920: intercut an actor’s face with unrelated footage taken later. Audiences interpreted emotional responses on the actor’s face based on the juxtaposition of images. Whilst much of the moving image we see uses this effect.

Comparing approaches

Hollywood productions may have thousands of shots, even more for an action movie: post production editing is crucial in creating meaning.

Contrast ‘four main functions’ of film editing:

·         Take sure that the production is the required length of time

·         To remove unwanted material and mistakes

·         To alter if necessary the way or the sequence in which event will be portrayed

·         To establish the particular style and character of a production.

Graphic continuity

A graphic match is achieved by joining two shots that have a similarity in terms of light/dark, line or shape, volume or depth, movement or stasis.

A graphically discontinuous edit creates a clash of visual consent by joining two shots that are dissimilar in terms of one or more of the above visual principles.

Rhythmic relations

Film is not only a visual art, but also an auditory and even a tactile art. Therefore, editors also remain aware of the effects achieved by manipulating the rhythms experienced by perceivers through thoughtful juxtapositions of longer and shorter shots as well as through transitional devices that affect the perceiver’s sense of beat or tempo.

·         Straight cut

·         Fade-out

·         Fade-in

·         Dissolve

·         Wipe

·         Flip frame

·         Jump cut

Temporal relations

Editing is the process by which the difference between temporal duration and screen duration is reconciled. It sounds simple, but consider this: most feature films present roughly two hours sufficient intersection of story and plot to provide perceivers with everything they need in order to understand days, weeks, months or even years in characters’ lives.

Most narrative films are presented in roughly chronological order, with notable exceptions. The two most common disruptions to chronological order are flashbacks and flash-forwards (the former being much more typical than the latter).

Special relations

Perhaps the most important, as well as the most overlooked, principle of editing is its function in providing perceivers a reliable sense of the physical space that constitutes the world of film. Editors are responsible (with assistance from cinematographers) for relating points in space.

Thematic relations

Editors have at their disposal two very powerful techniques for manipulating the perceiver’s place in the hierarchy of knowledge, and therefore affecting out thematic understanding of the film: montage sequences, crosscut editing.