starter put the following uk police job titles in rank order starting from the lowest to the...

Starter

Put the following UK police job titles in rank order starting from the lowest to the highest:

Police Constable

Sergeant

Inspector

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI)

Chief Inspector

Superintendant

Chief Superintendant

Deputy Chief Constable

Chief Constable

The correct order:

Police Constable

Sergeant

Inspector

Detective Chief Inspector (DCI)

Chief InspectorSuperintendant

Chief SuperintendantDeputy Chief ConstableChief Constable

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Unit 1: Investigating the MediaExternal Assessment 2012

TV Crime Drama Lesson 3Key Concept Focus: Media Language

Learning ObjectivesTo be able to identify the Media Language conventions of TV Crime Dramas

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Today we will cover…

CharacterIconographySettingNarrative

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Media Language: Character

Vladimir Propp (Russian theorist) Theory of charactersWe will use this theory when looking at TV crime dramas to see how closely it can be appliedIn pairs, match the following character types to their definitions

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Write these character types into your book and then stick the definitions next to them

PrincessDispatcherHeroDonorVillain

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Types of Hero

There are a wide variety of different types of hero character to be found in crime dramaCan you think of at least one example from a TV crime drama for each of the hero types on the sheet?The more examples you can think of the better!We will add to this sheet over the coming weeks

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Eponymous Hero

The central figure of the detective is so crucial in some crime dramas, that the show is named after them: we call this the eponymous heroCan you think of any examples?

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Ensemble Drama

Other crime dramas have a wider focus, with many characters shown as equally important and we like to watch them interact with each other: these are called ensemble dramasCan you think of any examples?

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Media Language: Iconography

Iconography refers to the props, costumes and mise-en-scene that enable us to identify the genre of a media text.Crime drama has a wide range of iconographyIn your books, write down as many examples of crime drama iconography as you can

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Iconography

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Media Language: Setting

Crime dramas will use common settings/locations where the action takes placeHow many conventional settings can you think of?Make a list of these in your books

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Media Language: Setting

Police stationsCellsInterview roomsUrban, inner-city areasAlleywaysForensic labsAbandoned warehousesHospitals

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Media HomeworkDue: Monday 20th February

Create an iconography and settings collage for TV Crime DramaBring a printed copy of this to the next lesson so that it can be stuck in your bookMake sure you have given it a clear title!

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Media Language: Narrative

Crime dramas tell us a different story in every episode. We are taken on a journey and elements combine to involve the viewer

Think of it like a jigsaw puzzle.Here are some of the pieces…

• Opening teaser

• Quest• Enigma codes

• Clues• Conflict

• Suspense• Cliffhangers• Dramatic irony• Set pieces• Resolution

Opening Teaser

We may see someone attacked, but we don’t see the perpetrator. Maybe there is a random passer-by who finds a corpse and screams in a close-up at the camera.Every crime drama does it differently, but the primary function is to draw you in and make you want to watch. This is usually done in combination with the enigma, the mystery.

Enigma

Roland Barthes described how stories use different codes to control the way information is given to the audience. One of these is the enigma code which sets up a riddle for the viewer to solve.The hero – usually the forces of law and order – work hard to solve the mystery and we go along with them on the journey or quest.

Clues

The story scatters clues for the detectives and we follow. Some dramas don’t reveal the identity of the criminal until near the end, e.g. Inspector Morse or Waking the Dead. This is called a closed narrative.In others we are shown the criminal at the beginning, e.g. Columbo and Law and Order: Criminal Intent. This is an open narrative.

Set pieces

We are often shown scenes that we recognise from other dramas, these are set pieces. For example we may see a couple of detectives at a crime scene, looking at a body, Or an autopsy or asking witnesses questions. We may only follow a key detective, we see their viewpoint. A drama like Boomtown plays with the same scene through different people’s viewpoints to discover the truth.

Conflict

Whatever happens along the way there is always conflict. A theorist called Claude Levi-Strauss looked at how stories involve conflict between opposite forces, e.g. good v evil; cop v criminal. These are called binary oppositions. The opposites fight each other for dominance and audiences want to see them resolved. It might not just be between police and criminal, it could be between police officers, the lawyers or their family members.

Suspense

Sometimes we see what the detective sees and other times they know the answer before the viewer does. Inspector Morse and Columbo often crack the case in their minds and we have to wait to find out what they know. The steps along the way to solving the crime create suspense. Questions are usually raised in your mind.

Dramatic irony & cliffhangers

If you are shown something the detective hasn’t seen, a suspect hiding a murder weapon or a seemingly innocent witness up to no good. When you know something the heroes don’t know, this is called dramatic irony. This is often combined with cliffhangers, when something dramatic happens and the viewer is left wondering.

Resolution

When all the questions are answered and the quest comes to its natural conclusion: the resolution. Successful crime dramas may delay and delay the resolution and we want to see the crime solved so we can relax. Until next time…

Todorov

This pattern of narrative where the story is resolved has also been described by the theorist Todorov. He reduced stories to a simple formula:

EquilibriumDisruptionRestored equilibrium

or Order/Chaos/Restored order

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Media Language: Narrative

Equilibrium – the calm beginning of a story, often featuring life going on relatively normallyDisruption – something happens to break the equilibrium, typically a crime of some kindRestoration – the police attempt to solve the crime

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Media Language: Narrative

Restored order – the suspect is arrested, the kidnap victim is found etcNew equilibrium – the story ends with a new calm, not necessarily a happy ending

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Media Language: Narrative

If the drama is not a long series but a shorter two or three part series the structure might stretch across those episodes rather than concluding within one episode

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Media Language: Narrative

Story arcsAs well as the narrative within each episode there may also be a longer narrative being followed across the whole series, or even several series. This is called a story arc

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Media Language: Style

Style is about the look and sound of the programme, the feel of it.The way the camera moves, scenes are staged and cut, the mood of the music, the dialogueThe style of the programme will be directly linked to its target audience

Draw the following table and make a list of the differences in style (think about camera work, dialogue, editing, music, lighting etc.)

City / Urban TV Crime Drama Rural TV Crime Drama

Draw the following table and make a list of the differences in style (think about camera work, dialogue, editing, music, lighting etc.)

City / Urban TV Crime Drama Rural TV Crime Drama

•Shaky hand-held camera work•Fast editing•Slick dialogue (perhaps using street jargon)•Urgent, contemporary music•Grey colours and dark lighting to reflect the grim city life

•Panning shots to show the beauty of the landscape and pretty rural locations•Slow editing•Rich colours and warm lighting•Polite dialogue of the middle-class village dwellers•Scored with orchestral music

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Midsomer Murders

The Wire

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Media Language: Style

Realism is an important part of the genre’s theme of truthStorylines can be based on real cases and characters on real peopleThe main character in Silent Witness was based on a real forensic pathologist known to the show’s creator

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Media Language: Style

In The Wire, the dialogue is so close to the real street language of Baltimore, viewers sometimes need subtitles to catch words, or even consult the internet to understand what everyone is going on about

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Media Language: Style

The idea of ‘real’ police work is also shown to comic effect in a scene where Mayor Carcetti is observing the police department at work.

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And finally…

The key words from today’s lesson:

Eponymous heroEnsemble dramaIconographyStory arc

Add these to your glossary, with suitable definitions