Media Studies

Revision Guide

2 ¼ hours

Section A – Television Drama

Section B – Web-based Drama

Timings

Read Section A questions before you watch the clips – this will focus your viewing

25 minutes to watch the clip at the start

5 minutes – just watch

5 minutes – make notes

5 minutes – check notes

SECTION A – approximately 50 minutes

SECTION B – approximately 60 minutes

Exam Style Questions

Section A – Investigating the media

Television drama

WATCH A FIVE MINUTE TV DRAMA AND ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:

Identify two special effects in the extract. (2)

Choose one special effect and explain how it was used. (8)

Identify two different conventions associated with the genre of this drama. (4)

Explain how these two conventions are used to engage the audience. (6)

Identify two camera shots/ techniques. [4]

Explain how these camera shots are used. [6]

Identify two characters [2]

Briefly explain these two characters [8]

With specific reference to at least two TV Dramas you have studied, explain how class is represented. [10]

Explain how Television Drama appeals to audiences. Refer to examples you have studied [10]

The way TV is viewed and marketed has changed dramatically in the last decade. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [10]

Suggest two reasons why TV dramas are important to TV organisations. Explain your reasons. [10]

How does the marketing of TV drama relate to at least TWO other media forms? Choose ONE example you have studied to help explain your answer. [10]

Explain how Television Drama appeals to audiences. Refer to examples you have studied. [10]

Section B – Planning and creating the media

Web-based drama

Create a new Web-based Drama aimed specifically at teenagers of your age. Complete the following tasks:

Choose a name for your new Web Based Drama. Briefly explain why you chose this name [4]

What genre will the new Web Based Drama belong too and how will this increase interest in the product? [6]

Plan the layout of the homepage for your website. Label/Annotate your plan. [10]

Explain the reasons for your layout. [10]

What marketing and advertising strategies will you use to make certain your Web Based Drama is a success? [10]

Imagine that you have been asked to pitch the idea for a new web-based drama aimed specifically at teenagers.

Design and annotate the website for your new show with at least one design feature aimed specifically for teenagers. [10]

To what extent will the show challenge the expectations of your audience? Explain your answer with at least TWO references to other teen related Web Based Dramas. [10]

Create a storyboard for the opening sequence of a new web-based drama.

Complete the following tasks:

Choose a name for your web-based drama. Briefly explain why you chose this name. [4]

Suggest two settings/locations for your web-based drama. [2]

Briefly explain these two settings/locations. [4]

Create a storyboard of 6-12 shots for the opening sequence of your web-based drama. [10]

Explain how your opening sequence will attract audiences. [10]

Identify two ways in which web-based drama is different from Television Drama. [4]

Briefly explain these two differences. [6]

KEY CONCEPTS

Genre - generic features, codes and conventions, iconography, subgenres, hybridity, relationship between the organisation and the audience’s needs

Narrative - construction, structures, character functions, character functions, settings and locations, Todorov’s structure

Representations - process of re-presenting, types and stereotypes-recognition and function of, ways people are represented in terms of gender, ethnicity, age, cultural diversity and nation.

Audience – interests, appeal, uses and gratifications theory

Media Organisations - expanding markets, convergence, promotion and branding, competition, schedules and ratings, cross - platform media campaigns, regulation and control, ways of categorising audiences, audience targeting, uses and pleasures, interactivity

TERMINOLOGY

General terms:

Denotation = what can be clearly seen or heard

Connotation = a suggested or hinted meaning

Signify = to show

Deconstruction = this means to take apart a media text to see how it works

Organisations = companies or groups responsible for media texts

Genre = a category or type of media text

Sub-genre = a more specific category within a genre Conventions = features of a genre

Subvert the genre = to deliberately ignore genre conventions and do something unusual for that genre

Primary consumer = the main target audience for a media text

Secondary consumer = other people who may enjoy the media text

Representation = how people, places, ideas, organisations are shown

Stereotype = a typical or obvious representation

Iconography = the way visual images create a message about the genre or context

Conventions = an accepted way of recognising and creating a specific genre

Mise-en-scene = the details (setting/ props etc) that are put into the scene

Camera Shots

Extreme long shot:

Contains a large amount of landscape. It is often used at the beginning of a scene or a film to establish general location (setting). This is also known as an establishing shot.

Long shot:

Contains landscape and this shot typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surroundings.

Full Length Shot:

Contains the subject/character from top to toe. Setting becomes secondary to the importance of the subject/character

Mid shot:

Contains the characters or a character from the waist up. From this shot, viewers can see the characters' faces more clearly as well as their interaction with other characters. This is also known as a social shot

Close-up:

Contains just one character's face. This enables viewers to understand the actor's emotions and also allows them to feel empathy for the character. This is also known as a personal shot.

Extreme close-up:

Contains one part of a character's face or other object. This technique is quite common in horror films, particularly the example above. This type of shot creates an intense mood and provides interaction between the audience and the viewer.

Camera Angles

Bird's eye angle:

An angle that looks directly down upon a scene. This angle is often used as an establishing angle, along with an extreme long shot, to establish setting.

High angle:

A camera angle that looks down upon a subject. A character shot with a high angle will look vulnerable or small. These angles are often used to demonstrate to the audience a perspective of a particular character.

Eye-level angle:

Puts the audience on an equal footing with the character/s. This is the most commonly used angle in most films as it allows the viewers to feel comfortable with the characters.

Low angle:

Camera angle that looks up at a character. This is the opposite of a high angle and makes a character look more powerful. This can make the audience feel vulnerable and small by looking up at the character. This can help the responder feel empathy if they are viewing the frame from another character's point of view.

Editing terms

Cutting

Cutting is when one shot suddenly changes to another shot. Cuts are made very regularly; for example, television shows consist of cuts which occur approximately every seven to eight seconds. Cuts aren’t always left as a sudden change from one shot to another, sometimes these cuts are transitioned as a fade, wipe or a dissolve.

There is always a reason for cutting a shot, this could include:

To change the scene and setting

To compress the time

To vary the point of view

To build or create and image or an idea

Shot/Reverse shot

A shot and reverse shot is where several shots are edited together and alternate characters. This is very typically used in a conversation situation.

Jump Cut

A jump cut is when a single shot has an interruption. The interruption is either the background changes instantly while the figure in the shot remains the same, or that the figure changes instantly while the background remains the same.

Parallel Editing

This is an editing technique where two or more shots, set in different places, alternate, these are usually simultaneous, and the actions are linked in some way.

Dissolve

Dissolving is a transition used in between two shots so that the shots don’t suddenly change. Dissolve is the transition in which one shot fades out while another shot fades in, meaning at one moment in this transition the shots are blended together.

Fade in/Fade out

Fading into a shot is when the screen appears just a blank, black screen to begin with, and then the shot begins to fade in. This usually occurs at the beginning of a scene to indicate a softer, quieter introduction.

Fading out of a shot is when the shot is shown on the screen and then slowly fades out into a blank, black screen.

Superimposition

This is where two shots are blended into one, and unlike dissolve, this is not a transition between two different shots.

Slow Motion

When the action on the screen has been edited to move at a slower rate than the original action did. This can be used to do the following:

Make a faster action more visible to the audience

To emphasize a moment or a reaction

To create an unusual and strange feeling about a familiar, ordinary action

To emphasize violence

AUDIENCE

BASIC TERMS

Audience – the people who watch the programme

Target Audience – the people who the show is actually AIMED at

The target audience for TV dramas will vary from show to show. This might depend on the time it is shown, the channel it is shown on, the actors that star in it, the topics it covers, the characters in it, the style it is shot in, the country it was made it etc…

Socioeconomic Profile – the description of the audience’s education, job and income.

Psychographic Audience Profile – a description of the audience’s lifestyle, attitudes and activities. For example, the audience psychographic profile of a show may include people who enjoy fast paced dramatic moments, action and thrills.

Demographic Audience Profile – a description of the audience’s factual information such as their age, gender, class, marital status etc.

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

- Need to survive

- Need to feel safe

- Need for friendship / belonging

- Need to nurture / care for something

- Need to achieve

- Need for attention

- Need for status

- Need to find meaning in life

How this applies to TV Drama: Different kinds of audiences will see various aspects of Maslow’s needs being met (or at least stimulated) by different dramas. Some people may crave glamorous shows like Hollyoaks (need for status? Need for belonging?) and some may like the emotional realism of soaps (need to find meaning in life? Need to care for something?). There is no hard and fast way to apply Maslow’s needs to TV dramas, but it would be a good idea to mention them when discussing audience.

YOUNG AND RUBICAM’S AUDIENCE DIVISIONS

As the concept of class became less fashionable and it became more difficult to gauge who earned what in dual income households, advertisers began looking for new ways to categorise audiences and their profiles.

One of the best known ways was devised by the international advertising agency Young and Rubicam, who began to look at the profile of audiences and how they consume products. Once the audience profile was established, the advertising campaign could be pitched accordingly.

How this applies to TV Drama: Is it possible to use these divisions, used primarily for targeting audience types in advertising to decide who might watch particular types of TV Drama? In truth it might be possible to link any of these audience types to a certain drama, and this would be fine if you are asked to do so in your exam - just remember that you need to justify your choice.

1) The Explorer - These are people driven by a need for new discovery, challenge and new frontiers. Their core need is 'discovery'.

2) The Aspirer - Materialistic, acquisitive people who are driven by other's perceptions of them rather than by their own values. Their core need is 'status'

3) The Succeeder - They possess self-confidence, have strong goal orientation and tend to be very organised. Their core need is 'Control'.

4) The Reformer - Reformers are anti-materialistic and are often seen as intellectual. They seek 'Enlightenment'.

5) The Mainstream - These are people who live in the world of domestic and the everyday. They seek 'security'.

6) The Struggler - Strugglers live for today and rarely plan for tomorrow. They seek 'Escape'.

7) The Resigned - These are people with unchanging views over time. They seek to 'Survive'.

REASON AUDIENCES LIKE TV DRAMA

Solving enigma codes – Audiences watch for how equilibrium is restored to the narrative. This is especially true for compartmentalized dramas like Dr Who, but remember that soaps have many on-going overlapping narratives.

More entertaining than real life – especially with regard to science fiction and fantasy stories. We get to see things happen to people which are very much out of the ordinary.

Thrilling action sequences - again, this is less the case for soaps or other dramas very much based on real life situations. These dramas are striving for realism.

Special effects – does the drama use CGI (computer generated imagery) to create scenes or other imagery on screen. CGI used to be used only in expensive American dramas, but we are seeing British drama using it more and more. Dr Who and Merlin are two good examples of dramas which use CGI. Other dramas which strive for realism may occasionally use special effects to replicate a real life disaster (see plane crashes, car chases and fires for example) but this is done sparingly to keep the realistic tone of the programme.

Allows us to see things we wouldn’t normally see – By nature we are all curious people, and the chance to see inside other people’s lives (realistic) and also incredible situations we will never be able to experience ourselves (sci-fi, fantasy, period).

Dramas allow us to live vicariously – Audiences watch the shows and are able to experience emotions and feelings like fear, sadness or danger which they wouldn’t normally be able to or want to experience in real life. It allows audiences experience all these things from the comfort and safety of their own sofas.

We like resolutions to our stories – Real life doesn’t always fit neatly into Todorov’s narrative structure, and by our nature we like to see problem’s resolved or equilibriums restored. Sometimes we do not get the happy ending we might be hoping for, especially in Dramas which strive for realism, but this is usually balanced out by several narrative threads. If something bad is happening to one character in a soap, another character is usually enjoying a positive narrative in a different story thread.

Identity – Often audiences enjoy being able to put themselves into the shoes of the main characters and imagine “what would I do in that situation”.

Information – We can learn a lot from dramas. We can learn about relationships, or difficult situations which we ourselves might never have faced. In period dramas we might learn some basic historical information – think about Downton Abbey for example, where the etiquette and routine of different classes forms the basis of the narrative there.

Relationships / Social Interaction – Often we feel like we have personal relationships with the main characters as they re-appear every week, and we get to know them. We find out about their personal lives, their relationships, their weaknesses. We start to care about them and if our friends enjoy the same shows we can discuss the show with them and feel like part of a community of fans. Realistic dramas can also be used to raise awareness of real-life issues, and often the programme will display contact information or a helpline for viewers affected by such issues to explore them further.

TV Drama vs Web based Drama

Web based dramas:

- focus more on creativity

- they cost less to create.

- On the whole they have lower production values

- address the changing viewing styles of the audience (ipod/ipad etc)

Aspect Eastenders E20 Camera Shots

Midshots – to establish characters Long shots - recognition

Closeups – create action and enigma codes

Movement Smooth – reflects realistic situations

Fast camera movements - hand held camera creates realism

Audio codes

Only during titles. Slow and dramatic at the end Only diagetic sounds during drama

Non-diagetic music – modern music Changed opeing title music modern

Settings Walford – ‘normal’ London street Pubs/houses

Limited setting – Walford – recognisable

Editing Slow-paced Overlapping fast paced editing – title sequence (red) connotes blood, violence, love

Characters Families – variety of ages Much younger characters Different ethnicity Working class – visual codes – clothing Cameo actors from Eastenders

Storylines Everyday life Violence/romance/friendship/crime

WEB BASED DRAMA: CASE STUDIES

E20

- Set up in 2010

- Soap spin off

- Targets a younger audience

- Teen issues

- Young script writers

- New talent

- Reference to main soap characters

- 3.3 million viewers

- Three times a week

- Won ‘webby’ award in 2011

- Own iplayer page

The Confession

- USA

- Created by Kiefer Sutherland

- High production values

- Genre – drama/thriller

- 5-9 mins

- Setting – New York

- Official facebook page has 24000 fans

- Linked to social media

- Professional writers – more experienced

Becoming Human

- Spin off from Being Human

- Sometimes shown on BBC

- High production values

- 10 episodes

- Young cast

- Set in a fictional college

- Clues and materials posted on websites – tips/CCTV footage/mobile

phone clips

- Allows audience to get involved

LonelyGirl15

- June 2006 – August 2008

- 3 seasons, 547 episodes

- She presented herself as a real blogger

- Viewers initially unaware that it was fiction

- Narrative became more bizarre

- Show revealed as fictional sept 2006

- Number of spin off shows

- First real web-based drama

- 110 million views

Blood and Bone China

- Clothing codes

- Victorian Streets/Fog/Castle

- Grimy shots

- Orchestra/gothic/Victorian – Non diagetic

- Enigma codes

- Panning to reveal detail. Extreme close ups

action codes/enigma codes

- Villians – vampires

- Adults