TV drama introduction

TV drama

 Section A - Media industry and audience:

Q1 – contextual analysis of industry – 15 marks – 25 mins

Q2 – convergence – 15 marks – 25 mins

Section B - LFTVD

Q3 – long answer – 30 marks – LIAR, theorist 50 mins.

Q4 – apply a theory – 10 marks – 17 mins

Context:

·      US network broadcasters must satisfy their advertisers and hold market share. They are also controlled by federal regulation.

·      The impact of this on content is reliance on highly formalised genre conventions and normative values which meet mainstream audience expectations but generate conservative drama.

US cable TV:

·      HBO (Warner), FX, Showtime, AMC.

·      These can take more risks with content and form.

·      These are subscription-based channels – no advertisements.

Trouble with UK TV drama:

·      Less risk taking, BBC and ITV dramas relied on crime and heritage drama.

·      Sky co-opted success of US long form with Sky Atlantic.

·      Commissioning remains tightly controlled and conservative in outlook.

Target audience – ABC1:

Scandi – noir – genre – Scandinavian, dark. E.g. the Killing

Channel 4 and BBC4 have identified foreign language/subtitled long form shows get the highest ratings. E.g. Deutschland 83.

Changing platforms:

·      Streaming – Netflix, Amazon, Now TV (Sky)

·      Content viewing by a TV still dominates in the UK. However this is changing.

·      Netflix dominates with 24% of UK market.

Audiences:

·      Rise of binge watching started with DVDs in the late 90s as there were problems with getting TV dramas on UK television.

·      US long form drama often uses Easter eggs and mid-season breaks to generate fan intensity and maintain media profile.

What attracts audiences to LFTDV?

·      High quality drama.

·      Multiple episodes, hours, years.

·      Content can be dark and difficult but innovative.

·      It attracts some of the best and innovative writers and actors.

·      Time shifting, easily accessible – watch when you want.

·      Long term narratives – attracts an audience for a long length of time.

·      Allows you to play with character development in unique and extreme ways which can be more detailed than films or short TV dramas that end after 1 season.

Top TV dramas:

·      West Wing.

·      Buffy the vampire slayer.

1.    Genre

2.    Themes

3.    Narrative/storylines.

4.    Character types

5.    Visual styles and production values.

6.    Methods and platforms.

7.    Cultural zeitgeist.

8.    Memes, accerssories.

West Wing:

1.    Serial political drama.

2.    The sacrifice of personal life for political duty.

3.    Set in the west wing of the white house, where the oval office and the offices of senior presidential staff are located.

4.    President, presidential staff.

5.    $2.7 million budget per episode.

6.    Available to buy on YouTube and google play. Originally released on NBC.

7.    X

8.    No official merchandise.

Buffy the vampire slayer:

1.    Supernatural drama,

2.    Friendship, second chances, the evil can be redeemed.

3.    Series based on the 1992 film. Follows a vampire slayer who battles against vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness.

4.    Students, main character is a young woman chosen by fate to battle evil forces, a vampire (Spike).

5.    X

6.    Available to buy on YouTube and google play, Facebook streamed the series in 2018. Available on Prime video. Originally released on the WB network.

7.    X

8.    No official merchandise.

Conventions of LFTVD:

·      Tend to be more cinematic – high production values.

·      Stranger Things has excessive amounts of detail e.g. being set in the 80s it has a lot of detail in all the sets.

·      One chapter flows into the next – makes it easy to binge watch – enabled by Netflix autoplay.

·      Immersive world that provides escapism.

·      Less traditional storytelling structure with unexpected twists. E.g. Game of Thrones.

·      Encourages audiences to respond with their own media and take part (Clay Shirky). E.g. talk about it on social media.

·      Cultural parlance – TV shows become a part of life e.g. ‘Shalom’ – Friday Night Dinner. TV becomes embedded into culture.

·      It goes ‘beyond the binary’ so characters move beyond simply good or bad.

·      ST – Steve Harington and Hopper are examples of more complex characters.

·      Novelistic – multiple storylines and characters that arc over a number of episodes and seasons.

·      We may see flashbacks that explain their background.

·      Systematic change – isn’t just focused on one individual.

·      Communities facing challenges and dealing with them by embracing or rejecting their own diversity.

·      Dramatic cliff-hangers

·      Stock characters

Q5 dirt sheet - big issue (13/15)

Q1 news dirt sheet

2019 Summer Tasks

Media summer work

2017/18 events and context:

Politics:

After David Cameron resigned Theresa May of the conservative party became prime minister. Recently, Boris Johnson became prime minister after Theresa May resigned. The leader of the Liberal Democrat party is Jo Swinson.

Theresa May was chosen as leader of the conservative party in 2016.

Conservatives had 42.4% of the vote in the 2017 general election, with Labour behind with 40% of the vote.

Royals:

The Queen celebrated her 90^th birthday on the weekend of 10-12 June 2016.

It was announced in November 2017 that Prince Harry would marry Meghan Markle.

Prince William and Kate Middleton had their 3^rd child; Louis, in April 2018.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s first baby was born in May 2019.

Terrorism:

Westminster bridge – in March 2017, a terrorist attack took place at Westminster bridge, the terrorist driving a car onto the pavement, injuring more than 50 people. He then got out of the car and stabbed an unarmed police officer. He was then killed at the scene by an armed officer.

London Bridge attack – in June 2017 8 people were killed when three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before a knife attack in Borough market. All three men were shot dead by police when they arrived on the scene in 8 minutes.

Finsbury Park Mosque – June 2017 – one death and nine injured after a van was driven into pedestrians.

Manchester – suicide bomb attack in Manchester arena in May 2017. 23 people dies, 139 wounded, more than half of them children.

Jo Cox – British politician who was murdered in June 2016. She was shot and stabbed multiple times by Thomas Mair, who held far right views. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Cultural trends (2017-2019):

Films – Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Wonder Woman, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Spider-Man Homecoming, It, Thor: Ragnarok, Logan, La La Land.

2018 – Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Mission Impossible Fallout, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Bohemian Rhapsody.

2019 – Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, Captain Marvel, Aladdin, Toy Story 4, Spider-Man: Far From Home.

TV programmes – Game of Thrones, Rick and Morty, Blue Planet, Black Mirror, Stranger Things, 13 Reasons Why, Daredevil, Narcos.

Specific UK issues:

Brexit – 2016 referendum, majority voted leave. March 2017, the Prime Minister triggered Article 50, beginning the 2 year countdown to the UK leaving the EU. Originally, the date that the UK would leave was 29 March 2019, but this was extended to the end of June. This was then further extended to October.

Grenfell tower – in June 2017, there was a fire in the 24 storey Grenfell Tower. It caused 72 deaths, more than 70 injured, and 223 managed to escape. It highlighted the issues with the cladding in the tower and many other residential towers in England. The government pledged £200 million to replace this cladding in the other buildings.

Andy Murray – won Wimbledon in 2016 after beating Milos Raonic. He was the first Brit to win multiple Wimbledon championships since Fred Perry in 1935. He won his first Wimbledon title in 2013, ending the 77 year wait for a British male champion.

Great Britain Olympics 2016 – Great Britain ended the Olympics ranked 2^nd with 67 medals total, 27 of them gold. These were the most successful games for Britain since 1908, just beating their London 2012 total of 65.