Research task - TV Drama stills

This shot is a close up because the camera is very close to one of the characters faces but not extremely close so you can still see the other character slightly. This still represents social groups as two girls are having a fight against eachother and the big hoops  and lots of make up may represent a chav social group fighting eachother. This shot type has been used to focus paticularly on one character and show her facial expressions without not being able to see the other character. This is so the audience still know  who and what the scene is based on e.g the two girls having fights. In TV dramas the camera usually  in a scene like this does close ups between the characters so the audience can see the facial expressions of each.

This shot is a cutaway because thefemale character is the subject but you can see another character in the background doing other things. This shot reoresents social groups as you can see the man doing all the domestic work, including cooking and cleaning which is unusual because the woman is usually stereotyped to doing all the domestic work so this is a different representation of social groups. This shot  is used so  the audience focus mainly on the woman but can also  see the man and what he is doing.This is important because the audience pick up on things that help them work out the family type and what might go on in that family which then helps them later on in the scene.



This shot is cut in as it shows two peoples hands in a lot of detail and can clearly see what they are doing. This shot represents social groups as the audience can tell what type of relationship these characters have and how close the characters are. This shot is used so the audience can clearly see what they are doing and can therefore suggest what pinky promising means to them. The shot is also used so the audience focuses on what they are doing and nothing else.

This is an extreme close up because the camera is zoomed in very closely to the babies head and you can clearly see it. This shot represents social groups as it is a relationship  between a mother and baby. You can also see from this shot that the mother and baby are both quite young which represents a social group of young mothers. An extreme close up was used to focus on the baby, who is cute which allows the audiences to feel sympathy for them. It also allows the audiences thoughts and feelings to just focus on the baby.

This is an over the shoulder shot because the camera is behind one characters shoulder showing the other character. This represents social groups as the audience can tell from facial expressions that there may be conflict between the characters and shows the type of relationship they may have. This shot was used to focus on the different characters when they were speaking and to see the facial expressions and how the characters are acting from someone elses point of  view as you are looking at them over someone elses shoulder.

This is a wide shot because the camera is standing away from the characters and you can see everything in the scene, it doesnt focus on one character. This shot represents social groups as it shows the type of relationship these two men may haveas they are both in the pub drinking and are not to near eachother. This gives the audience the idea that they may be friends but not very good friends as there is that space between them. This shot type was used because the audience needed to focus on both characters and it is more realistic for the camera to be where it is as it shows the conversation between the two characters  as it was just a normal everyday conversation where nothing needed to be focused on.

Mis - en - scene

Mis - en -  scene is everything you see in the scene. E.g props, styling, shots, movements, characters, lighting, set design.
DOCTOR  WHO:
LIGHTING - Quite dark but natrual light shown. Lamps down the coridoor, night time, spotlights.
SET DESIGN - Hospital, reception area, conflict shown by characters position.
PROPS - Chair leg, light, bell, desk.
STYLING - Casual clothes. nurses outfit, doctors suit, modern clothes.

Music video essay

There are lots of different stereotypes in music videos including women, different races, young people, gender, women, men and classes.
In rap music videos women are represented in a very sexual way with very little clothing and men are represented as having little respect for women, rich, a pimp and being irrisistable.
In rock music videos they are always performing to a crowd, in a stadium with different lighting.
There are also different performance music videos.
Classic performance videos use instruments, featuring music skill.
Charity videos use emotive images to make people give money.
Narrative videos tells the story.
We looked at two different music videos that have strong stereotypes. They were Ghetto gospel and Beautiful by tu pac and Christina Aguilera.
Ghetto gospel;

2.44 - 2.50
In this shot of ghetto gospel the main stereotype shown is black american men being in a gang. The setting is on the side of a street and it is dark, which is where people may assosiate a gang with being because you wouldnt see them in a nice area or causing trouble when it is light as they would be more likely to get caught. The shots used in this are close ups and wide shots. The wide shot is used so you can see the whole gang and the audience can see what they look like and how they are acting and the close up shots are to see certain facial expressions and things about the gang members.

1.57 - 2.02
In this shot it is going against the main stereotype of a black male in america. In this shot he is a family man and caring and you wouldnt think he was the type of man to get into trouble. I chose this shot because Ghetto gospel shows stereotypes and then goes agaisnt those stereotypes in different parts. The shots used are close ups and cut ins.

The cut in is used to show her body expression and what is on the telly which is also showing that she is being ignored because you see her arguing and shouting and can see her arm expressions but can see the telly is on so the man is watching that. The close ups are used to show facial expressions.

1.42 - 1.44
Another example of this is a scene where he goes to church, you wouldnt assosiate going to church with a member of a gang.






Beautiful;

1.08 - 1.11
In this scene of Beautiful the stereotype is bullies and the way gay people are treated by other people as well at stereotyping gay people. The girls are beating up the other girl because she is a lesbian. This is stereotyping girls to say that they dont like lesbians and will be horrible and treat her different because she is a lesbian. The shots used in this scene are wide shots and close ups.  The wide shot is used to show the girl on the floor being beaten up and with blood all over her face. It is also usesd to show the bullies faces.

The close up is used to show the girls whos being bullied facial expression and to show she had blood all over her face.

1.43 - 1.45
In this scene the stereotypes are girls. It shows the stereotype that all girls want to look like celebritys and be skinny and the lengths that they will go to to be skinny as this girl is anerexic. It could also be showing stereotypes of celebritys being skinny and girls looking up to them and wanting to be like them as well as maybe showing stereotypes of how people make girls feel so they feel the need to do that to themselves. The shots used are wide shot and point of view shot. The wide shot is used so the audience can see the extent of the body damage she has done to herself and for the audience to be able to see clearly that she is anerexic.

The point of view shot is used to show her looking at herself in the mirror to show the audience how much she dislikes herself and how she feels about herself and her body.

Soap opera questions

The term Soap opera originated in the 1930's,when US radio serials were sponsered by major soap powder companies. Those serials tended to concentrate on domestic and family dramas.
A serial format is when narratives are carried over from one episode to the next and characters develop overtime, their actions informed by the detailed histories which they carry with them. This is on contrast to the series format in which characters and situations are carried from episode to episode but the narratives remain self contained. Outnumbered is in a series format but serial forman is eastenders.
The primary audience for soaps is females.
The uses and gratifications that the audiences get from soap operas in, diversion (escape from everyday and problems), personal relationships (Subsituting soap operas for family life).
Setting is important in soap operas because it can give you information about the character. E.g Lola  living in small, old and dirty house which shows how much money she has.  It is also important for each character to have there own identity which is shown through setting. E.g houses.
The traditional concepts of family are challenged by always being different new, breaking relationships, affairs etc. The idea  that the family should have clear boundires is always stretched to almost breaking point. Its central in a soap opera but there is no clear definition of how a family should be.
John Fiske argues that the lack of central characters or a single narative view point in soap opera provides a more open experience for viewers. This allows a single narrative event to  be interpreted in a number of different ways,  allowing audiences to explore social or moral issues for themselves.
Open texts is media products whose form and content allow a large degree of interpretative freedom to the audience. E.g art films
Closed texts is media products whose form and content are arranged so that only a limited number of interpratations or reading are possible by the audience.
Women are portrayed in soap operas as gossiping and presenting a view of the world in which those qualities are privelleged or respected more than elsewhere,they also show power through there sexuality. E.g gossiping vera in coronation street. Power through there sexuality e.g Kat slater and soap operas allow women to dominate by being strong and independant.E.g peggy mitchell
Matriach is the strong female heading a unit. It is important in soap operas because it is rarely seen in other genres. E.g Fiz in coronation street is a matriachal figure as she has no husband but looks after her daughter and brother. Kirsty is also because shes in control of what happens and goes to work whilst tyrone stays at home.
Tabloid newspapers interact with soaps by having headlines advertising whats going to happen that weeks on the soaps and giving extra information on the soaps.
The male sterotypes that feature in soap opera have to show similar capabilities to female characters and have to show sensitivity and caring and perform a secondary role.
Mike Baldwin, Ian Beale and Jack Duckworth all challenge gender stereotypes.
Morally bad characters are; Phil Mitchell and Nick Cotton  and morally  good characters are Fiz, Alfie  Moon

Analysing the representation of gender roles in coronation street
In coronation street general roles are represented in a very different way between Kirsty and Tyrone.
Kirsty tells Tyrone he is not on his daughters birth certificate, therefore he has no rights over his daughter. Gender roles are represented here because the women is the dominant character which is unusual as males are usually seen to me the dominant characters. This also represents gender because it shows the woman having all the rights over the child and the man having none, this is representing gender because it is known as the woman being the caring one towards children and staying at home with the children and this is shown in the scene by the father having no rights. All the shot types used in the scene are all close ups to either Tyrone or Kirstys  face. This is to show the facial expressions the character is pulling and to make the audience focus on them and nothing else.

The balance of realism and drama in eastenders
In eastenders there is a good balance between realism and drama. A lot of the things that happen in Eastenders are things that happen in real life. Where the balance comes into it is they are things that happen in real life but they are exaggerating and made a lot more dramatic then they would be in real life. For example on a recent episode of eastenders Lolas baby got taken away from her by social services which does happen in everyday life it was just made into drama by her yelling whos  the babys father was when she had been hiding it as well as screaming in the middle of the street.

The responsibility of soap opera producers;
I think the main responsibility of soap opera  producers is to entertain the audience and provide them with good story lines that could possible relate to there lives. I believe they should have a set of moral codes and not take things to far. They should know when to stop the story line before it goes to far and think about how audiences may feel towards certain story lines and how it may effect viewership. The way they show things to be realistic by over exaggerate it by adding more drama is a good thing as long as they have the balance, this is because if it was realistic it wouldnt be as entertaining to watch and you may not always want to know what will happen next.

Research task - Roles in TV Drama

In TV Dramas you have a lot of different roles. Some of these roles are:

1. Director
2. Producer
3. Script editor
4. Actors
5. Actresses
6. Make up artist
7. Costume designer
8. Camera men/women
9. Editor
10. Models

Research task - Social groups

Different TV dramas represent social groups and social issues in different ways. Tv dramas may represent them by being able to see the divide in different social groups. For example in a recent episode of eastenders you could see the divide in the social groups by Lola and her friends being in a big group causing trouble and other people being afraid of them and not approaching them. This was also represented when they were talking to Lola, Abbie and Jay. As them three were in a group on one side of the park and the other group were together on the other side of the park. Eastenders did this because you could very clearly see the different social groups because of how they were set out on the square. TV dramas represent social issues by having arguments or fights between character about the social issue. They make it clear to the audience what they are arguing or fighting about. For example in coronation street Tina and Tommy are having an argument with Kirsty and Tyrone about money they owe and them getting involved in eachothers relationships. In this argument they represent social groups and social issues because you can clearly see the divide between Tina and Tommy and Kirsty and Tyrone because they are standing on different sides of the street arguing. You know they are arguing about money if you have watched previous eppisodes but they also make it clear that they are arguing about money if you havent by kirty repeatidly saying "We lent you money" and Tina replying to her to clearly show the social issue.
Dramatic conflict can be shown between different social groups in TV dramas especially social groups of different races. You often see groups of people from different races having arguments in TV dramas. They are usually arguing about one group doing something to the other group. You also often see conflict between social groups of males and females. You may also see it between older people and younger people. This is nearly always shown between arguments but can sometimes be shown in a not so obvious way. For example certain looks between the groups or the way somebody will act around a certain group can show this.
The shots are usually shown in wide shots because this shows the whole of the groups and makes the audience able to see everything the groups are doing. Some shots may be close up when the scene is just based on one group or close up shots when going in between the social groups. Theyre may be extreme close ups if the groups are giving certain looks or facial expressions but are mainly wide shots to show the divide between the groups especially at the beginning of the scene so the audience can see the divide between the groups clearly as they are usually standing on opposite sides of the road, park etc.