LO1 Tasks 4

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4: Compare and contrast the narrative styles and structure of Doctor Who and Eastenders.
(E.g. linear/ sequential; non-linear/ non-sequential; flashback; realist or anti-realist; restricted or unrestricted; open or closed endings)

Eastenders is a British soap with a realist narrative, broadcasted on BBC 1. The soap has many close up shots showing facial expressions of the characters which portrays the situation more realistically.

• Within the episode there are close up shots showing facial expressions (confused)
• Medium shot showing the baby's movements.
•  The camera moves out (establishing shot) to show the location of the place. 
• Medium shot going back to show the body language.
• Diegetic sounds (sighs, thuds, etc) a throat clearing.
• The camera is kept on a low angle, zoomed into Michael (the characters face) to portray facial expressions.
• Over shot shoulder occurs between two people having a conversation, the setting is in the market.

•  Objective views with a lot of narratives. 
•  Establishing shot of the cafe, showing what setting it is in.
• Moving scenarios
• Formats: Series (Soap)
• The narrative is linear, there fore it tells different story lines on the same day, which makes it realistic and reflects real live situations and events. 
• Medium shots are taken between group conversations
• Close ups of facial expressions, body language 
• Body language is shown, when the character drinks too much, shouting and creating arguments, which builds up the tension in the soap and are signs of stress.
• Restricted narrative/Unrestricted

Props theory includes the hero, the villan, the dispatcher, the damsel in distress, and the helper. There are many story lines within the episode, such as

1. Abi and her family (Influential friends)

2. Syed & Family (Financial Crisis)

3. Michael and Roxy (Personal matters)

4. Phil and Fatboy (Pub problems)

Two main narratives and two small narratives.

Todorov's theory is included within the soap which is

Doctor Who is a British Sci fi programme with an anti realist narrative.

In terms of prop's Doctor Who is the hero, Amy and Rory are the helpers, Oswin is the Damsel in distress and the darleks are the villans. The narrative is based on the Todorov theory which includes equilibrium, problem/disequilibrium, reparation and recognition, resolution and finally a new equilibrium.

Hero - Doctor Who

Helper - Amy

Vllan - Darlek

Dispatcher - Hooded lady/Darlek PM

Donor - Oswin

Damsel in distress - Oswin

Subject narrative - the audience can see what the character see's. Empathy builds up, and shows the feeling of the situation.

Objective narrative

Audience can only see the external behaviors of the character.

No reason/explanation/in depth information given to explain the behavior.

Creates ''enigma'' - audience keeps guessing, and leaving them in suspense.

Restricted narrative

Information given on the same time as story flow and character introduction

Realistic

Unrestricted narrative

Information is given before hand and audience knows the ending

Not as realistic

The narrative includes:

• Flashback (restricted narrative) (objective)
• Non-diegetic sounds used to set the atmosphere
• Diegetic sounds of crackling, fizzy lighting
• Medium shots taken to show doctors puzzled face
• Establishing shots to set the location
• Diary type e.g Day 363 of a character etc
• Close shot - PM of the Daleks, which gives a disgusting feel and uncomfortable also sickening. 
• Night vision mode used
• Close up-show the fear lock on Rory's face (worked)
• Establishing shot-showing where battle between Rory and Daleks are taking place after the extermination
• Darkness implies the fear which can lead to being afraid and in danger showing unexpected events happening
• Slow steady moving camera - creepy, awareness
• Subject narrative - looking from Amy's viewpoint to see the mortified/dead people and Daleks
• Daleks have been destroyed by the Doctor Who's command
• Slow calming music towards the end to make us feel sympathetic towards the characters
• Sympathetic subject view when Oswin locks through the Dalek machine

The problem is having to face the Daleks on the spaceship - people surviving the Daleks

Restricted narrative towards the end because you find out Oswin is a Dalek and the doctor can't help her.

LO1 Task 3 Genres

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3: DEFINE the conventions of each genre e.g. period; drama; crime; soap opera; comedy, then clear give examples.

(Give up to 3 examples; do they challenge or conform to the conventions of the genre?)

Soap Opera - Eastenders

Eastenders falls into the category of a Soap Opera. Soaps portray families with real life situations and the audience can relate to it if they experience the same kind of real life situation. In each episode, there are different story lines that occur, and show different problems that the characters are going through. Eastenders can have up to 4 or 5 narratives in one episode. The location is set in the east end of London, it is a busy environment and includes home, a market, a club, a pub, a charity shop, a cafe and a salon, like most communities. 
Within the episodes, there are a lot of mixed emotions, such as characters being happy, sad, angry and lonely. The narrative is restricted and unrestricted, sometimes we know everything and sometimes we are told the narrative at the same time as the characters. In Eastenders, new characters come on the scene unexpectedly, bringing a new twist and adding a different story to the soap. The soap itself is shown between 4 to 7 times a week, it is dramatic therefore reality based. Eastenders is continuous as it is shown every week throughout the year. This soap consists of real life situations such as divorce, rape, murder,

1. Relate it to the real life stories/situations

2. Set in a busy environment/location

3. human emotions

4. Different story lines

5. New characters (unexpected, bringing a new twist)

example of soaps: Hollyoaks, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Neighbours

For my second choice, I have chosen to analyse a crime program called The Bill.

The Bill is a series which was broadcasted on ITV from October the 16th 1984 until August 31st, 2010. Within the episode there is a lot of action, this creates a more interesting narrative for the viewers. The program features crime, criminals and the lives of police officers. In order to survive each day, they must deal with the frustration of the community and often their own colleagues. The police have to enforce the law and order on a daily basis. The programme features police officers, crimes, witnesses, criminals and the investigation of crimes. High key lightning is used in the Bill, making it realistic to watch. The locations include a courtroom or police station where there are victims or witnesses representing themselves. We know that the bill is a crime series, as the police deal with crimes such as stealing, killing, people taking drugs, and getting involved with fights.

1. Action

2. Different use of ghetto language.

3. Cops, investigations, interviews

4. High key lighting

5. Blood is involved when during a murder.

6. Set in a courtroom or police station setting such as victims and witnesses

examples of crime: Inspector Morse, Midsomer Murders, CSI Miami, CSI New York

My third choice is Situational Comedy (Sitcom)

Citizen Khan is a sit com that was broadcasted last year. The comedy is full of humour and stupid characters. The narrative includes verbal jokes, funny situations and makes the audience laugh, as that is the main purpose. It portrays the life of a Pakistani family, living in Spark Hill, Birmingham and it portrays the Pakistani culture in a positive aspect. The location is mostly set in the family home but a mosque car park and mosque (made in a studio) is also used. There is a different storyline in each episode. What makes a comedy humorous is having funny characters who keep the jokes going, funny situations for example when Mr Khan does not book the wedding venue, and we already know he hasn't done what he's told, making him look funny and things go bad for him. The character Alia is one of the characters that represents a religious girl wearing a scarf, but it is a mockery as she listens to music, reads magazines, and wears tons of makeup.

1. Showing an element of humour because it tells jokes and makes the audience laugh

2. Set in a house

3. Different storyline each episode.

4. Portraying the life of a family living in Spark hill Birmingham

5. It is known as the first South Asian sitcom

examples of comedy: Only Fools and Horses, My Family, Big Bang Theory, Scrubs and My Name is Earl.

LO1 Task 2 Camera Formats

LO1 Task 2 - Define the single camera format and the multiple camera formats

In this report I will be writing about the different techniques of single and multiple camera production. I will be defining the terms of each camera format also explaining the advantages.

Single Camera 
Comedy shows are filmed with a single camera, in the way more typically used for drama series and feature films. This method is generally more time-consuming, however the technique allows for a greater range of camera angle, shot sizes and movement, and shooting locations. A single camera format is where one camera is used for all the shots on a TV, or film set, while moving around. The director may choose to pan between subjects, and stop the camera to film from a new angle. The camera can rotate horizontally, from right to left or left to right but a pan movement could be vertical, or at any particular angle that has been shot.A scene can be shot from two different angles without needing to move the camera. The script can also be filmed out of sequence. All the scenes in one location can be filmed on the same day and another location on another day, all shots requiring specific production workers should be shot at the same time as well. All shots requiring specialized production equipment, such as special cameras, lenses, microphones and generators are also shot at the same time.The clips are finally put back in order by an editor, who puts it back into sequence.

Multiple camera formats are when as many as five cameras are used simultaneously to catch the same action, and the shots that are required and selected are then put together during the editing process. Multi camera techniques are used when programmes are broadcasted live, but the multi camera technique is also used when the programme wants to look like it's live.The advantage is that multi camera allows all angles to be covered. The filming is one take only and it costs cheaper. It involves many cameras that are connected to a central studio and is broadcasted through cable or the airwaves. Multiple camera formats are used in talk shows, live sport events such as football and rugby, etc this is because the director then has a choice of which angle to use and when during the editing process. Within a sporting event a whole game can be recorded using multi camera techniques.

LO1 Task 1 TV Formats

LO1 Task 1 Written Task
Explain the difference between series, serials and single drama’s.

Series
A series has a set number of episodes and runs for one season which is broadcast once per year. The season will have a main narrative which will conclude in the last episode but the weekly episodes will have a self contained narrative which will close at the end of the episode. 
Each episode will start with the same theme tune and title sequence. It will feature the same characters and locations, so the viewer knows what to expect and can relate to the story.

The four types of series that I have chosen to write about are Coronation St, Eastenders, Friends and Waterloo Road.

Coronation Street is a British television soap opera, first aired on Granada television in 1960. This is a soap, which is a series with no end. Coronation street broadcasted originally on ITV, STV and UTV. It has been broadcasted for 52 years, 128 days. The running time of Coronation Street is 30 minutes, but 22 minutes (excluding advertisements) with occasional 60 minutes episodes, mostly on at christmas time. The first episode of Coronation St was watched by 3,501000 million homes which equates to 7,702,200 viewers. Coronation St is a realist narrative, as the daily life situations happen in a society and the community, which makes the events within an episode, realistic.

Moving onto Eastenders, this is a well-known soap opera that is watched by the majority of the nation. The soap is based in Albert Square, London. It is about real life events and the daily life of how an individual and normal families lives. Eastenders is a never ending series, when there is suspense or a character has been murdered, then the viewing figures increasingly rise. It is a popular and a well-known soap that is watched on a regular basis, near enough every day of the week. Eastenders has been aired since February 19^th 1985. The target audience is families, teenagers, adults, and older people in their 60’s. The story lines in this soap include love affairs, divorce, family situations, teenage problems, alcohol or drugs, murdering, teenage pregnancy, and many more. The number of episodes that have been broadcast are 4619 (as of 9 April 2013).

My third choice is another example of a long running series. The American sitcom Friends has been broadcast since September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. Friends is centered around the complex friendship of 6 flat mates, who all live close to each other. It involves storylines about companionship, arguments between friends, close relationships, and love. The target audience is aged between17 to 25 as the series is humorously funny and its purpose is to make the viewers and audience laugh. The number of episodes for Friends are 236 in 10 seasons. Friends is a series that you can watch with your family at home, as some of the narratives are a suitable content.

Lastly, I have chosen Waterloo Road. This series was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on the 9^th of March 2006. This series is a realist narrative because the audience can relate to a student's school life and teaching profession. The story lines include social issues such as affairs, divorce, abortion, suicide and child abuse. The series has 150 episodes in 8 seasons, as of 7^th of March. The running time of Waterloo Road is 60 minutes. The original channel it broadcasts on is BBC One for all episodes, BBC HD for series 5 and BBC One HD series 6.

Serials
A serial is typically a serialisation of a book. The adaptation is shown on national television only once. The adaptation from book to screen for example, Great Expectations is a novel written by Charles Dickens but has also been filmed for TV purposes. It was originally published in a serial format in a magasine as well. 

Great Expectations is a three part BBC television drama adaptation of the novel which was written by Charles Dickens. There are a set of 3 episodes and the adaptation was first broadcasted on British Television during the Christmas period in 2011. The novel itself was first published in serial form in Dickens weekly periodical All the Year Round, starting from the 1st of December 1860 to August 1861.

Emma 2009 is an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Emma, which was first published in 1815. Originally, the serial ran on weekly basis broadcasting on Sunday nights on BBC1 from the 4th - 25th of October 2009. This realist, linear narrative is about a woman named Emma who believes she has good matchmaking skills and repeatedly attempts to pair up her friends, she likes to meddle into people's love lives while forgetting about her own.

Revenge is an American television prime time soap opera, it debuted on September 21, 2011 and aired on Sunday nights at 9pm. The overview of this serial is about a character named Emily Van Camp who returns to the Hamptons under a new identity. She is dedicated to her charity work, in order to gain revenge and justice for the people responsible for her father's death and wrongful conviction of terrorism. The number of episodes that have been shown are 33, in 2 seasons. 

Sherlock is a British television crime drama which portrays an update about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes detective stories. The number of episodes is 2 and the second serial has 6 episodes. The running time is 90 minutes and was originally aired on the 25th July 2010.

Single Drama
A single drama is a narrative programme for television. It can be called a TV film and is broadcast in one night. The running time for a single drama can be 1 to 2 hours. The narratives include topical issues and real life events.

My Murder is based on a true story. This story line is about a young vulnerable boy who fell in love with a girl that led him to his own death. Shakilus Townsend was played by John Boyega, the main character was murdered in real life in 2008 in an area called Thornton Heath, London. A 16 year old boy, was led to his death by the killing of a 15 year old girl he thought of as his loving girlfriend, in what became known as the honey trap killing. I also think that this drama had an impact on youngsters, as it was shocking and known to be a true story that happened in London. This single drama is a piece of fiction based on real life events. 

Top Boy is a British television crime that was first broadcasted on Channel 4. The content of this drama is about individuals who follow the life of drug dealing and street gangs, with anti-social behavior. The genre of this drama is Crime. The narrative is about a drugs business, which is run by Dushane (Ashley Walters) and his Friend Sully (Kane Robinson). They want to become the richest men on the block, living a rich life. Both characters go into a partnership with top don Bobby. Rivalry happens with Kamale and his gang get a money loan from Raikes. The money is stolen and they want revenge. Due to the situation, another character Ra’nell gradually gets involved into the gang and drug business, his poor mother has a break down and ends in hospital with brutal consequences. The target audience for this would be teenagers, as many of them could be going through the same life stages and are being introduced to alcohol or drugs, and street gangs. This drama may have an impact on some body’s life, due to going through the same phase.