AS Media Studies

Textual Analysis TV
Drama

Exam unit: 50% of your

AS grade
High expectations:
Everyone has the opportunity to get an
A
Everyone will be given the opportunity
to get an A
Its up to you to decide if you want an A!

There will be homework every week

You must put in around 4 hours
The more work you put in the more likely you are to get
an A grade.

Exam unit: 50% of your

AS grade
Two questions
One will focus on the Film Industry
you will do this on a Monday morning
with Mary
The other will focus on TV Drama you
will do this with me on a Thursday
afternoon

Introduction Television Drama

Officially known as the Textual Analysis question

Marked out of 50
Need to get 40+ for an A

35-39=B
30-34=C
25-29=D
20-24=E
0-19=U

On same paper as Film Industry

Introduction to
Television Drama
1 exam question
Based on an unseen clip

30 minutes viewing time plus 45 minutes writing

time
Get to watch a 5 minute clip from an unseen television
drama. Opportunities to make notes between the
screenings

Will focus answer on an area of representation

Will write about how media language constructs
messages about representation through four
micro areas of
Camerawork | editing | sound | mise en scene

Exam - continued
You will be marked on:
How well you use examples from the
clip of the four technical areas (20/50
marks)
How well you explain how
representation is constructed in the clip
(20/50 marks)
Your use of terminology in your answer

Introduction to the unit

Read
through the

handout
Our lessons are based around flipped
learning

Talking of terminology.
Or who did their reading week activities?

What is a sound motif?

What is the difference between
diegetic and non-diegetic sound?
What is a canted angle?
Which of the four technical areas
would body language be an element
of?
List 5 elements of mise-en-scene
What is asynchronous sound?

Terminology test
continued:
Which element of camerawork does
an eye-line match belong to?
Which of the four technical areas
would performance come under?
What is a motivated cut?
What is the difference between
tracking and panning?
What is foley sound?

Talking of terminology.
Or who did their reading week activities?

What is a sound motif?

A sound or musical refrain which usually accompanies a character and introduces
them to the audience

What is the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic

sound?
Diegetic sound has the source within the world of the film. Nondiegetic sound is added in post production (such as a musical score).

What is a canted angle?

Slanted camera angle that could be around 5 degrees of centre

Which of the four technical areas would body language be an

element of?
Mise-en-scene

List 5 elements of mise-en-scene

Lighting | setting | costume | location | NVC

What is asynchronous sound?

Sound that demands a different emotional
effect to that depicted on screen

Terminology test
continued:
Which element of camerawork does an eye-line match
belong to?
Editing

Which of the four technical areas would performance come

under?
Mise-en-scene

What is a motivated cut?

Motivated cut is put to connect two scenes: the subject wanting or
searching the object of interest and the object of interest.

What is the difference between tracking and panning?

Tracking is when the camera moves with the subject
Panning is when the camera pivots from side to side but remains
stationary

What is foley sound?

Natural sound enhanced in post production

Unit: what will you

study?
Representation:
What is representation?
Define with the person sitting next to
you and write your definition on the
board
What is this?
What is this?

Representation
Presentation (or re-presentation) of an event, group of
people or idea in a way that appears normal or like
reality
Representation is always constructed from the point of
view of the person who made the representation (eg
writer or director) and will therefore always reflect the
values of the creator
These creators often fall into the dominant group in our
society
Who is the dominant group in society?

We are conditioned to accept the point of view of the

creator (preferred reading)
Mass media also tends to be owned by this dominant
group!

Preferred Readings
Common ideas in society seen in the media
that we are conditioned to see as normal
include:
The nuclear family as normal and desired
In real life the majority of families are not like this!

Women are normally found in domestic roles

(cooking, cleaning, home-making, child-rearing)
Any woman found challenging the above is abnormal
in some way (masculine in appearance, unattractive)

Gangs of youths in hoodies are up to no good

Men are usually the boss

Preferred Readings
continued
Look at the seven areas of representation on
the introductory handout:
In your group identify a common norm found
in society for each one
Age
Gender
Regional Identity
Social Class and Status
Ability and Disability
Sexuality
Ethnicity

Representation in TV
drama
Often reliant on stereotypes
Define stereotype in your group and write on the board

Over-simplified image or idea of a person or

thing that focuses on one element and attaches
meaning
Used to drive plot and narrative
Used to show power imbalances between groups of
people (eg male v female; young v old)
Media frequently focuses on negative stereotypes
uses them as character short-cuts
We are going to explore how the 4 micro areas are
used to construct messages about representation

Representation in
society
Complete the task on stereotypes in
pairs

Reading Week Activities

In your group, compare your research into a
television drama.
Collectively
Make a list of the conclusions that youve made
about how age and gender tend to be represented
in television drama
Include reference to
Ideology
Preferred readings
Stereotypes

Bring all this together into five key points

Present your findings to the rest of the class

Homework
Visit the TV Drama Blog (you arent
logging in!)
Complete the activities on mise-enscene and camerawork

You must complete these activities as

next Thursday we are focusing on
applying your knowledge of these
two micro areas to sequences from
TV dramas