What is TV drama?

TV drama is a large genre. Its fictionalised action in narrative form at its simplest. TV drama splits into many different types and it is important to understand how and why this is.


Examples of TV drama include: Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Doctor Who, Casualty, Holby City,  Being Human, Hotel Babylon, Ugly Betty, Misfits, The Event, Desperate Housewives.


Shows like Midsummer Murders, Lewis and Foyle's War are all crime dramas. I believe the reason for this is because crime and murders provide a perfect storyline for TV dramas, due to the scenes of action and the prospect of a mystery. 


Different kinds of TV drama include: Action & Adventure, Biographical, Classic & Period, Crime, Historical, Horror & Supernatural,
Legal & Courtroom, Medical, Musical, Political, Relationships & Romance, Sci-Fi & Fantasy,
Soaps, Spiritual, Thriller, War & Disaster, Western.


Genre means 'Type'. Therefore a TV genre refers to programmes which can be categorised by 
things there share alike. Many genres break down into sub-genres, for example crime drama. TV
drama has given birth to a number of sub-genres. What started out as a drama on television, 
single plays, quickly evolved into different kinds of dramas such as costume dramas, soap operas
and crime dramas. This took place in the 1950s as the BBC was evolving and ITV first began 
broadcasting. 

Media evaluation

Media evaluation

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Rough cut feedback - via YOUTUBE

We have published a rough cut of our thriller opening onto youtube in hope of getting some feedback from people around the globe. Here is the link.

Script

We have decided to not include any script in our opening. This is because we feel it would take away the tenseness of the situation and maybe prevent the effect we are trying to produce. We could have included speech in the scene within the main characters home however we decided as a group that this would take away the sense of being lonely and isolated within your own home and life.

Music

We have finally decided on a track for our thriller opening! We found it on www.freeplaymusic.com and it is called 'Gather Around' and features some creepy string sounds along with some quite fast paced drums. It fits out production perfectly, sound and length.

Survey results

Survey results

Age: The age of our audience is important because different ages have different tastes and preferences of movies, specifically thrillers. We have learnt from our data that our audience is predominantly aged 15-17. This matches to our thriller as this is our intended target audience.

Favourite genre of film: We asked this question to establish a link between age groups and what films they enjoy. From this we can learn if our target audience enjoys thriller films or not. From learning the most popular genres of film we can incorporate things from more popular genres, for example comedy, into our thriller movie to make it appeal to a wider audience.

How often do you watch films: We asked this question because people who watch films more often will have more of an opinion and have a deeper insight and better knowledge. We have learnt from this data that most people watch films once a week.

Preferred method of watching films: We asked this question to find out which method would be best to release our film on to. When filming our opening we can gear it towards cinema by using effects that work well in the cinema like sound and a bigger wider picture.

Most frightening situation: We asked this question to find out what situation the audience would least like to be in alone. The choices were from city, house, forest, town or village and other. We learnt that being alone in a forest at night is the location that people would least like to be in (85% of vote) followed by a city (15% of vote). We can apply this knowledge to our planning and set our opening in the most scary location so that viewers can relate to the fear experienced by the actor.

Most frightening weapon: We asked this question to find out what weapon the audience would find most frightening to be threatened with. From our results we can conclude that knives are more frightening (45% of people said this). This was followed by the hatchet (30%), gun (15%) and heavy metal chain (10%). From this information we can conclude that the audience feels much more threatened by sharp objects. This is important because the killer in our production needs to be able to strike fear into the audience, one of the main ways of him doing this is by killing people with a menacing weapon. We can apply this to our planning by equipping our villain with sharp weapons.

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Storyboard continued...

Here is the second sheet to our storyboard.

Storyboard

we started this on paper, in pencil, and then altered it by adding colour on photoshop.

Audience research survey

Today I produced, with help from Jamie, an audience research survey. The aim of this survey is to gather information about what the audience opinions and preferences are when it comes to films. We may also be continuing the audience research soon by getting feedback on music for our chase scene.

Below is our survey:

Brief synopsis of our thriller plot & research

Today Jamie wrote up our thriller movie synopsis (below), our equipment list for filming the opening. 


The thriller opens with our victim (Chloe) being hunted down and killed by our killer (Dylan). Dylan however doesn't realize that he is a brutal killer by night and in the day he goes about his daily business as a college student without noticing the clues that go on around him revealing his nasty split personality.

After the killing, Dylan gets up and goes to college but starts seeing ghosts and he can't quite recall what it is he does at night, but he knows it's something, and he begins investigating his grim past as all the time the body count rises, and eventually the police come knocking and thus ensues a desperate race for Dylan to escape, not fully knowing what he's done , and then he has many decisions to make....




We also did some research on chase scenes with similar themes to our chase scene. These included a forest chase scene and a forest chase scene from the film 'Dog Soldiers'

Characters

Catrin Hamer - Plays 'Chloe', a sweet, innocent, 16 year old college student. She's pleasantly mannered, amiable and radiant in personality. She has lived a lovely life with her loving family and has big ambitions for her life. She is very intelligent and a hard worker at college. Her pink hair represents her individuality.

We chose to cast Catrin in the role because of her innocent, sweet appearance, her pink hair and her small build makes her appear vulnerable.

Daniel Jones - Plays 'Dylan', is a seemingly normal college student. He's charismatic, popular, friendly and generally outgoing. He keeps his nightmares hidden from others and does not talk about them, even to his closest peers. He grew up surrounded by violence, his father beating his mother, but suppresses these memories. Dylan is unaware that these nightmares are real.

We chose to cast Daniel in this role because he appears normal however has potentially 'bad guy' traits like his black hair. He also has experience in acting. Daniel also fits the masks size.


Daniel also did a post on character casting.

Costumes

Here is a link to Daniel's costume post.

Body of lies case study

Body of lies

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Music

Choosing the music is quite difficult as it has to be perfect to create the desired effect. In lessons I have been searching for this desired track or tracks on www.freeplaymusic.com which is a website full of copyright free music. After consideration I came to the conclusion that the tracks on "Dark Dimensions Vol 7" would best suit the opening chase scene at some points. However choosing the music will be easier once we film the opening chase scene.

mask update

the mask for our production has arrived and I have been given the job of painting it. we decided to incorporate some of the designs from other masks in the previous post > http://danieljmedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/thriller-trailer-update-masks.html. Here is the finished result, however it may look better if more cracks are added.

Kick-Ass case study

Media case study

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Locations

Our thriller opening planning has begun! Our story is coming along nicely and things are starting to tie together. The mask for our villain has been purchased and we are currently awaiting delivery, check out http://danieljmedia.blogspot.com/2010/10/thriller-trailer-update-masks.html for our mask research.

Location

Maize:
I think a maize field would be a good location because the dense plants would add a sense of claustrophobia. The victim may also have to battle through the plants which exaggerates the distress and panic of being chased in the first place. This specific area is good because the maize is less dense in some areas and therefore will make it easier to film.  



Woods:
Alternatively we could use a wood or a forest as a location for our chase sequence. The trees in the forest represent bars, the ground is littered with dead branches which could symbolise death in general and the ground is clear and open in places. The clear ground is important because we don't want our actors tripping over brambles as they run through.  

In the same area there is another section of trees. The trees here are large and twisted. The twisted shape of the trees gives the scenery a creepy appearance. However the ground here is not as bare as the forest above and therefore we might have to prepare in advance and trim the brambles. There is one tree in particular that is quite low, wide and easy to climb. We could possibly utilise this to get some high angle shots to ensure the victim looks extra vulnerable.

More importantly is the fact that all of these locations are situated in the same area:
1) forest which has trees that represent bars
2) pond - this could be used in a shot as water is commonly used in thriller films. The other blue section is a ditch that has a pipe trickling water into it.
3) forest with large twisted trees
4) field in which separates this area from the road. Approximately 100m to the road means its easily accessible.
5) stretch of maize.


                                                                                                                                  

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Using the digital camera's are a whole new experience to me and I have enjoyed every moment using them. I have learnt how to operate the camera's features effectively and how to use the equipment safely. I have also learned a more in depth knowledge of camera angles, shots and movement. Before I started media I already had an understanding of basic camera shots: close-up, medium shot, long shot. However since beginning the course I believe I have enhanced my understanding of angles, shots, movement and the effects they create. For example a 'low angle shot' gives the character an intimidating and powerful appearance.

I am also completely new to editing and have quickly learned how important it is in making a successful production. The sound effects need to be well suited to the action to make the right effect and give across the right message. I have also learnt the importance of sequencing shots and keeping the action on screen active and interesting to watch. This can be achieved by using a variety of camera shots and angles edited together effectively.

Analysing thriller openings

Analysing thriller openings

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Preliminary task.

This week we finished our preliminary task. Producing the short film was extremely fun, especially the filming and adding sound to the production. Although it is not perfect it is still rewarding to see the finished product up and running. Difficulties we came across were:

• Filming on different days - this produced slight problems with the continuity in our filming.
• Using iMovie for the first time - as none of our group had used imovie before editing and adjusting the video clips was slow at first.

Apart from this I believe our preliminary task ran pretty smoothly and was very enjoyable. We are all eager to begin our thriller openings.

Here is the finished video:

Labels

Some Media Terminology..

Composition:
The composition is the layout of an image or set made up of different parts. This includes where things are situated in the shot and rule of thirds. The composition is used to create certain effects.


Editing:
Editing is used to make sure the finished piece is clean and cut. You use editing to add effects to your film, cut out chunks of film that aren't very good or not needed and to generally bring your separate clips of film into one whole piece.


Sound:
Sound is used to create a range of effects and provoke emotions in the viewer. This could either be music and soundtracks or simple sound affects.

• Diegetic sound: sound that other characters would be able to hear. A song on a radio for example.
• Non-Diegetic sound: sound that characters in the film cannot hear. For example background music or sound effects.

Up and running.

Hi, I'm Nelson Burton and welcome to my A-level Media blog.

I'm currently a student at Reepham College and i'm enjoying every minute of it. Here on the blog you will find everything to do with my Media studies project. Including research and eventually the final production.

Enjoy!