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tuesday 16 april 2024


tuesday 16 april 2024




  Television drama is a popular TV genre. ‘Binge-watching’ series in one go is a recent phenomenon while other dramas have built hugely loyal fanbases (e.g. Doctor Who) over many years.

There are many sub-genres and hybrid genres in TV drama from costume drama to fantasy or science-fiction.

Key conventions

TV Drama has certain recognisable conventions or typical features. These include: 
  • Dramatic narrative, usually linear (with continuity across episodes.) This is called a narrative arc where the story goes across the series.
  • Ensemble cast (characters with own storylines). Sometimes an episode will focus more on one character or another.
  • Specific technical codes e.g. realistic lighting and editing for social dramas to keep it gritty. Common use of flashback, point of view shots, dialogue and voice over, enigma and action codes throughout.
  • Use of stereotypical ‘stock’ characters get storylines across quickly.
TV Drama series

A TV drama series is a set of connected TV episodes that run under the same title e.g. Stranger Things, Doctor Who or His Dark Materials. They are usually structured in ‘seasons’ or ‘series’ and often end with a ‘season finale’. (‘Season’ is the US word but you will hear the British term 'series'.)

Genre

Genre definition: a style or category of TV, film, music or literature.

Genre is the term to classify any TV or film media product that has a chosen style and follows certain codes and conventions e.g. comedy, action or crime drama. 

Genres can change over time and there is increasingly a fashion to combine genres to create hybrid genres. E.g. Science fiction and fantasy.


NCIS

We can use the mnemonic NCIS to remember how to analyse the genre of film or television:

Narrative: the storyline and preoccupations / issues e.g an action adventure film usually features a dangerous quest or mission. Todorov’s Equilibrium theory of narrative structure might apply here.
Characters: the people who drive the story. Here you may see examples of  Propp’s character types e.g.  In fantasy there is often a hero, princess, helper, villain etc.
Iconography: the mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) to create a particular look e.g. a horror movie may be particularly focused on blood, darkness and set at night.
Setting: the locations or time period used e.g. in Western movies, you will often see it located in American or Mexican deserts around 1800s.

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