TV dramas and their ranges, is what I will be writing about in this entry. Range means different genres in dramas, such as:
Soaps; like Eastenders and Hollyoaks
Period Dramas; like Lost in Austin and Bleak House
Series; like Skins and Trial and Retribution
Conventions; like the Bill and Holby City.
For a programme to be classified as a Drama, it must show realism. What this means is the programme must be factually correct for the era/time it is set in. For example, in The Tudors a character couldn’t be wearing Nike trainers. Or in Coronation Street an alien couldn’t saunter onto screen, it has to be realistic to the viewers so they can relate to it. A drama mostly has a theme tune; this isn’t compulsory but it brings familiarity with the programme, encouraging people to watch it.
Soaps give viewers a place to safely watch a realistic programme which they can relate/sympathise/empathise with, but don’t actually enter the world in which they watch. They can tune in and tune out at any moment; which gives them a luxury of doing thus to someone else’s life, as they can’t do it to their own. It’s an escape from reality, to a fake one, in which many seek comfort.
Many people may moan when a story line is a little farfetched, and then go on to criticise the programme on a whole, but if they know that a story line is farfetched, it’s most likely due to the fact they religiously watch the programme. So that tells us, that even though they are moaning about it, the writers are obviously doing something right because they were/are watching the programme anyway.
Soaps:
The two most popular TV dramas at the moment, and have been for a long time are Eastenders (BBC1) and Coronation Street (ITV1), we know these are dramas as they try to portray realism, nothing glorified. So if a character is going to shoot/stab another character the writers can’t illustrate the criminal as an action hero, they have to write it as it would happen in real life, with the traumas and trials for both characters families, the legal routes and consequences both have to face, like they would if they lived down the viewers street and did that. Another example is when a character is in hospital they always have a private room, and unless they are paying for it or have private health care, which would be very unrealistic as they are meant to be working-class who are always portrayed to be short of money, therefore unable to pay for it, they wouldn’t be put into a room but onto a ward with other people. But I think the reasons why writers do this is because it cheaper to have one small room, rather than a big room full of medical equipment and extras.
It varies from soap to soap as to whether they use sound bridges for their shots. For example in Hollyoaks (Channel4) they often used this method to help create characters moods, but Eastenders very rarely use it. For example at the beginning of Hollyoaks there is sometimes mood music, whilst the camera is cutting from one character to another, then the music fades to diegetic music that is on the radio in one of the various settings. And for Eastenders it maybe the sound of a party in the Queen Vic carrying out over the square, while the camera is tracking a character.
This may have something to do with the target audience the soap is aimed at; Hollyoaks is aimed at teenagers and young adults, who are known for loving music and relating to it and the mood it creates, while Eastenders which is aimed at mostly adults as it contains adult themes and problems (though most ages do watch it), don’t use this theme as it is a more serious and widely ranged soap than Hollyoaks, and non-diegetic music takes way some of this realism.
Neither use Non-diegetic music placed over the shots, as this would be breaking the rule of trying to make the show as realistic as possible. Though some things can be made a little unrealistic, such as how long it would take of a trial to come to court. This in reality takes months and months whereas in soaps this can be achieved in around a month. This is so one story line doesn’t go on to long, without any new developments in which losing the viewers attention and interest.
Period Dramas:
These are mostly set around the 19th century- Victorian Britain. This era is perhaps the easiest, or the favourite of the public. Many of these are based on novels that were written at the time, such as ‘Pride and Prejudice’ and ‘Sense and Sensibility’. Or they are based on the authors themselves, such as ‘Lost in Austin’ (ITV1) this is about Jane Austin’s life, but given a modern twist where a women from the modern day switches places her, and finds out that may of the characters in her books do exist; whether this is true or not I do not know. But it is interesting to see the two completely different cultures mix and clash, in a society where women are meant to be meek and obedient, to meet a head strong ‘tomboy’ from today’s world.
The settings, clothes and the way characters speak are key to any period drama. Costume designers have to capture the way dresses, jackets, shirts and trousers were worn, right down to the types of fastening and patterns. Settings are also vital; set designers have to make sure that the right type of accessories end up at the correct set, so a working-class home wouldn’t have chandeliers, carpets, fine china or exquisite sofas, whereas an upper-class household would. The way the actors have to speak is also compulsory; in the 19th century people spoke in a manner which we have now lost, royalty and such in our world, may be able to speak how we used to, but most of us normal people no longer ‘talk proper’.
All of the above is used to keep to the code of reality; transporting the viewer back to a simpler technological time, but a more complicated social acceptance. Also many period dramas have the credits at the beginning of the programme, in the introduction, with the words ‘from the novel written by....’ or something similar.
These may use non-diegetic music over shots, this is because even though it is a drama, they are mostly based on books, and so the viewer knows the general outcome of the programme, but its how the characters get to them that is the key point. Period Dramas are about how things were realistic at the time, rather than at the moment. So already a piece of the realism has gone, so they can afford to add atmospheric music over dialogue or shots to create a mood.
Hospital Dramas:
These are completely ‘up to date’, by this I mean they have all the equipment that you would see in a regular NHS hospital, at the time they are set in obviously. Programmes of this calibre are ‘Holby City’ (BBC1), ‘Doc Martin’ (ITV1) and ‘Greys Anatomy’ (Channel 5), along with others. Hospital Dramas keep to the rule of realism, by characters using all the correct terms for injury’s and procedures, having the accurate clothes and the settings being true to life. The credits on most of these are in the opening sequence, accompanied by a familiar and catchy tune.
Some situations on these programmes tend to get dramatised- but then that is the name of this genre! But writers have to do this, as any programme would get boring if it was exactly like real life, they may as well go and sit in their local hospital if they want to see the reality of hospitals; which is why corrupt doctors, love affairs, and disasters have to be mixed into the concoction. It is all realistic, as these things do happen, but they are few and far between.
Crime Dramas:
A favourite of mine is ‘C.S.I’ and ‘Law and Order’ on channel 5. A more popular one I dare say is ‘The Bill’ on ITV1. Both of these have different aspects for example ‘C.S.I’ and ‘Law and Order’ tends to be less realistic, this may just be a cultural thing, as it’s an American production, whilst ‘The Bill’ is British. I feel that there’s too much glorify in the American crime dramas, with all the high speed chases, people being killed in magnificent ways that attract media attention, cops strutting around doing and going where they please. It is still realistic in all the names of chemicals they use, and some of the clothes. But- now, I may be wrong- but I don’t think that police labs in America have all the high tech equipment that they are shown to have, nor is it so clean, tidy, and new. But that’s Americans for you; they’re big on respect for law officials. So maybe they’re portraying the police how they want to be seen by the public or producers, that the ‘baddie’ always gets caught, and the cop always prevails over evil. And the amount of interesting/challenging cases that the team are always getting, there’s never a ‘normal’ and simple killing, it’s always a mystery, right up till the end. That to me doesn’t seem very realistic, though I may be wrong, this is just my opinion.
But in ‘The Bill’ it seems more realistic than C.S.I. The bill seems to deal with more realistic and everyday life incidents; like a car has been stolen, or someone has been stabbed. By using more realistic incidents I believe that viewers may be able to relate to the matter more, than if it’s out of the ordinary.
Both I feel are still portrayed to look more heroic-some more than others-but because both are fast paced, this gives the producers, writers and story boarders more freedom with the camera then with using the traditional contemporary styles, they can have strange angles, move the camera in a confusing way, and have many more angles than allowed on say soaps.
Teen Drama:
Channel 4 produces some of the best teen drama, such as ‘Skins’ and ‘Shameless’, as well as being dramas they’re also at time funny. These two examples are largely dramatised and inflated; in Skins it shows 17 year olds doing what they want, when they want. Though this is something we all wish for it doesn’t happen. For example in an episode Cassie goes to America (I think, I can’t quite remember where she goes) to try and find someone, she just packed up her bags and left. Now in reality, even if you didn’t have to have your parents’ permission- for various reasons- there would still need to be the problem of money, plane tickets, accommodation when you got there. There seems to be no parental supervision in the entire episode, though there are a few who can do as they wish for the majority of us, it’s not how reality is. And by showing this it’s sending a message that it’s ok to the things that the characters do. To make up for its fictional times, it does address some serious issues that affect teenagers, like drugs, anorexia, friends and parents dying, exams, relationships and pushy parents. So may be with in all this ‘fun’ the producers are trying to send subliminal messages about important issues, and show the consequences of silly actions. Also the setting and costumes are realistic of a teenager.
