Theories

Audience

• Uses and Gratifications

- Explain how we 'use' the media and what gratifications (pleasures) we receive

• Hypodermic Needle

- Early theory that suggests we are injected with ideas that we believe to be true

Narrative

• Todorov

- 3 parts to a narrative - equilibrium, disruption, resolution

• Propp

- Character types - hero, villain, princess, donor, helper etc.

• Levi-Straus

- Binary opposites - narratives feature conflicts between opposing forces (good/evil etc.)

• Barthes

- Narratives involve enigmas - questions/puzzles to be solved by the audience

TV Listings Magazine

Exam Tips

The exam will be based on either a job or a competition.
Should have:

• Coloured Pencils
• Fineliners
• Rulers, rubber etc.
• Sketches/Diagrams to extend answers where appropriate

If it states 'globally', set in somewhere big and popular e.g. Tokyo, L.A. - NOT somewhere local

Last Question

• Storyboard something
• Designing DVD cover for your crime drama  - blurb/rating
• Front cover of a TV listing magazine promoting your crime drama
• Design website homepage - look at BBC Sherlock website
• Important ingredients - codes and conventions

3 shows - in depth - venn diagram

• Sherlock
• CSI
• Luther

AND independent shows to refer to - not in depth

• Prison Break
• Dexter etc.

Two examples of theory
- Embed into work

• Uses and gratifications

- Information, Entertainment, Identity, Personal Relationships
- Enigma
- Proliferation - means an increased amount, e.g. in the last 20 years there has ben a proliferation of crime drama on television - channels, shows, platforms, then reasons.

• Hyperdermic Needle Theory

- People believe everything they are shown on media
- Copycat crime
- Link to Sociology

Narrative Theory

• Propp

- Every story has hero, villain, princess, false hero, dispatcher, helper (sidekick), donor, father

• Todorov

- Equilibrium, Disruption, Resolution
- Crime is normality in crime drama
- Disruption includes lies, multiple suspects etc.
- Resolution does not always apply

• Levi-Straus

- Stories revolve around opposites - conflict
- Law vs. Criminals
- Good vs. Evil etc.
e.g. Luther is both - borderlines

• Barthes

- All stories have enigmas
- Puzzles to be solved

Pay attention to

• Characters

- Get to know them well
- What is their vice

• Settings

- Their importance

• Set pieces and iconography
• Jargon

- Alibi
- Motive
- Blunt force trauma - opposite of e.g. stabbing - applying force with no entering of body e.g. hit with baseball bat
- MO - mode in which you operate e.g. Dexter, serial killer murders with no blood

• Write in role
• Talk about characters in a wonderful way
• Make pitch believable, mention iplayer or why you plan to use a certain actress

- BBC three niche audience
- Successful - move to BBC
- Like E4 to channel 4

• Rationale - reasoning
• Interesting ways of marketing

- Apps
- Online e.g. play whilst you are watching
- Character blogs
- Live episode
- Rare 2-parter

Weekly Review 6 - Prison Break

Abruzi is in hospital with a slit throat, and Lincoln is taken to solitary after punching a guard (who was about to discover the hole), so the five remaining inmates must figure out what to do about their escape plan. Michael wants to delay the escape but the other four want to leave as soon as possible. Following threats from his co-conspirators, Michael decides that they must leave that evening at 9pm. Back in his cell, Michael cut open his arm and removed a hidden pouch which contains a black pill. He then borrows Sucre’s crucifix and hides the pill inside it. With his brother’s execution now only 36 hours away, Michael prays with a priest and asks him for a favour – would he mind giving a crucifix to his brother, Lincoln? Lincoln receives the crucifix containing the pill and a note instructing him to eat it at 8:10. When Lincoln does so he becomes violently ill, and is taken to the prison’s infirmary. Dr Tancredi believes Lincoln suffers from food poisoning, and the five inmates use the tunnels beneath the prison to make their way to the infirmary. They arrive at the room underneath the infirmary containing the pipe Michael previously corroded; however, the pipe has now been replaced. Michael tries to remove it, and Lincoln helps from the room above. Their attempts fail as the pipe cannot be removed.

I enjoy Prison Break as unlike other crime dramas I’ve seen, it shows the criminals point of view more than the police or the victims. Still in this drama the set pieces are similar although less frequent e.g. crime scenes aren’t involved, where as interrogation, laboratory etc. are included. In a way the narrative is restrictive as we know as much as the criminals attempting to escape, however we are unaware that other characters have more knowledge. Most of the main characters are criminals in this crime drama, and are each stereotypical as they play the ‘thug’ characters – up to no good all of the time. The way they dress connotates this as they alter their prison uniforms to make themselves stand out, as well as the majority of the characters being tattooed.

Luther as a flawed anti-hero

• He is suspended for letting a criminal fall to his death
• Overthinks constantly
• Priorities are different to those of a typical officer
• Sometimes puts his wife before his job
• Bad tempered
• Sensitive/Emotional
• Complex
• Wears his heart on his sleeve
• Corrupt
• Split personality
• Makes people uncomfortable
• Commanding
• Depressed? - is caught standing on the edge of the building
• Suicidal tendencies
• Overly protective
• In communication with a criminal - Alice
• Involved in fights
• Broke into his wife's home
• Makes references to the devil
• Entrapment - tricks criminals into confessing
• Carries on investigating crime even when case is passed on
• Independent investigation
• Mocks people
• Breaks law to find evidence - breaks into Alice's flat
• Uses blackmail to solve crime
• Encourages criminals to attack him personally
• Willing to risk his life
• Violent/Aggressive

Weekly Review 5 - Inspector Morse

Plot

Steven Parnell, an accused murderer of a number young girls the previous summer, is killed while in prison awaiting trial. Morse, the protagonist, had not been involved in the case as he was on leave during most of the investigation. What interests inspector Morse is that one of the victims, Karen Anderson, was never found and it is assumed that her body was dumped in a nearby lake but Parnell confessed to his priest when on his deathbed that he wasn't responsible for that particular murder. When one of the witnesses in the case, George Daly, is murdered, Morse and Lewis try to find some connection to Karen Anderson's disappearance. They also wonder why Anderson's camera (she was a photographer) wasn't found. What they came across was a group of middle-aged men whose hobby is taking so-called glamour photos. The case takes an interesting twist when the body they find in the woods is a middle-aged male rather than Karen Anderson's. Morse then realises that he was wrong and the cause for murder is elsewhere.

Iconography

There are several set pieces used which are typical of crime dramas and regular in most crime series, one being the interrogation scene. However in Inspector Morse, as it is set in the countryside and is more old fashioned, the interrogation scene appears much calmer, in a home rather than a police station. Also, the crime scene featured in this episode doesn't involve any gore and isn't dramatic - the facts are stated and investigators are calm and gentle about the crime. Inspector Morse himself comes across as a friendly character, who is dedicated to his job and allows his work to be all-consuming, as well as working very much alongside the law as he believes that the truth should always be revealed, even when, (as in this case) the case isn't even his to investigate. When in a dramatic scene, alike most crime dramas, music is used to build tension for the audience. However in Inspector Morse, a band of classical music is used which isn't common amongst usual crime drama. I enjoy Inspector Morse for its simplicity as it doesn't try to sugar coat crime; it isn't flash, but more down to the point.

Settings

Most crime dramas attract audiences that can relate to settings e.g. if they live there, somewhere similar, or have experienced similar happenings in or around their hometown. For example, Luther is set in the suburbs of working class London, in estates - a location which the average viewer may relate to, as there is no glitz and glamour within this setting. This setting gives Luther a more gritty effect, maybe gripping the audience with its realistic feel. CSI: Miami, on the other hand, uses Miami to glamourise the crime and make it seem more like a fantasy, with upper class citizens committing or being victims of crime, making it more shocking than perhaps realistic. We associate Miami with wealth, immaculate beaches, sunshine - a holiday destination rather than somewhere you would fear. This allows them to play on the paradise look of Miami and contradict our view of Miami with the gory crimes involved. Also, in Luther, we are able to see crimes happen which we also see on the news - things like gang crime amongst estates, with teenagers.