TV Drama

Thursday 27th June 2019.

Cuffs: Series 1, Episode 1.

Learning Objective:

• To analyse the narratives and characters constructed in an opening episode.

What would you expect to be set up in an opening episode?

• Main characters - who they are, personalities, intentions
• Storylines - the genre, where its gonna go, structure of episode
• Setting - where they are, who they're with, why there there.
• Overall tone/appeal - 15 -25 year olds, crime and mystery and action - appeals to young audiences.

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Friday 22nd November 2019. 

Characters and Storylines - Cuffs.

Learning Objective:

• For each character, describe how they are represented in the episode and their own individual storyline.

PC Ryan Draper - A single dad to his two children, Ryan has equally high standards at home but his controlling and over-bearing nature threatens to drive away those he loves most.

PC Jake Vickers - Working in the same division as his Dad, Jake soon realises that being the boss’ son isn’t a bed of roses, as his new Tutor Constable Ryan is quick to point out his every fault. Self-assured, if a little naïve, Jake is determined to earn his place on the team but fails to realise that a romance with provocative defence solicitor Simon, could undo all of his hard work.

DS Jo Moffat - Diligent and organised, she always does everything by the book and gets results. But whilst her career is going from strength to strength, her personal life isn’t. Lonely and divorced, Jo is having an affair with Robert, her Chief Super. Whilst initially Jo was happy with the no-strings-attached arrangement, she’s now realising she’s constantly at the raw end of the deal.

Chief Super Robert Vickers - As Robert struggles to cope with wife’s recent cancer diagnosis, seeking refuge in the arms of one of his reports, and with his son now joining the force; Robert’s personal and professional lives are set to collide.

DC Carl Hawkins - Carl’s new wife wants another baby but Carl’s not keen, and his reckless habit of acting first and thinking later may be about to come back to haunt him.

DI Felix Kane - Introverted and secretive, he never gives anything away about himself; he never invites any sort of emotional intimacy. Felix has always been a loner but he now has newfound responsibilities to contend with.

PC Donna Prager - She loves her job and working with her best mate Lino - but her overbearing nature is starting to put a strain on their partnership. To top it all, Donna’s tendency to prioritise work over home is also causing issues in her personal life.

PC Lino Moretti - He's on the lookout for love, he loves working with his best mate Donna. They make a great team, but his love of doughnuts and failing fitness levels is beginning to threaten their partnership.

PC Misha Baig - Misha is in her first year as a Neighbourhood PC. A British Muslim, Misha’s faith is important to her and informs everything she does – including being a police officer.

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Friday 6th December 2019.

Cuffs Notes.

Camera work/mise-en-scene:

• Open shot - drone fast shot showing the fast paced Brighton.
• Low angle close up on a black officer - ethnicity is now respected and shows equal rights.
• Steady cam shot - creates tension as it makes us seem like we're there. The unsteadiness connotes that life in Brighton is rough.
• Over shoulder shot - shows were from the characters perspective. Shows a sign that says "nudist beach". Shows liberal time. Slow mo.
• Pan shot, medium close up of different ethnicities, sexuality showing we have progressed and become more open.
• High angle tells us to look down on the men and judge them, showing we have a lad culture and that is what we're often viewed as.
• Medium shot shows somebody filming what is happening.
• Fight breaks out, shows we have problems with violence.
• Low angle of police man reinforces a patriarchal society where straight, middle aged white men are still in control.
• We've lost respect for law and order because more people are questioning, filming, and arguing against the police. We don't have enough police to fight back.
• Low angle close up shows police officer being punched by man, showing we don't respect the law.
• The fact its set in Brighton shows its gonna have a lot of equality as Brighton is the 'gay' capital of the UK

Sound:

• Diegetic ambient sound of seagulls - Britain has a leisure society 
• Non diegetic music - tense music creates tension.
• Diegetic police radio, shows we have a problem with crime.
• Alpha male and hero because he's speaking really low, firm and clear. He's masculine.
• Diegetic dialog chief of police "they will have positive interactions with the public" followed by juxtaposition of "seriously what is the point in you" aimed at an officer. There aren't enough police to deal with the crimes going on, so they often don't get their jobs done.

Editing:

• Continuity, seeing the same seen from different angles.
• Sound bridge making the scene flow.
• Voiceover, being used as a sound bridge. Non diegetic sound linking the two scenes together.
• Parallel editing throughout scene to show what being a police man is really is - the reality instead of lies we're often told.

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Friday 29th November 2019.

Avengers Practice Question.

How is Britishness' represented in this scene in terms of mise-en-scene?

In this scene 'britishness' is represented through clothing. Back in the 60's the British women would wear delicate nice clothes, always wanting to be pretty. Where the man is in his suit, ready for work.

How is War Paranoia/racism represented in this scene through mise-en-scene?
In this scene mise-en-scene is represented through this scene by props. There is a plane, that would probably represent a plane that may have been used in a war.

How was Steed represented in episode 1?
Steed was represented as a very formal and work driven man. His clothing is very formal which shows his formality. Anytime that Steed was shown he was mostly seen working, this shows off gender stereotypes of the 60s.

How was Mrs Peel represented in episode 1?
Mrs Peel was represented as a very strong independent person. She was shown as a strong minded woman, who went against any song female stereotypes.


How was the context of the 1960s shown in the different representations used in episode 1?
In the 1960s it was a time where women had to stay in, take care of the kids and always look pretty. They had no power and less of a place in society. However, in episode 1, Mrs Peel is represented as an independent, strong female character. She is shown as a strong minded woman, doing things men should be doing for her all by herself. But Steed was presented as a stereotypical man for the time. He was a hardworking man, and very formal. Pictured in suits showing how a man would usually dress at work for the time. Both characters are both strong minded, both seeming to have quite a lot of power.

Class is also strongly represented through the clothing they wear. The men are depicted wearing nice suits, showing they are of a higher class and status. It tells us they are working men, with quite high up jobs. They also wear what were named 'bowler hats', only the richer men would wear these and show off their high status. Whereas the women were dressed nice and softly. The main female character, Mrs Peel, was always pictured with her makeup on and her hair nicely done. This shows she is of a higher class, as she has enough money to afford these luxury things. Women of higher classes often liked being seen as beautiful, making sure they were always only seen as their best. As Mrs Peel is.
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Tuesday 3rd December 2019.

Avengers Practice Question.

How is media language used in the extract to portray gender and sexuality in the 1960's.

Write about:

• Camera work
• Mise-en-scene
• Sound
• Editing 

Media Language is used in this extract to portray the power that men had over women in the 60s. The avengers open with a close up of a door bell. On the doorbell it reads "Mrs Emma Peel", revealing to the audience that she is in fact married. However the erotic music being softly played in the back tells us there might be an affair or some sort of sexual attraction between Peel and Steed. Steed then rings the bell with his cane, purposely not using his fingers which shows he is arrogant and masculine, showing he has power. Then the shot pan tilts to an eye on Mrs Peel's door, the eye is covered in makeup telling the audience that women were always expected to look their bests and dress up and look pretty for men. It shows the sexual attitudes towards women in the 60s, saying that if you're dolled up and pretty you're more likely to get a man.

Then for the first time in the extract we see Steed. The camera pans around to him, showing a medium close up of him - the camera at a low angle making him seem bigger. By making Steed seem bigger it shows his masculinity and power as he's bigger than everyone watching. Then as he enters we see the first shot of Mrs Peel - which a a medium shot at a high angle. This makes her seem small and powerless, due to being a woman they want to make her seem smaller than all the men. Peel is also pictured wearing all leather, holding a rapier. This has connotations to bondage, once again hinting to a sexual tension between herself and Steed. 

However the sexual tension between the two isn't just constricted to clothing, but also their dialog. Steed criticises Mrs Peel's fencing skills by saying "Not enough flexibility in the wrist"

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Friday 10th December 2020.

The 1960's.

Learning Objective:

To research the 1960's in terms of social, historic and political climate of the decade.

Mid 40s Britain came out of war, they had nothing. The 40s and 50's were rough years as nobody had much money and they are all low on resources trying to get their lives in track. At the time Britain was hugely conservative. They get to the 60's and suddenly there is new technology, more money, secure jobs - they felt no need to be conservative so we changed to the labour party.
In America the Martin luther king movement was happening in America, which affected the younger generations of Britain - not having as big as an impact as America has however. The Vietnam war was also going on in america and there were many protests for peace. The cold war was also ongoing, it was a race to see who would develop nuclear weapons first. There was no physical fighting but rater undercover spies, secret research etc. There was a big fear of the unknown.
There was a massive change in attitudes towards sexuality, fashion, art, music. There was a big change in times, as women were gaining more rights. They were now getting jobs and having more importance. However, it was still a patriarchal society. The younger generation was open to more ideas such as drugs, sexuality, fashion. However the older generation were still strongly conservatives ,and didn't believe in all these new things. Society was separated into two groups.

Steed represents the older generation and Mrs Peel represents the younger generation. Steed fits in better with the rest of the characters, true to the fact the older generation were still overpowering. It also hits the target audience.

a lot of the music that came in was all to rebel, bands like the beetles and pink floyd wanted to go again the status quo. It was now a labour party.

drugs at the time was a big part of the culture, psychedelic drugs (led, acids, etc...) and weed were big. People wanted to see things from a different pov - in a different light.

The contraceptive pill was introduced, women could now take control of if they wanted a child showing they were gaining more rights. It was no longer up to the man, but rather the women.

In the UK the younger generation were protesting about racism, wanting a more equal world.


How could the following areas be seen in the Avengers Episode?

• Gender equality changing -

Mrs Peel is shown to represent a strong female of the younger generation, teaming up with Steed while he's doing his job to show she can have one too. She isn't a girl who constantly needs saving, and rather shows Steed she is gaining power by showing him he can beat her in fencing. Knocking him down and winning the fight. This show the strength and power women are gaining. However Steed defeats this, showing he's stronger, by slapping her on the behind a she's walking away.

• Patriarchal society -

Steed is still very much a man who is in control. He is a character who represents a strong conservative man. He fits in with most of the other characters as they're also strong patriarchal men. Although Mrs Peel is shown to be a young women who is gaining more rights, it is clear he still have control over her.

• Youth movement in fashion/art/music -

• Changing attitudes to sexuality -

• Fear of the cold war/invasion -

• Civil rights -

• Traditional British values/traditions-

They made a 2 million dollar deal with abc. They were able to shoot on film, making the quality clearer and being able to film on location rather than just on set

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Friday 17th January 2020.

The Avengers: The town of no return.

Learning Objective:

• To explore the narrative, characters and context of series 4, episode 1.

Main characters (represented): 

Mrs Peels apartment represents the more modern side of the 60's, and her outfit is also very modern. It represents the new movements in art, fashion. Where they stay theres a lot more of a traditional english decorated room. No modern art. Mrs Peel is represented as physical and able, she tells Steed she had just finished writing an article for a science magazine. Showing that women can now have jobs.

Mrs Peels outfit in the metal place, plus being tried up shows hints to bondage and how the more modern generation are starting to accept this. Mrs Peel also had to be saved by the man. However, towards the end Mrs Peel wrestles a man and shows she is a strong independent woman

Steed is represented as a stereotypical male. He represents the patriarchal society. He represents the stereotypical British man, with what he's wearing. Steed slaps Mrs Peel around the bottom, showing how women are still sexualised rather than being treated like normal people. Male dominance obvious, he has the most control over what she does, already having brought them tickets to go somewhere for a certain time. He buys a drink for her even through she claims she doesn't want one. It hints to Steed having a military background, seeing him act proud of the wars he fought. When Mrs Peel is driving, Steed has to take over as she's 'not competent' to do it herself. Steed

Shots:

Open with a seaside, with a typical fisher. Dressed in his hat and has equipment by his side.

Low camera angles on Steed make him appear more dominant, as men still had more power back then. However, Mrs Peel is shot at higher angles to make her appear more submissive and powerless compared to Steed. 

Stereotypes:
Stereotypical English act, Mrs Peel and Steed had tea and biscuits on the train. The manners they use and the way they communicate also supports this stereotype.
Representations of a typical english pub; darts, beer, typical over friendly landlord. Small pub in a small little village. The village also has a church, which was a normal thing as people were religious.

Music at the time would've been jazz, it was the new music of the era rather than classic.
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Friday 17th January 2020.

Practice question.

How was the context of the 1960's shown in the different representations used in episode 1?

The 1960's is represented through the characters in The avengers. The 1960's was a time of change, art and fashion was changing, people started getting more equal rights and new technology was being developed.

Mrs Peel strongly represents the newer attitudes coming in. She is a strong, powerful woman who shows she can hold up her own. Mrs Peel shows she is a smart young women, who is physical and able, when she tells Steed she had just finished writing an article for a science magazine. Showing that women can now have jobs and earn for themselves. Not only that by Mrs Peel is represented as Steeds partner while he's doing his job. This shows us that she is fit and able to defend herself, to be in this industry with Steed. She also represents the new fashions and arts coming in. Especially her apartment. It is very modern, with the decor and the style showing the new movements.

However Steed represents the patriarchal society, representing the older class of the 60's who are more like the older times. He also shows that Mrs Peel doesn't have that much power compared to men. It is often shown that Steed is sexualising Mrs Peel, slapping her around the bottom and flirting with her - despite her being shown as married. And although Mrs Peel is seen to have a lot of flexibility and rights, the male dominance obvious. Steed has the control over what she does, already having brought them tickets to go somewhere for a certain time. Leaving her with no chance but to go with her. Asserting his dominance into the scene. He also asserts his dominance by buying the lady a drink, despite her efforts to say she doesn't want one.
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Friday 24th January 2020.

Cuffs: Series 1, Episode 1.

Learning Objective:

• To analyse the narratives and characters constructed in an opening episode.

Context:
Build up to the brevet referendum in uk, and the build up to Trumps election in America. A lot of feelings about religion, racism and migration. Potential racism when the Muslim family show how much abuse they've had to go through.
Diversity of races, normal now compared to avengers.

Set in Brighton, camera pans up the cost to non-digectic sound of a radio. Followed by non-diegetic police sirens.
Cross cutting/parallel editing. They do this to show juxtaposition between the two scenes, the chief showing the importance and the power of the police - making them seem amazing. However on the other hand it is a police officer not being respected, being messed around by a group of drunk guys. Showing the reality. "Seriously, what is the point of you?" They're using drones/helicopter/drone shots, showing the difference between avengers who only just got cameras allowing them to go out of set. Slow motion shot highlighting the tension and danger, in both the car chase and the house party fight.
In the beginning Jake was shot in close ups alone, showing he was alone. However at the end of the episode he is shot with all of them showing he's part of the team.

There are multiple narratives, unlike avengers. We jam individual narratives with every character.
Another difference is the open sexuality, having one of the main characters as gay, showing time are improving and becoming more accepting. There is a female in charge, and a muslim women working as a police officer, showing there is more gender equality than the avengers. However, the highest authorities are all still men. Showing it is still overall a patriarchal society. There are more broken families, more divorces than the 60's as it is more acceptable to split.

The first case that J Vickers goes on highlights the problems with drugs, mental health and self harm. Issues going wrong in the world at the moment, and how hard it can be to help somebody in that situation. Public attitudes towards the police were not great, accusations of police brutality and harassment. Social media and technology going against them, highlighting the hard ships of being an officer. A stereotypical hippie look from the girl protesting, but turns out she comes from quite a high class having her mum as a lawyer. After Vickers saves Drapers life he looks at him with more respect and shock.

Change in music in he shop shoes the danger and tension the boys got himself into. We can hear whats going on, however we are panned to the shot of the little boy seeing whats happening. As the show is on pre-watershed (9pm). Music is sympathetic when the women is talking about her child who's been kidnapped to create a sadder atmosphere.

Stereotypes of a lawyer, makes them seem like they have no soul and don't care about anything.
Representation of teens - they're lazy, shirts untucked, hoodies over uniforms. Bad representations. Female police officers or different ethnicities, stereotyped to taking about boys.

Theres not enough police on the streets, the press are super judgemental and makes it very difficult.

Stereotypes of council houses, the England flag outside, the bikes, small and cramped in, lots of mess, a massive party, daytime drinking showing they don't work. Heavy metal music, tattoos, smoking. Disrespect towards the police, backup is 20 minutes away due to the lack of people.


PC Ryan Draper -
First person we meet, we're introduced to him as this police officer who doesn't have much control over the people.
Ryan isn't impressed with J Vickers, as he hasn't done the training he needs, but gone straight to the action. He only got into that position because of is father, nepotism, which Draper frowns upon. We can see this from when Draper looks J Vickers up and down while explaining the different types of policemen, hinting that he is a 'bed wetter' and that he shouldn't be this far up already.
Shows us he's a dad. He's calm and collected, knows what he's doing.
Hes a single dad, doing both male and female roles.

PC Jake Vickers -
Introduced to him by the chief announcing he is his son, with Jake stepping into a close up with a smug smile. Putting off the impression he is proud and cocky. He only got into that position because of is father, nepotism. Jake has a lot of sympathy when leaving the man in hospital, however there aren't enough officers for them to stay, so have to leave even though he's in the state he is. Showing he might not be strong enough for the job. He's inexperienced and panicky, doesn't know what he's doing. Story line of him and a new boy. Also also that his mother suffers from cancer, saying that might be why he's now in the picture.Shows us a target on his back, showing he's a target for being gay and getting a job cause of his son.
Calls his dad 'officer' at the end, showing he's taking Ryan's side opposed to caring about what his dad will say to him.

DS Jo Muffat -
We are first introduced to her on the phone during work to her dog trainer.
She has a past with Chief Super Robert Vickers. gender stereotypes her being emotional, all worked up and nervous. Whilst he's calm and uncaring. Shown staring at his wedding ring.

Chief Super Robert Vickers -
Is shown as calm and uncaring towards Muffat. Showing he is married by wearing a ring.
He's only concerned about his sons career, not the guy who's just killed himself.

DC Carl Hawkins -


DI Felix Kane -
Higher up than Jo and Carl, we can see that from what he's wearing and the fact he's in a private office. He's represented as awkward and uncomfortable, very aware of the other people watching and wondering. He walks away from his possible family/home to go to prostitutes, showing he's struggling and feels alone.

PC Donna Prager -
A powerful officer, outdoing her partner

PC Lino Moretti -
He can never keep up, he's the comic character always slacking. Highlighting the fact that he has to go back for his food over a case.
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Friday 31st January 2020.

TV Industries: 2010s.

Learning Objective:

• To explore the TV industry in 2010s and the effect on TV shows and audiences.

Change in TV and Production:

• Shifting audience - lack of channel loyalty and identity
• Loss of large mass audience except for 'event tv' - world cup; olympics; X-factor final etc.
• Loss of national audience - niche channels and programming on interest - sky witness
• need for content - imports; outsourcing programming; new formats
• Need for 'stars' and glossy production values
• Mining of back catalogs - exploits nostalgia
• Remakes of old shows - exploits brands
• Move to TV shows as programme brands for marketing
• Striving to produce 'on trend' products competing with popular genre formats
• Use of trailers and cross-channel programming - BBC2 programme \s centred on strictly; Apprentice/Apprentice: You've been fired
• Use of pre-title hooks to entice/keep viewers
• Serials rather than series - an ongoing narrative to hook viewers
• Evolution of series towards narrative arcs of serials - recurring narrative strands etc.
• Catch up TV
• Streaming TV
• Box sets via streaming
• External sourcing of product content
• Search for 'Big Thing' - the next breaking bad/game of thrones.

View the trailer to cuffs:

What elements did the producers choose to include and why?
They've dove into their personal lives, rather than just showing how they get on at their job. Shows the brutality of policing and the struggles of life that comes along with it, often depicting them getting hurt or dehumanised by the public. It shows a more humane side to the police, rather than the one side the public see.

How have they represented police life?
Challenging and difficult, making it clear they don't receive any respect from the pubic. Life as a part of the police is shown as restricting and time consuming, often they're depicted running after others - having no time to even sit and take a break. It shows theres a lot of pressure weighted on their shoulders/

How have they represented personal dramas?
They've shown little snippets of each characters life, showing the drama and hardships that go n behind the scenes. This entices the audience in, making us want to know more about these peoples lives and more about them. The personal dramas are caught up in the middle of their jobs, showing us they have no time for their own lives and problems because of the importance of their job.

How have they used media language (editing, sound, MES, camerawork) to make it appeal to the target audience?
Editing - the voice over of the chief commander talking over all this drama - non-diegetic sound.
Camera work - close ups

In the TV drama show Cuffs, they use media language to create tension and drama to appeal to the audience. They use non-diegetic sound with the commander talking about the importance of the police and the power they hold - making them seem respected and important. However they completely juxtapose this with the trailer using montage going from scene to scene showing the hardships the police really go through. Showing police life isn't all the commander makes it out to be, as life on the streets as a police officer is a lot different to in an office. The camera work used also enhances the dramatic effect of the trailer, they show close ups of all the main cast while going through hardships, enticing the viewers in making them want to know more about these peoples lives.

• Cuffs was part of the winter schedule for 2015; aired october 2015.
• Typically, a time aimed at wider family audiences. E.g. apprentice and strictly.
• Scheduling: broadcast 8pm on a weekday. Pre watershed.
• Cuffs targeted a broad family audience of 16-65, similar to that of casualty and waterloo road.
• Offered range of characters and storylines to appeal to as many segments of demographic as possible
• Format/Appeal: Fits modern post 2010 populist series format - everyday relatable storylines with a consistent set of troubled characters with different issues.
• Narrative: Weekday winter pre-watershed formats are intended to be engaging but not threatening to mainstream audience values. Storylines tend to be covered superficially and lack depth of darker post-watershed series like Luther or Sherlock.

Passive vs Active Audiences -
A passive audience is when they just sit and watch TV and will take everything they see or read at face value, believing it all. In the 60s they could sit and watch it, or they could turn in off. However an active audience are people to choose what they watch, and to question the things they see, they argue about it and fight back.

The audience in the avengers would be passive, they could choose to watch it or not. There wasn't an easy way back then to complain about something they don't like so they would often sit back and close to ignore these problems. There wasn't any social media formats for them to easily spread their opinions or get in contact with the makers of the show. However, the audience of cuffs would mostly be an active audience. They have more opportunities to share their feelings, easily tweeting or messaging bout it. They would be able to do that while watching it when it comes out, and even later on if on catch up. Where in the 60's they didn't have these options and would have to write letters if had a complaint.


Cuffs uses a lot of elements to target a mainstream audience, making it relatable to the time and how peoples feelings are. They include a range of multicultural characters in the show, appealing to the audiences at the time and how nowadays there is less racism and people have become more accepting to more people.