TV Drama - Textual Analysis Alphabet

A - Action code. This is one of Barthes' narrative codes. This contains sequential elements of action, creates suspense.

B - Blocking. This is the way the actors are positioned to get across relationships and/or power. 

C - Close ups. This is when the camera is close to an actor's feature, typically the face, filling the frame with that feature. This allows the audience to see the full emotion of an action. 

D - Dangerous. This is part of Alvarado's theory for ethnicity. This is when minority groups are presented as being a threat to society. 

E - Enigma code. This is one of Barthes' narrative codes. This code is a mystery within the drama. Clues are given but no full answer is given. 

F - Festinger's stereotypes, cognitive dissonance. This is the idea that we resist adjusting our attitudes unless faced with overwhelming evidence against it. 

G - Gender. This is one element that can be shown in TV Dramas. This involves the different roles of how men and woman should act. 

H - Hunt's stereotypes of disability. Hunt has 10 stereotypes for disabled people in TV Dramas - pitiable/pathetic, an object of curiosity or violence, sinister or evil, the supper cripple, atmosphere, laughable, their own worst enemy, a burden, non-sexual, unable to participate in daily life. 

I - Invisible editing. This is when the audience doesn't notice the editing due to correct lighting and blocking. 

J - Juxtaposed. This is when contrasting things are placed closely together. This could be ethnicities, ages, social class, gender etc. 

K - Kids. This is one age that can be presented in TV Drama. They can be presented as being innocent, powerless or selfish. 

L - Low angle shot. This makes the camera look up at the subject, making the subject seem powerful.

M - Male gaze. This is Laura Mulvey's ideology where the audience have to view the characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. 

N - Negotiated reading. This is when the audience partly agrees and accepts the preferred reading but often modifies it in a way to which reflects their won interests. 

O - Oppositional reading. This is when the audience has a different reading to the producer's intention. This could be because of differences in culture and social experiences. 

P - Preferred reading.This is the directors intentions, they way they want the audience to read it. 

Q - Queen. This is a character of high social class and status established by costume, hair, make up and props. 

R - Referential code. This is when something with in the TV Drama is referring something outside the TV Drama. This could be scientific, historical or cultural. 

S - Symbolic code. This is when there is a symbol within the TV Drama. This is done to create more meaning, tension, drama and character development. 

T - Teenage representation. This is an age that can presented in TV Drama. They can be presented as being aggressive, lazy and hate school. 

U - Unity. This is presented with ethnicity and shows the stereotype of close families and communities. 

V - Verisimilitude. This is a feeling of reality created by particular elements. This can be done by using real places for sets and language used by the actors. 

W - Wealth. This is stereotypical trait of city people when looking at regional identity. 

X - Xenophobia. This is when a character's actions, behaviours, feelings or words seem to be discriminate against people because of their country of origin. 

Y - Young. This is an age that can be presented in TV Drama. They an be presented as being emotional, stubborn and immature.

Z - Zoom. This is when the camera would appear to be getting close but it is stationary. 

TV Drama - Writing an Essay

Doc Martin Essay by Abbie Waterson on Scribd

TV Drama - Stereotypes

Perkins 5 assumptions:

Stereotypes are not always negative:

The Asian woman is represented as being smart, this works well in the situation. Although this can be  seen as negative, in this situation, it is a positive thing.

They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful:

It shows the white immigration officer to be more powerful than others, rather than focusing on the black people. It shows that the white people are mean to the other ethnicities, which isn't shown often  in TV shows.

They can be held about one's own group:

In Hotel Babylon, many stereotypes are shown throughout, so most of the main stereotypes are shown. Therefore, the audience's stereotype is most likely to be shown.

They are not rigid or unchanging:

A few years ago, these stereotypes were probably different than they are now. As the years have gone on, the stereotypes have changed according to modern society. However, some of these aren't changed for many years.

They are not always false:

The idea of self-fulfilling prophesy makes it seem as though people are the stereotypes, but in fact they probably just believe that they are and make others seem like the stereotypes are true.

Festinger and the popularity of TV programmes:

Before watching the clip, you could think that stereotypes aren't accurate or used a lot. But after, it can be seen that they are exaggerated in this case. For Hotel Babylon, the stereotypes we believe to be true are shown, making us think they are a more realistic vision of reality. 

TV Drama - Representation of Ethnicity and Types of Shots - 'Hotel Babylon'

A mid shot showing three people reacting to hiding.

Can I identity what ethnicities are? How? Why? - It's pretty clear to see the different ethnicities in the clip. This is most likely because of the TV stereotypes shown in most TV shows, because of this, it's easy to spot these stereotypes as they are exaggerated. As they are easily spotted, this allows the program to be easily watched as you don't need to think about who is what ethnicity.

This is a high angle shot to show that she is weaker at this moment in time.

Are people from different ethnic backgrounds shown as different interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviour? If so, how? - There are different interests shown, mainly due to their stereotypes. For example, the first time we see the Asian woman, we see her sat behind a computer. She is also seen to be intelligent because she decides to hide them in a staff room to hide and realises one is missing.

This is a tracking shot to reveal all of the different cultures and how they differ.

Is their ethnicity represented as being important in their life? - From the clip, it could be seen as important because they're having to hide because of their ethnicity. It is also shown at the end where different ethnicities sit on different tables, eat different foods and one table prayed before eating, in that sense, it could be seen as important to them.

This is mid shot and it allows the audience to see some of the work she does.

This is a mid shot to show how intimidating they are.

Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being better, more powerful than others? - The white female we see at the beginning is seen as more powerful because she tells the others what to do. It also shows the immigration officers being more powerful, they are also white.

This is a point-of-view shot to show the rush and panic of the situation, this is also hand held to help achieve this.

Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being abnormal, weaker, more pathetic than others? - all the immigrants are shown to be weaker because they are the ones who are having to hide, none of the white people are.

This is a close-up, two shot to show the relation between the characters,

How do other characters in the clip treat the other characters from different ethnic backgrounds? - all the immigrants help each other and the woman at the reception desk helps them. But the white immigrant officers are against them.




What is the message the clip is trying to portray about ethnicity? - it's trying to say that immigrants are bad and should be sent back to where they came from.

TV Drama - Mise en Scene Analysis - Divergent

The lighting is high key. They are both wearing black clothing to make them seem threatening to the others. They are very close to suggest that they are protecting each other. Their facial expressions are suggesting that they are being threatened and the people in the background help to emphasis this. The white buildings in the very back suggests the innocence of the two main characters and the faction they are currently in.