Paper 2 Section A Television Crime Drama INTRODUCTION

 

PAPER 2 SECTION A TELEVISION CRIME DRAMA Introduction

 

Sub genres

 

­   Forensic (e.g. NCIS)

 

­   Gangster (e.g. Narcos)

 

­   Detective (e.g. Death in Paradise)

 

­   Buddy (e.g. Lethal Weapon)

 

­   Hybrid genre: Crime/Horror (e.g. Luther) Crime/Sci-Fi (e.g. Life on Mars)

 

 

 Narrative

 

Binary opposites (Good vs. Evil and Cop vs. Killer)

Commonly in crime drama, there is recurring themes of serial killers, dead bodies, crime scenes etc. There is normally a range of different crimes which vary from drug related, murders and robberies.

Begins with a crime > search for evidence > identify suspects > solve crime

The crime is usually solved within an episode e.g. Midsummer murders unless it’s like Luther and the crimes are connected and leading on to one storyline to another.

There are manty enigmas within TV Crime dramas for example:

-        Who is the killer?

-        Why are they killing?

-        Will they get caught?

-        What is the killer going to do next?

These enigmas are resolved either at the end of an episode or at the end of the season.

 

                          

 Technical codes

 

­   Weather is normally dark and gloomy, as it displays an atmosphere onto the audience e.g. creating suspense.

 

­   Lighting: Blue lighting is normally used, which symbolizes sirens and crime scenes. There is dark lighting to create an atmosphere of evil and people doing crimes as nobody is out.

 

-        Sound: There is two types of sound diegetic and non-diegetic, both sounds can create an atmosphere and feeling upon the audience e.g. diegetic sounds such as screaming will create a sense of fear. Music and sound effects can include anything from spooky/intense music or screaming.

 

-        Establishing shots usually set the scene for us, normally TV Crime dramas are filmed in urban areas as it is busier and more crowded and a lot going on in the urban areas.

 

-        Close up shots are used to show the character’s facial expressions e.g. scared or happy. Cross-cutting scenes create a sense of manic in the TV Crime drama, they normally cross in and out of different scenes e.g. showing the killer and then showing the police department discuss the killer.

 

-        Iconography can include suits, lab coats, weapons, police cars, police tapes, CCTV.

 

-        Locations can include police station, crime scenes, graveyard, interview room and morgues.

 

 Characters codes

 

­   Investigator (logically, smart, independent, very observant and open minded, bends the rules)

 

­   Killer (clever, persuasive, sneaky, evil, mentally ill/psycho)

 

­   Sidekick/partner (sticks to the rules, open minded, observant)

SECTION B ANSWERS

Section B   45 marks ( 45 minutes writing time )

Complete all of  the following questions and publish on your blog. You can plan and research your answers .  

 

 3a What is a media conglomerate ? ( 2 ) 

A.    A media conglomerate is a company that owns a range of different companies.

 

3b How does ownership shape the content of newspapers? Refer to the Mirror and The Times (8) 

In both The Mirror and The Times, they believe in different beliefs this is shown through their newspapers. The Times are a right-wing side and they support conservatives and Brexit, this is shown through their language and layout of the front cover on the newspaper. The Times will support Brexit and have headlines praising the Prime Minister rather than dissing them.

In the Mirror, they are a left-wing newspaper and support labour. This is evident as they have shown that they don’t support Brexit because they use language that doesn’t support Brexit.

Both newspapers have a target audience of working-class middle-aged people who either support labour (The Mirror) or the conservatives (The Times). This shapes their content as they must engage their target audience to buy their newspaper by adding interest storylines and headlines on the front cover.

 

 

3c  What has been the impact of recent technologies on all elements of  the newspaper industry   and how has it responded to these challenges ?  Refer to The Mirror and The Times   ( 12)

I believe that the newspaper industry is dying out as technology is evolving further and further and now newspapers are a thing in the past. For the new generation of people, they are very technology smart and the newspapers have started having online websites which show all their headlines and storylines. Some newspapers will charge a fee to subscribe to the newspapers as everything can’t be free! The newspapers will need to make some sort of profit by the circulation itself or advertising within the newspaper.

All newspapers have responded to it calmly, as both newspapers have an online site where people can view stories online. Newspapers still exist and people still purchase them, but the circulation has dramatically decreased due to more and more people looking online.

There is loads of different advantages and disadvantages to having a newspaper paper version and online version. A newspaper (PV) is convenient for the older generation that like to read it physically, however a paper version does waste paper. A newspaper (OV) saves paper, however the newspaper itself may not be attracting their target audience as they wanted to the younger generation being more technology smart.

 

4a  What is the importance of  fandom in media products ?  Refer to the Assassins Creed franchise to support your points  ( 8 )

Fandom comes from fans who are obsessed with a video game, celebrity or etc. In this case, there is loads of fandoms of Assassins Creed they have made a range of different video games and have produced them on a variety of consoles, so it is as widely available to anyone who wants to play it. Therefore, there is no difficulty in playing the game, so it becomes easier for the customer to be satisfied.

As the franchise makes lots of money on a circulation of the game, the franchise will also add merchandise or other extras to increase more sales and profits.

 

4b How is the gaming industry regulated or what are the challenges in this particular industry  ?  (8)

 

 

5    How important is historical context to media products ?

                Refer to your Tide advertising case study.               (7)

Historical context is important to media products because allows the audience to look deep into another era and see the attitudes they have. For example: in the tide advertising case study, it always shows the different attitudes that was in the era. In the tide, the era was very sexist and focused on females being a housewives by cleaning and looking after the house for your partner.