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)