Summer Project: coursework planning

Summer Project: coursework planning

Research: TV drama trailer analysis 

TV drama trailer 1: Narrative and genre

Family matters are a family drama with a sub-genre of comedy which shows family values and the different things that happen in a family in a comical manner. Both the genres put together turns real life family issues into something that can be seen in a comical way.  The narrative shows a ‘troublesome’ teenager with strict and stressed out parents and how his grandmother is a lot more relaxed and nice towards him which a stereotype is for grandparents towards their grandchildren.  In the trailer, according to Todorov’s theory the disequilibrium is the kid not being able to go out and the parents expecting him to stay home and help his grandma but in reality the grandma was very kind and didn’t want any help and let the grandson go out like he wanted which wad the new equilibrium although that set a bit of controversy between the parents. This would make audience want to watch it in order to find out what really happened, whether the kid was allowed to go, for more comedy and entertainment and so on as even though some of the narrative has been given away through the trailer, audience would watch it to have a laugh even if they don’t watch it for the thrill of finding out what happens next.

TV drama trailer 2: Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene used in Luther creates loads of representations and uses media conventions to get messages through to the audience. Starting off with his costume, the way Luther’s dressed gives audience an idea of what sort of person he is and what his job role could potentially be. He’s dressed formal and is wearing a long jacket which is what is typically thought to be worn by spy agents. The setting and props used in the scene being shown in the trailer don’t give away much information and keeps what’s happening a mystery especially because only one location is being shown. The setting also shows that the protagonist is in quite an intellectual job which he puts a lot of work into mentally and seems quite well-paid because he has his own office. The props used around the room give away some of information about his job e.g. all the files and mug shots of different people connotes that he is something along the lines of a detective or someone looking into mysteries. There’s also a use of low-key lighting to represent the dull side and mystery to the drama showing that the drama isn’t all about happiness and a bright life but rather mystery and they also highlighted the protagonists face at the end using the low-key lighting from a higher angle to show who the drama is based on and who the most important person is throughout the series also because he’s the only one being shown. 

TV drama trailer 3: Camerawork

The camerawork in ‘The Perfect Date’ consists of different shots such as long shots, medium shots, tracking shots and even some drone shots when they’re showing the car drive by. They have used close ups to emphasize certain aspects such as props the protagonist is using/ holding.  They have also used pan shots when the main character is driving to show movement and also shows realism and make the audience feel a closer connection with the characters as if they’re in the scene as well. The medium and long shots are used to show the setting and give more detail to audience using media conventions without having to directly address certain things. 

TV drama trailer 4: Editing

There is a lot of fast-paced editing in this series with scenes being continuously changed to create tension and make audience wonder what's happening in each scene so that they're tempted to watch the episodes in order to find out what's happening. This connotes that something dramatic is about to happen or the narrative is about to face a plot twist, change of scenes or so on... It creates so many questions within the audience as the change from shot to shot makes them curious and wonder what's going to happen next which is what attracts them to go ahead and watch the whole series. The trailer uses narrative hook to get the audience hooked in from just the trailer using fast-paced and intense editing. Rather than showing one scene and leaving it at a cliff-hanger, they have shown several different scenes which leaves most audience curious and what to find out more and even if one scene doesn't attract them, another would this way. 

TV drama trailer 5: Sound

Black-ish is a family and comedy TV drama with loads and fun filled scenes which is being presented to audience through the music in the trailer. The non-diegetic sound added into the background creates a jolly and happy feel for audience which connotes how the audience would feel throughout watching the series as it is filled with a lot of comedy and surreal things that could happen within a family. There is also use of dialogue in the trailer which is diegetic sound which adds the comical element into the trailer and the drama itself and gives audience a real taste of what’s happening and what the drama is going to be like if they were to watch the drama. On top of dialogue and non-diegetic sound being played in the background, there are also other noises in the background which people wouldn’t pay much attention to but creates a lot of realism such as the noises props make e.g. closing the fridge. 

TV drama trailer 6: Trailer conventions, graphics, text-on-screen etc.

Game of Thrones is a very popular TV drama that has been running successfully since April 2011 due to their professional use of trailer conventions, graphics, text-on-screen etc. In the season 8 trailer, they have used trailer conventions such as fast-paced editing; including jump cuts, dramatic music in the background to build up tension. They have also included text on the screen in the beginning to start off by putting the production company’s name. They then slowly introduce the name of the drama at the end of the trailer, in this trailer they’ve also put ‘THE FINAL SEASON’ right below the title which make audience feel like they need to watch it as if they’ve got a final chance to do so and they’d also want to watch it to find out the answer to the questions they’d have from cliff hangers.  Putting the release date at the end gives audience more information and a date for them to look forward to. The setting is quite out of the norm in today’s age and straight away tells us that it’s not set in the same time-frame or in the ideal world creating surrealism and increases interest in audience. On top of that, they’ve also used different types of lighting to create a mood and carry out a message to audience. For example, the use of low-key lighting to create suspense and not reveal certain things such as the actors face or what they’re doing. 

Planning: TV drama concept

Title: SAVE YOURSELF

Tagline: IT’S A COLD WORLD

Genre (and sub-genre/hybrid genre if applicable): family with crime as a sub-genre

Setting (note brief – at least two locations): the family home and the area they live in/the streets and local park and shops etc.

Number of episodes: 1 series with 14 episodes

Channel and time/day of broadcast (note brief – prime-time, pre-watershed, family audience): It will be broadcasted on ITV at 7:30pm every Tuesday as this a time families tend to come together to watch TV during dinner or after dinner. Mid-week is when they’re less likely to be doing anything else and stay at home meaning it’s likely to be prime-time and being aired at 7:30pm also shows that it’s pre-watershed.  

Logline – one sentence that sums up the whole TV drama series and hooks people in (25 words or fewer): an Asian family living in London with the parents going through a divorce and the hard time at home makes the kids fall into other distractions.

Other successful TV dramas that are similar to yours: Top boy; based on multi-cultural (mainly the black community) and how kids are being influenced and fall into traps in the streets. Shows a real part of London that isn’t usual shown in films and TV.

Narrative arc – what happens in the overall series and in what order: The series as a whole sees family drama with the parents going through their own issue whilst the kids get diverted by other things and begin to fall into doing things that distracts their school life to help them get through what’s happening. The parents also face a lot of hate and go through a difficult time during their divorce as a lot of people in their community can’t accept the fact that they’re getting a divorce. The children's distractions is the main disequilibrium in the story. They then also come to realise that their children are falling into other things and finally realise the impact it’s having on their children and not just themselves. They then decide to sort things out with their children and do what makes their kids happy whilst also going through with their divorce which is the new equilibrium. The series then finishes off with the parents going into court but the audience don’t see whether they end up going through with the divorce or not; cliff-hanger.  

Episodic narratives – what will happen in each episode? What happens in the overall series and in what order: the first two episodes are based around the parent’s arguments and constant tension in the house and how it psychologically has an impact on the children. The third episode’s on both the kids in school and focusing on how down they feel and the impact it has on their education. The fourth and fifth episode is on the children opening to people that are going to play a big part later on in the series;the boy ends up getting closer with older boys in his school and in the area he lives who persuade him to join them and the girl finds the love and comfort from a guy in school and opens up to him and talks about all her problems to him. The following episodes talk about how it affects them academically, different methods they choose to deal with their parents’ divorce situation, the type of criticism the parents get from society as divorce isn’t a popular thing in the Asian community. The 8^TH and 9^TH episode get more tensed as the parents start to notice the changes in their children and realise that their family problems are having an impact on them and try to handle issues in different ways. Episode 10 is when everything starts to fall back into place again slowly as the protagonists attempt to resolve the problems. Episode 11 is the lead to a happy ending as the parents meet their daughter’s new boyfriend and the son agrees to go back into education and focus on what he was doing before. Episode 12 sees he finale of this series where the children are happy and able to take in what’s happening and processing it easier and the parents go to court but the drama finishes their on a cliff hanger to suggest a potential second series.

Main protagonist – their motivation, conflicts etc.: the parents and their two children are the protagonists. The story starts off because of the parents going through a divorce. The two kids then reinforce teenage stereotypes by being easily influenced and falling into things teenagers typically do around their age.

Other characters, their narrative role and their audience appeal: the side roles are played by the boy’s friends who are a massive influence on him and lead him into taking part in gang related activities. Another side role is played by the girl’s boyfriend who comes into the story a few episodes later and plays a massive part in their daughter getting through her parents’ divorce situation.

Target audience for your TV drama (note brief – family audience, pre-watershed broadcast etc.): age, gender, social class, interests, psychographic groups etc. Our main target audience are families and teenagers as those are the people our whole narrative revolves around. We’re aiming this drama at a working class, British audience hence why it’s being aired on a public service broadcaster (ITV). We’re also aiming this at people with an British Asian background as there aren’t much shows on TV that they can relate to and a lot of them that are available are very stereotypical. 

Statement of intent

The genre for my TV drama is going to be family. There are also going to be other sub-genre with it such as romance. Just like most trailers, there’s going to be use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound in order to create realism and give audience an idea of how the series is going to be but to also have a theme music running in the background to match the shot changes and fast-paced editing to create anticipation and excitement. The camerawork is mainly going to be medium and long shots so that audience can get as much information as possible through the settings and atmosphere; media conventions without having to be directly told some things. We will also use close-ups to focus on specific things such as the characters facial expression or a prop they’re holding and so on…  Our characters will have London accents to represent where they’re from/show what city it’s set in. Other characters will have an accent from another Country to show the diversity and they aren’t natively English.

The protagonists in this drama will be the parents and their two children so it isn’t just focused on one person but rather the whole family which suits the genre and the target audience. There won’t be an antagonist in particular but it’s the decisions that they take in life that makes them meeting certain turnings and slip up in their life.  The main characters will be from a diverse; Asian background to show diversity in London and emphasize the importance of accepting and respecting different cultures and people from other cultures. The reason we’ve chose London as the location is because this is a British drama and London has a very diverse population with people from different countries so it’d make it more realistic to set this drama here.

We are using our characters to challenge some of the stereotypes of Asians in society and to also prove that where you come from or who you were doesn’t determine who you are now or going to be in the future.  However we will also be using some stereotypes that aren’t negative to add a bit of humour and to create realism.

Our target audience is going to be British viewers all over the UK but mainly in London as it is set in London and they’d more likely be able to relate to and understand some of the things being shown in the drama. We are also aiming this at the Asian community and other diverse backgrounds as there isn’t much specifically for them or about them in the British TV industry so it’ll be something new for them.

Our trailer would be broadcasted on ITV as that is where it’ll be aired weekly for 14 weeks. We will also promote it on YouTube as that is a platform all different groups of people use and also on social media mainly to reach the younger audience and people are more likely to share it around this way.