Skip to main content

Featured Post

Welcome to my blog!

Hi. My name is Jack, I'm 17 years old, and I'm taking Media Studies at Hills Road. This is my coursework blog. I've been tasked with producing a cross-media piece, consisting of a 2.5-3 minute audio-visual sequence, and a double page magazine spread and front cover. The video piece must be from an ITV or Channel 5 show of my creation, either factual or fictional, with a target audience aged 18-35, and containing either 'a key turning point, a point of significant conflict, or a resolution', while the print elements will contain interviews and promotional materials relating to the show. I haven't yet decided which channel, genre, or direction my piece is going to take, but I'm excited at what lies ahead. I'll be keeping my blog up-to-date with all my progress, so feel free to stick around and have a look!
4 comments

Textual Analysis

The following is a textual analysis of some shows that are similar to those I'm looking to produce. I've tried to find scenes that contain one or more of the narrative points my sequence is supposed to be based around. If you haven't watched one or more of these shows, run away now: there are spoilers ahead.

Broadchurch (Court Scene)


Narrative point demonstrated:

  • This clip shows Joe Miller, murderer from series one and husband of one of the leading detectives on the case DS Ellie Miller, being given a not guilty verdict after a long and intense court battle. Safe to say that it was definitely a key turning point in the show.

Some of the techniques used:

  • Shots start off long and slow, but cuts increase in pace as we get closer to the verdict, helping ramp up the tension.
  • Non-diegetic sound in the form of a dramatic swell also serves to heighten your blood pressure.
  • Small depth of field and dramatic focus pulls cause the viewer to focus on the reactions of key people in the courtroom one after another, as well as emulating an almost dreamlike state - used in other areas of the show to great effect when someone is overcome with emotion.
  • The very first shot, with the camera slowly tracking in on Joe from behind, helps build enigma, as we can't see what sort of expression he has on his face. He's also almost a silhouette against the comparatively light background, an example of binary opposition that helps build the idea that he is guilty, due to associations between darkness and evil.

Notes:

  • Stylistically, I love this show. The soundtrack is fantastic and fitting, and the setting is beautiful, in stark contrast to the terrible things that happen there - something which the show borrows from the Scandi-noir genre. Other elements of the show are Nordic-noir-esque as well, such as the abundance of bokeh and shallow focus, or the heavy grading. Speaking of grading, I like how the show is graded, in such a way to emphasise the blues and yellow/oranges to the effect that you never feel far from the beaches that play such a great role in the series' story. All this together gives the programme a high-end, high-budget, highly-cinematic feel that I would love to be able to replicate.

Bodyguard (Court Scene)

Narrative point demonstrated:

  • Work in progress...

Comments

  1. Caroline Birks11:12:00 am

    Try to finish this asap. good notes on camera and sound in Broadchurch.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aims and Intentions II: The Return of the Aims and Intentions

Learner Name: Jack Larkin Word Count: 499 words My drama will emulate the cinematic, Scandi-noir feel of many of ITVs greatest successes, such as Broadchurch, by using a range of media techniques. The show will be heavily graded, emphasising in particular the greens and blues, while still keeping the colour palate fairly muted. As the scenes from my extract are quite intense, with a lot of strong emotion on display, the shots (particularly those of the DS running to the warehouse) will have handheld-style camera movement and a shallow depth-of-field, alternating between medium shots and close-ups on the faces of those involved, or important props. Regarding characters, the lead DCI and DS will be male and female respectively, reflecting many modern ITV crime dramas, providing cross-gender appeal, and upholding ITV’s commitment to gender parity. The reason I’ve chosen a male DCI is because the audience are more likely to believe that a male cop could be a corrupt crime king t...
Post a Comment
Read more

Magazines

Aside from the audio-visual piece, I also have to create a front cover and double-page spread about my show for a lifestyle magazine. As such, I've been looking at several of these magazines to see how they're designed and laid out. One thing I've noticed is that practically all the covers are more about the star than the show itself. Take the following examples: All of them have a celebrity taking centre stage on the cover, usually with their name in the strapline or main cover line, always either looking into the camera or slightly off into the middle distance, surrounded by several cover lines promising to drastically improve your life, entertain you, or both. As this format is shared by practically every lifestyle magazine under the sun, this is the format I'll use. Originally I was planning to have a cinematic-looking still from the show as my cover, perhaps the opening shot of DCI Griffin tied up in the chair, but that's not really right for lifestyle ma...
1 comment
Read more

Treatment Sheetment

Treatment Sheet Working Title Dead and Buried Genre Crime Drama Premise DCI Nicholas Griffin is a cop with a dark past. Fifteen years ago he was the ringleader of a small crew that pulled off big crimes in places all around the UK - money laundering, drug pushing, armed heists, and even hits on criminal targets. Griffin worked from inside the police force to divert attention away from him and his circle, steering convictions instead towards gang rivals and competitors. Despite this violent lifestyle, his crew made sure that truly innocent victims were never caught in the crossfire - until bad information caused tragedy. A recently-sold house they thought was empty was torched by Griffin's hand as a distraction for a hit; however, as he found out when the report landed on his desk the next day, a mother and her three young children were still inside. Griffin instantly disbanded the group, and they never saw each other again. Griffin went on to have a successfu...
Post a Comment
Read more