Moving Image TV Drama

Waterloo Road - Class Representation

We have chosen to look at the representations of social class in a well known TV program Waterloo Road. We see two girls from different social groups arguing and buying the opposite social class.  

The scene starts mid shot introducing both groups of girl, this allows the audience to get a clear view of the characters so they can assume what they think the characters are like based on what they look like and wear. The non diegetic music at the beginning of the scene is used to set the mood as the scene carries on. In the mid shots we see that the students are in school as the students are in uniform and in PE wear.  A long shot is used to clearly show one of the girls throwing a ball to the head of the girl in the opposite social class. The sound of the ball illustrates how both social classes despise each other as the ball hits the girl hard.  Dialogue is used so the audience can understand why the two groups are subjective towards each other.

The scene carries on with the two girls getting more argumentative as we hear their dialogue. The two main characters continue to communicate as we watch them get loser to each other causing the argument to look as though it’s going to turn into a brawl. A close up shot is used depict the main characters facial expressions illustrating their hatred toward each other.

As the two characters start to fight the non diegetic music starts to get louder mirroring the fast pace action/fight appearing on the screen. A close up shot is used to demonstrate how vicious the girls are bringing forth again how the two social groups aren’t in agreement with each other; the close up shot gives the audience a clear view of the action and somewhat makes the audience feel as though they’re part of the action.

Not long after the fight starts do we get introduced to the teacher who’s established using a mid shot demonstrating her concern towards the circumstance she’s faced. She manages to stop the fight in time where then she allows the two girls to explain themselves. The two girls converse over how the fight started. The non diegetic sound starts to get louder as the two girls begin to walk away from the incident occurred where then the scene concludes.  

TV DRAMA SCRIPT

Chelsea: Look at the state of that (throws ball at vanessa)

Vanessa: Oi!!! You did that on purpose

Chelsea: So what if I did, what are you gonna do about it?

Vanessa: (shoves Chelsea)

Mary: Just leave it, do you want to get us into any more trouble?

Chrissie: This is why I didn’t tell you, I knew you’d get involved with all this gang stuff! (turns and pushes Vanessa)

CHRISSIE AND VANESSA START FIGHTING

Mary: (Pull Chrissie and Vanessa apart) What do you think you’re doing!!!

Vanessa: She pushed me

Chrissie: I was defending myself

Vanessa: She just punched me for no reason

Chrissie Punched her?! I don’t even know her!!!!

Mary: Just go inside (walks out of scene)

VANESSA AND CHRISSIE STARE AT EACH OTHER BEFORE WALKING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS 

The main scene starts with a mid shot introducing us to young man (Bradley) who starts getting out of a taxi cab to help Jim out of the taxi. we hear bradley telling his Jim to get hi leg out causing the audience to assume that Jim isn't in a right mind set or isnt capable to get out of the taxi without help, this is still a social norm as most people tend to assume elder people are incapable of doing some things without assistance. we see Jim get out his walking stick as he steps put of the taxi allowing the audience to make assumptions that Jim is a fragile man or has a disability. Bradley then asks Jim if he wants his wheelchair following that Jim says no to using the chair enticing Bradley to insist. we then get a close up shot of Jim clarifying to the audience what the Jim character looks like although the audience weren't shown the character for several seconds an assumption was instantly made on how the character would looked like based on the way the other characters baby coddled the Jim character. Furthermore we hear one of the characters sarcastically ask "still here Jim?", allowing us to assume that the character is possibly in his 70's or 80's.

TV Drama: A television drama series that is scripted and normally fictional.
Representation: The action of speaking or acting on behalf of someone or the state of being so represented.
Mediation/Mediated: To resolve or settle differences by working with all the conflicting parties
Stereotype: a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing
Hegemonic norm: Domination, influence, or authority over another, especially by one political group over a society or by one nation over others..
Ideology: a system of ideas and ideals, the set of beliefs characteristic of a social group or individual
Connotation: An idea or feeling that a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning.
Signifies: Be a symbol of; have as meaning.
Signifier: A sign's physical form such as a sound, printed word, or image as a distinct from its meaning.
Types of signifier
-iconic: signs where the signifier resembles the signified, e.g., a picture
-idexical: signs where the signifier is caused by the signified, e.g., smoke signifies fire.
-symbolistic: signs where the relation between the signifier and signified is purely convetional and culturally specific specific e.g. most words
Binary opposites: Is a pair of words with related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning for example good and evil, male and female.
Mode of address: the way that media texts talk to its audience for example second, first and third person
Anchoring: fixing the meaning for example the copy text anchors (fixes to one spot) the meaning of an image (e.g. a rose that could be used for an advertisement for anything like a dating agency to a funeral home) in a print advertisement. The meaning of an image.
Conventions: the generally accepted ways of doing something. There are general conventions in any medium, such as the use of interview quotes in a print article but conventions are also genre specific.
Conventions of television drama:

TV Dramas are ongoing dramas that typically run week-in, week-out all year round. It features a continuous storyline, dealing with domestic themes and personal or family relationships. It generally has a well known theme tune and intro sequence that has changed very little over the years.

Sound Analysis

Diegetic: Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film: 

• voices of characters 
• sounds made by objects in the story 
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space

Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world 

Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. 

Another term for diegetic sound is actual sound  

Non diegetic: Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action: 

• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
• mood music

Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.  Another term for non-diegetic sound is commentary sound. 

Synchronous: Sound that appears to be matched to certain movements occurring in the scene, as when footsteps correspond to feet walking.

Asynchronous: sounds that match the action being performed however not precisely synchronized with the action.

Sound effect: A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, movie, or other broadcast production.

Sound Motif: a combination of sound effects that are linked with a certain character, location or situation.

Sound Bridge: When the scene begins with the carry-over sound from the previous scene before the new sound begins

Dialogue: Conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, TV series, play, or movie.

Voiceover: the voice on an unseen commentator in a film of television program.

Mode of Address/Direct Address: how the texts speaks to the audience. It involves how a text influences an audience to respond to a text in a particular way.

Sound Perspective: the sense of a sound's position in space, yielded by volume, timbre, pitch, and, in stereophonic reproduction systems, binaural information.

Score/Incidental Music: original music written particularly to go with a film, most likely played in the background.

Themes and Stings:

Themes: music that always accompanies a particular TV show e.g. Eastenders theme song and ending

Ambient Sound: the background sounds which presents the surrounding area, environment or location e.g. birds, wind, cars, train horns.

Non diegetic, dialogue and ambient sound

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