Youth/Teen Dramas

A teen drama is a type of dramatic television series in which the focus is on teenage characters. The genre was relatively non-existent for the first 45 years of television; it came into prominence in the early 1990s. Previously, most series with a focus on teens had been sitcoms while teens in drama series were usually part of a larger ensemble that included adults and children. Teen dramas, more often than not, have soap opera elements, allowing the young adult characters to grow and develop over time while facing an array of realistic teen issues. However, there have been many successful teen-based dramas with major themes of science fiction, fantasy, and action/adventure. Also, most shows have a substantial amount of comic relief.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teen_drama

Typical conventions:
Editing - blurred transitions; dissolves; more adventurous.
Sound - non-diegetic music/sound; sound-bridges; music to represent emotion
Mise-en-scene - modern, contemporary; chaotic, colourful
Camera - close-ups for emotion; interesting use of camera work; isn't all realistic
Character - main protagonist - youth (always from their perspective); parents (negatively and stereotypically presented
Narrative - issues that interest young people (sex, drugs, alcohol, scientific, what's the world all about?.etc); each character has a different episode with a different issue (especially skins, being human and waterloo road.etc); humorous - ironic (black humour/dark), things that shouldn't really be laughed at, humour that older people can look back at things that used to happen and laugh, self-deppreciating (putting yourself down); issues that you experience, but makes you feel better, seeing other people dealing with those issues.

The conventions that are highlighted red are conventions that we are going to use in our opening title sequence.

Continuity Task

We were set a task, to practice for our Main Task. We were asked to use this template:
Person A walks to door, opens it, passes through, crosses room, sits down, talks to someone.
Use:
- Match on Action
- 180 Degree Rule
- Reverse Shot

Extra things to add (Adoption/Extention:
- Person walks alone
- Footsteps
- Door Bangs
- Scream
- Ambiant Lighting
- Extreme Angles
- Reverse Tracking
- Tilt
- More than 3 locations
- Enigma
- More than 2 people
- Implied Fear

Evalutation of Task:

Positive:
- Good practice
- Fun
- Helped understand concept of shots
- Good experience, communication, organisation, negotiation
- Enabled you to experience and understand standards/quality/process
- More aware of own skills/strengths
- Time management experience/camera and software

Negative:
- Unwanted Extras
- Interference with loaction or props
- Background (diegetic noise)
- Too simplistic storyline
- Disappointment
- Poor planning
- Concepts outstripped
- Technology/software
- Forgot about continuity, 180 degree rule, reverse shot, match on action
- Translating concept to action

Things we will try and improve next time:

- Background (diegetic noise); we plan to cut out any sound that appears, or film when no people are about that we don't want in our film.

- Before filming straight away this time, we are going to spend a lot more time planning our project.

Semiotics

Semiotics comes from the Greek word, 'semeion' meaning 'sign'. It is the study of signs, and what certain signs mean, it's like a physical object with a meaning. For example, the way we look at symbols and know what they mean straight away, like when we see a red light it means stop.
The three areas of study which are studied most when looking at symbols are;

- the sign - the picture, object, sound
- the system into which signs are organised
- the culture within which these signs operate

Saussare was a structuralist and his ideas were based on the association of semiotics. The place of a sign within an overall system gives the meaning, according to his views.

- signifier - the actual image, physical appearance or sound

- signified - the idea or idea to which the sign refers

Roland Barthes developed this theory by including humans' interaction with signs. He proposed two levels which were to do with 'reading' signs;

1. denotation - the obvious meaning. For example, a rose is a pretty looking flower with a strong scent.

2. connotation - the associations created in the minds of those interacting with the sign. For example, a red rose connotes romance and the presentation of a red rose to someone connotes romantic affection. The context can alter the meaning, though a red rose may also now connote a political party.