You do not need to know the full history of TV Crime Drama but it is useful to look at a variety of texts and look at how the genre has developed.
Below is a time-line of key texts. If you are not aware of any of these look them up. It may be useful to watch a few clips on you-tube but obviously be careful at what you look at.
1950
Dixon of Dock Green (1955-UK)
1960
Z Cars (1962-UK)
Hawaii 50 (1968 - UK)
1970
Columbo (1971 - USA)
The Sweeny (1971 - UK) (Life on Mars is based on this)
Starsky and Hutch (1975 - USA)
1980
Hill Street Blues (1980 - USA)
The Bill (1984 - UK)
1990
Prime Suspect (1991 - UK)
Cracker
2000
Life On Mars
Wire In The Blood (2004 - UK)
The Sheild (2002 -USA)
2010+
Hawaii 5.0 (2011 - USA)
Dexter
Tuesday 17 April 2012
Sherlock
Sherlock Holmes
Brilliant, aloof and almost entirely lacking in social graces.
Details
Sherlock is a unique young man with a mind like a 'racing engine'. Without problems to solve, that mind will tear itself to pieces and the more bizarre and baffling the problems the better. He has set himself up as the world's only consulting detective, whom the police grudgingly accept as their superior.
Sherlock is a BBC TV Crime Drama. This is one of the case studies we have been looking at. Attached is a link to their website for you to research more information. If you have not researched Sherlock try to watch an episode and make notes on his character traits and how the series uses the stereotypical conventions of the genre.
Sherlock
Sherlock Holmes
Brilliant, aloof and almost entirely lacking in social graces.
Details
Sherlock is a unique young man with a mind like a 'racing engine'. Without problems to solve, that mind will tear itself to pieces and the more bizarre and baffling the problems the better. He has set himself up as the world's only consulting detective, whom the police grudgingly accept as their superior.
Sherlock is a BBC TV Crime Drama. This is one of the case studies we have been looking at. Attached is a link to their website for you to research more information. If you have not researched Sherlock try to watch an episode and make notes on his character traits and how the series uses the stereotyoical conventions of the genre.
Sub- Genres
TV Crime Drama has its own sub-genres. There are many different ways of categorising these programmes below are some examples.
Individual Detective: eg Morse
Female Detective: Miss Marple
Paired Detective: Starsky and Hutch
Forensic: Silent Witness
Police Procedural: The Bill
American: CSI
Period: Life On Mars
Post-Modern: Dexter
Thursday 12 April 2012
What is a TV Crime Drama?
So what is a TV Crime Drama?
It's a type of TV programme. TV programmes are a type of media text. Different types of texts are called genres. You should think of a genre as a recipe, with a list of ingredients. These are the conventions of the genre. All of those elements which make you recognise a crime drama are called conventions.
So in simple terms, a TV Crime Drama is a fictitious TV programme that is about the solving of a crime.
As with any genre there is a number of conventions that feature in these programmes, some of these include, Police Tape, Detectives, Blue Lights, The colour blue, Police Stations, Victims, Police Uniform etc etc
There are many different TV Crime Dramas and many sub-genres below is a link to a blog that outlines some new ones....
http://www.crimetimepreview.com/2011/10/new-tv-crime-dramas-2012.html
Media Language: forms and conventions
There are a number of defining conventions of television crime drama:
Narrative: a useful place to start is by exploring types of narratives which are typical of crime dramas. Compare the structure of those organised around single episodes with clear resolutions at the end with series which have multi-episodes.
Explore plot lines and how the crime is solved and the criminals revealed.
Narratives are often organised around binary opposites, for example the conflict between the forces of law and order and criminal activity.
Character types: identify the central characters who populate the genre. Some dramas are based around a single central character, or a pair of detectives working together. In others we might have teams of crime fighting units.
What other characters would we expect to see and what is their narrative function? How important are the criminals themselves?
Settings: locations can be part of a drama's appeal. They frequently determine the nature of the criminal activity and affect the tone, mood and pace of the programme. Compare idyllic village settings with urban landscapes. Explore the fast streets of New York, the academic spires of Oxford and the poverty which is to be found in some British/American cities.
Style: Mise-en-scene, a French term meaning 'placing on stage'. What we see on the screen in terms of the way characters are dressed, their body language, their positioning, the setting, props and other objects, are all generic clues by which we can recognise a crime genre on screen. In this sense style is about the look, sound,
mood and feel of a programme.
The following all impact on style:
• camera work and editing
• music
• lighting and colour
• dialogue
Narrative: a useful place to start is by exploring types of narratives which are typical of crime dramas. Compare the structure of those organised around single episodes with clear resolutions at the end with series which have multi-episodes.
Explore plot lines and how the crime is solved and the criminals revealed.
Narratives are often organised around binary opposites, for example the conflict between the forces of law and order and criminal activity.
Character types: identify the central characters who populate the genre. Some dramas are based around a single central character, or a pair of detectives working together. In others we might have teams of crime fighting units.
What other characters would we expect to see and what is their narrative function? How important are the criminals themselves?
Settings: locations can be part of a drama's appeal. They frequently determine the nature of the criminal activity and affect the tone, mood and pace of the programme. Compare idyllic village settings with urban landscapes. Explore the fast streets of New York, the academic spires of Oxford and the poverty which is to be found in some British/American cities.
Style: Mise-en-scene, a French term meaning 'placing on stage'. What we see on the screen in terms of the way characters are dressed, their body language, their positioning, the setting, props and other objects, are all generic clues by which we can recognise a crime genre on screen. In this sense style is about the look, sound,
mood and feel of a programme.
The following all impact on style:
• camera work and editing
• music
• lighting and colour
• dialogue
Welcome
Hello,
This blog is set up as a revision guide for your Unit 1 Media exam. The topic this year is TV Crime Drama so try to get watching as many of them as possible as well as revising the theory as this will really help you.
Good Luck
Miss Nichols
This blog is set up as a revision guide for your Unit 1 Media exam. The topic this year is TV Crime Drama so try to get watching as many of them as possible as well as revising the theory as this will really help you.
Good Luck
Miss Nichols
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