TV Drama - Class & Status

Skills Required

• Note-taking• Understanding technical codes/knowing

media language• Relating technical codes to representation• Backing up points with examples• Keeping it readable• Writing it in the time

Essay Structure

• Four areas…four sections?• Constant reference to representation• No big intro; get on with it• Keep conclusion short

Opening/Closing Sentence

Opening SentenceIn this sequence from xxx, the technical features combine to construct representations of yyyyyy. This follows/challenges stereotypes of yyyyy.

Concluding Sentence As we have seen, the representation of yyyyy is constructed by the combination of the technical codes in the sequence.

In summaryWrite down what technique is used

Give an example from the extract

Explain how meaning is being created for the specific representation

Can you refer to how its working together with another technique/write a comparative analysis for the opposing

representation/link to theory

Chief Examiners Top Tips

• Have a system for your notes- use the notes table• Be selective from the text- richest moments• Know your terms- media language• Make it readable on the page- paragraph gaps

Representation of Class and Status

Remember this is class and status…the two may link together in the extract or it

may focus on one of the two

Class and Status

• Classes (eg Made in Chelsea) – often shown as rich, clever, snobby, very posh

• Middle Classes (eg My Family)– often shown as “normal”, good family values, well behaved

• Working Classes (eg Coronation Street) – often shown as poorer, less happy, less intelligent, but with strong community links

• Lower / Under Classes (eg Shameless) – often shown as being criminals, no family values, no community links, bad parents etc

People have often noticed that in many TV shows, people of different classes, don’t mix. And when they are shown together, they are often shown as clashing andbeing very different.

What to Consider

• Can I identify what class characters are? • Are people from different classes shown as having different

interests, personalities, attitudes, behaviours? If so, how? • Is their class represented as being important in their life? • Are people from particular classes portrayed as being better,

more powerful, than others? • Are people from particular classes portrayed as being

abnormal /weaker/ more pathetic than others? • How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from

different classes? • What is the message the clip is trying to portray about class?

Class and Status Extract

• Discuss how the representation of class and status is represented in the extract using the following:– Camera shot, angle, movement and composition– Mise en scene– Sound– Editing

Class and Status Extract

Merlin

Applying your notes

• Read the exemplar essay for the Merlin extract on Learnzone.

• Copy two high level sentences that analyse two different technical areas from the Merlin extract.

• Now you write a high level sentence for the same two technical areas; applying the same sentence structure as the exemplar essay; but for the Cranford extract

• Ensure you are meeting all the marking criteria (always referring to representation, using specific examples, applying terminology)…P.T.O for example

Example Sentences from Merlin Essay: 3 Point Sentence Structure