Representation of Youth: The Labels.

Representation of Youth: The Labels.

Generation "WhatEver"
Generation "Why should I care?"

The Facebook Kids

Mobile Youth

iPhone Kids

Generation MSN

Media Consumption Audit.

1.  Listening to music via Ipod

2.  Online Social Networking

3.  Graphic Design

4.  Concept Art

5.  Watching TV Content online (Youtube)

6.  Watching DVDs

7.  Live Streaming Music

8.  Using Your Mobile Phone

9.  Watching TV on Demand

10. Watching Scheduled TV

11. Playing Games online or on a console

12. Listening to Scheduled Radio

13. The Cinema

How youth is represented in extract?
(Clip: Skins Series 1 Episode 1)

The location is very urban, These are streetwise young people, The clothing is very tidy, everything is neat, reminiscent of 'American Psycho' style control freak tendencies.

Reading 'Nausia' in the bathroom, manipulative looks, perving on the neighbours, Classical french and italian films, hes smart and unusual, thinks highly of himself. Expensive stereo system, affluent family

(Clip: The Inbetweeners)
Immature, fun loving colourful and not as stylish

Their hair, bad highlights, spiky quiff like a younger kid. Set in the suburbs, less antagonistic relationship with parents, bedroom is messy and more realistic. Behaviour isnt as cool as in skins. 

Skins: 

Eye-Candy

Stereotypical

Hyper Real

The Inbetweeners:

Parodic

Humorous

Realistic

*Watch: Charlie Brooker clip on teenage opinions*

Characters In TV Drama

Characters are clearly a crucial element of a TV drama. Many TV dramas are defined by the lead character.

Lead Characters:

• Inspector Frost - 'A Touch of Frost'
• Miss Marple - 'Miss Marple'
• Merlin - 'Merlin'
• The Doctor - 'Doctor Who'

The common ingredient of any TV drama is that audiences are being invited to identify with the lead characters and are interested in what happens to them.

Most Teen Dramas like Skins, The OC and Smallville are based on adolescent concerns;

• The desire for relationships
• The desire to be individual and special
• The power to solve other people's problems and cast individuals in the role of her or villain
• The importance of image
• The truth can hurt

Clip: Skins, Series 3 Episode 9 Sibling Rivalry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBzm-dEHX-M&p=D4CA77D4B1733026&playnext=1&index=27

Adolescent concerns featured;

• The Importance of Image
• Desire for Relationships
• Friendship
• Jealousy
• Truth can hurt
• Sexuality
• Desire to be individual and special

Clip: Footballer's Wives - You Can't Have My Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wphe73aNFUE

In Footballer's Wives, most audiences quickly recognise Tanya Turner or Eva Da Wolfe as the calculating schemers, that they are both (knowingly) portrayed as.

Both play an obvious gender role, shocking audiences by their ability to exploit people through their sexuality.

Although characters in stories may seem very real they must be understood as constructed characters who have roles to play for the sake of the story.
The most basic of these roles is the polarisation of characters into 'Good' and 'Bad'.
The majority of narratives involve characters who are in conflict with one another. Many TV dramas set up conflicts between good and bad characters and build the narrative around revealing how good will triumph over bad.

This conflict is the basis of Levi-Strauss's idea of binary opposition:

• Narratives are frequently organised in terms of characters, ideas and values that are set in opposition against eachother,
• The good characters normally win and order is resolved (however temporary.)
• Levi-Strauss pointed out that this was an almost 'mythical' resolution in that it suggested such outcomes were possible in narratives in the way they were not in real life.

Audiences are constantly positioned to sympathise with some characters (and the values and attitudes they represent.) And to be antagonistic to others (and the values and attitudes they represent)
Audiences attitudes, Values and beliefs are beung shaped by their involvement in narratives. 

Conventions of TV Drama

Basic Conventions:

• Characters
• Narrative
• Sets and Setting
• Camerawork
• Dialogue, Sound, Music

When looking closely at TV drama, some ideas and theoretical perspectives will emerge

These ideas and perspective should increase your understanding of the way these dramas are produced and constructed.

Theoretical perspectives of TV drama:

• Character Roles (some basic reference to Propp’s character theory)
• Seven Basic Character Types
• Villain
• Donor, Friend of hero who gives something that encourages hero.
• Helper, sometimes teamed up with donor.
• Princess, or reward for hero
• Her father, Authority
• Dispatcher, Someone who sends hero off on quest.
• Hero  

Levi-Strauss and Binary Opposites

• Character opposition.

Representational Issues:

• Gender
• Race
• Place
• Ethnicity
• Class
• Sexuality
• Disability
• Age

TV Dramas are constructed, they are made to be believable through a combination of;

• Casting
• Performance
• Screenplay
• Direction

TV Drama - Clip Analysis

True Blood:
Dark outside, red and black
muted lighting, backlighting - internal struggle shadows
dramatic music, percussion, increased speed
cuts got faster as music increased - Tension
gunshot emphasised by music stopping
Smooth filming

The Wire:
Very dark, gloomy, noisy, chaotic,
long shots, camera pans around, as if the character is looking around him
characters dressed in dark colours, blended in with the gloom
music rumbling, bass blended with chaos of sounds on set 

Tv Dramas

Genre: Teen Drama

• Skins
• Shameless
• One Tree Hill
• October Road
• Gossip Girl

Genre: Crime

• A Touch of Frost
• Inspector Morse
• Midsomer Murders
• Poirot
• CSI

Genre: Supernatural

• Supernatural
• True Blood
• Vampire Diaries
• Heroes
• Doctor Who

Genre: Soaps

• Eastenders
• Emmerdale
• Corrination Street
• Hollyoaks
• Neighbours