Sitcoms (Media Language) Conventions of a Sitcom: Theme Tunes and Locations
Theme Tunes Sitcoms typically have catchy theme tunes that are instantly recognisable, a bit like Soaps. Most of them are sung. Can you hum the theme tunes to: Malcolm in the Middle The Simpsons The Vicar of Dibley ?
Locations Sitcoms have identifiable, simple locations: A pub A living room A café A workplace The location usually sets the tone of the sitcom. For example, Scrubs is set in a hospital therefore the plot revolves around medical incidents. Name sitcoms that have locations in
1.A house or apartment 2.A school 3.An office In fact, you should notice that most sitcoms contain similar location formats. Draw a spider diagram that shows how various sitcoms share locations.
Comparing and FriendsTwo Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps 1.Analyse the logos for each sitcom in terms of media language 2.What can we tell about the content of the sitcom from their logo?
Design task Now that Teachers has ended, there is a gap in the market for a new school based sitcom. Considering your target audience, and having a basic idea of what this sitcom could be like, think of a good name for the show and come up with a basic design concept for its logo.