Basic Conventions of TV Drama

Learning Objective To understand what the basic conventions of TV Drama are To be able to identify them within extracts of TV Dramas

Characters These are typically your general ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters Example: Vampire Diaries – Stephan = Good -Damon = Bad

Narrative and Sets & Settings They are often happy endings but sometimes are not The story is often told against familiar backdrops – homes, offices, hospitals, police stations

Camerawork Usually have establishing shots Mid shots of characters and shot/reverse shot for characters conversation Close ups to show character emotions

Dialogue They use dialogue to tell the story Some TV Dramas will use narration/voice overs Example: Desperate Housewives uses narration to tell aspects of the story

Music This is used to add suspense and other effects to a story Example: CSI uses music to highlight montage scenes in the lab

Sound Some TV Dramas tend to have more identifiable sound effects than others depending on where they are located Example: Grey’s Anatomy will have sounds of heart monitors etc. This is linked with iconography