1. Basic Conventions of TV Drama

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

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

4. 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

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

6. 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

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

8. 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