TV industry: Common - Representation

Learning objective:

To study Common, the BBCTV special with consideration given to representation of gender.
Are the representations stereotypical?

Key terms: 

Mediation - This is the way in which a media text is constructed in order to represent the producer of the text's version of reality. This is constructed through selection, organisation and focus.

Window on the world - This is the idea that media texts, particularly those that present aspects of reality, are showing the audience the real world as it happens.

Understanding the concept of representation is essential at A2 level. 
You must be able to go beyond a simplistic discussion of stereotypes or positive and negative representations.

To analyse the impact of representation in media texts you must be aware of the context and the purpose of representation within the text. There are some key questions you must be able to consider:

• How has the world represented in this media text been constructed?
• What ideas and values are being communicated in the text? In this case by McGovern and the BBC.
• Who is the target audience of the text? How may different audiences respond to the representations contained within the text? Who will accept and who will challenge? (Consider Stuart Hall here - Preferred, negotiated and oppositional readers).
• What messages are contained within the text? How might these messages impact upon the audience?  How might Common impact upon a teenage viewer?

Task 1: Watch Common and discuss the four questions above.

Studentshare>Media>Year 13 A2

Representation as a media concept

The producers of a media text encode ideas and messages within the text through representations. The aim of the producers of the text is to communicate their ideology to the audience. Audiences then decode the messages and respond to them in different ways depending on their own life experiences.

All media texts are constructed and all representations contained within texts have been constructed. This gives an illusion of reality which some audiences will accept as truth without challenging.

Representations are constructed through visual and technical codes, audio codes, language and mode of address.

The CONTEXT and purpose of the representation is important. The representation of young people in The Inbetweeners is constructed to make the audience laugh because it is a situation comedy.

Stereotypes are constructions that are made up of over exaggerated and easily recognisable character traits. They are used to convey information rapidly as audiences will have ideas and expectations of how certain stereotypical characters should behave. Not all representations are negative.

All media texts go through a process of mediation. They are not windows on the world. Through construction and selection the texts are interpreted for us and the representation of the issue, event or social group is presented in a particular way through this process.

Jimmy McGovern

Common is a rich text in terms of examples of representation. there are a range of representation areas for you to study and discuss.

There are positive and negative examples of older people and young adults. These have been constructed through the use of visual and technical codes and depending on how the audience decodes the messages within the text, there will be a range of responses.
As well as age, you should consider the representation of gender and class.

Task 2: 
Watch Common and write down how the characters Johnjo O'Shea, Coleen O'Shea (Johnjo's mother) and Margaret Ward (the mother of the murdered boy) have been represented both positively and negatively. Argue if these characters are stereotypical or not and explore any underlying ideologies.
Consider representation of age and gender as constructed through visual and technical codes. Remember to consider the context and the settings.
How have you arrived at these conclusions?    
Bullet points. Orange books.

TV industry Common - Narrative

Learning objective: 
To study Common, a 90 minute TV special with consideration given to narrative issues, structure, conventions and key codes.

Key terms: 

Plot situation: Elements that are part of the narrative and that an audience will expect to see in a particular text.

Privileged spectator position: Where the camera places the audience in a superior position within the narrative. The audience can then anticipate what will follow.

Manipulation of time: The narrative shapes the text through time  and are given snapshots of what happened in the past. Often indicated by a white or black screen or other transition.
Suspend belief: here an audience may be aware that where they are positioned by the camera is impossible but they do not challenge it as it enhances their involvement in the story.

Narrative Techniques in Audio Visual texts

Manipulation of time: The narrative can move the audience around within a given time frame. For example, crime dramas often employ non linear narratives starting with the discovery of the crime then moving back in time to show how it came about.

Three strand narrative: This is the most common form of narrative structure whereby three different storylines are introduced at the beginning and then these narratives interweave throughout the film.

Flexi narrative: This is a more complex narrative structure that is consequently more challenging for an audience. Here the narrative is made up of a a series of interweaving storylines involving complicated scenarios and plot situations. there will often be narrative twists and enigmas until the final exposition.

Characters

• TV crime dramas usually include certain character types:

• The hero cop
• Shocked suspect
• The antagonist
• The quirky detective
• Bad tempered but brilliant rookie
• Grumpy, world weary superior officers
• Forensic scientists
• Psychologists/helpers
• Lawyers
• Informants

Task 1: Watch the first 15 minutes of Common and identify any of these character types stating how you can recognise them through visual and technical codes.

This task will benefit you when you study Luther and Life on Mars.

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The character types in Common are, for the most part, played by actors that are not very well known.

Task 2: 

Discuss the effect that this has on the viewers expectations - 1 paragraph orange books. 
Consider:

How can knowledge of an actor's personal life impact on audience expectations?

What about actors that have previously performed well known roles, can the audience disassociate or will they be distracted?

Do well known actors have any predictable impact on reviews for new drama?

Celebrity and the Semiotics of Acting

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Setting and iconography

Crime dramas include typical settings in the repertoire of elements. 
Common is set in Southport but this is never mentioned. Southport is a generic Northern English town.

The setting of a crime drama is just as important as the characters. 

Connotations of class through regionality. Why is this? 

Consider the type of character that would live there.

Crime rates for the area.

The types of crime that are known to be committed in that area.

The setting also contributes to the style of the programme along with the characters, camera moves, editing and the audio.

Crime dramas are set in the inner City or rural environments.

For inner City settings the following conventions are usually used:

Shaky, hand held camera to give a documentary feel.

Fast editing to add drama.

Use of colloquial language or slang.

Urgent, contemporary music.

Low key lighting and grey colours to reflect inner City life. 

Task 3: 

Discuss why the construction of the setting of Common would give the audience certain expectations - 1 paragraph, orange books.

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Narrative Conventions in Audio Visual Texts

The techniques below are used to position audiences

Flashbacks: These are used to give the audience the backstory and can serve to develop the character motivation within the storyline. Audiences are given clues when time and space are being manipulated through for example, a change of clothing, iconography or the style of filming.

Point of view shot: this helps involve the audience in the narrative as they view the action from the point of view of a particular character.

Audience positioning: This is where the camera or audio codes place the audience in a particular position. This may be as the murderer stalking the victim, or it can be emotionally where the music can cause the audience to feel tense or sad.

Apparently impossible positions: This is another type of audience positioning whereby  the camera places the audience in an unusual position to view the action. For example viewing the operating table from the ceiling.

Audiences will suspend disbelief if their involvement in the narrative is enhanced.

Privileged spectator position: Here the audience is involved in the narrative as camera shows them what other characters can not see. This allows the audience to anticipate how the story will unfold.

Enigma code: These are evident in both audio-visual and print based texts. They are a way of restricting the narrative information given to 

Action code: Something a character does allows the audience to anticipate how the narrative will develop. For example, writing and delivering a letter which contains important information.

Voice over: Can be used in certain media texts to fill in gaps in the narrative or to give clues to what an audience may expect from the storyline, used in film trailers.

Dialogue. A converstation between two characters, for example, can be a rapid way of filling in background information and establishing character motive within the narrative.

Task 4: 

Watch Common and identify the mise en scene 

• Costume, 
• setting, 
• lighting, 
• acting, 
• props.

What do these elements tell us about the show?

What sort of places are the police stations and court rooms shown to be? How has this been done?

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Technical and audio codes

Common uses a combination of diegetic and non diegetic sound to position the audience.

Lighting is a very important convention for the genre.

Low key lighting has connotations of death, mystery, privacy.
High key lighting is used to make the on screen events clear to the audience.
It appears to make the criminals feel uncomfortable.

Task 5: 

Watch Common, identify the types of sound and lighting used and state how these technical codes have been used to position the audience..

TV Industry: Common - Genre

Learning objectives: 

To study Common - a 2014 TV special, with consideration given to generic issues, signifiers, conventions and iconography.

Key words: Genre. Plot. Joint enterprise. JENGbA

Introduction: 

Common is a 2014 BBC One 90-minute made-for-television drama, written by Jimmy McGovern, directed by David Blair and starring Michelle Fairley, Nico Mirallegro and Michael Gambon. It seeks to question some of the issues and challenges raised by England's common purpose legal doctrine.

Plot summary

Jimmy McGovern's drama stars Nico Mirallegro as guileless 17 year old Johnjo O'Shea, who goes from innocent bystander to accessory to premeditated murder after giving a few friends a lift.

Background:

The drama focuses on England's controversial joint enterprise doctrine. It is set in North West England, and was filmed in Southport (although the town is never mentioned).First shown on 6 July 2014, the drama examines the issues surrounding a case in which the defendants were charged with murder involving joint enterprise or common purpose. 
McGovern was inspired by the real life case of 16-year-old Jordan Cunliffe, sentenced under this law for a minimum term of 12 years for the murder of Garry Newlove, despite Cunliffe not actively taking part in the attack.

'Common' trailer:

'Common' writer Jimmy McGovern:

Panorama documentary:

Task 1: Familiarise with Joint Enterprise.

Watch the three clips above then look at reaction to Jimmy McGovern's Common. You can examine comments on the you tube clips and critical reception as introduced below.

Write a paragraph on the different points of view about Joint Enterprise as highlighted by the drama.

• Describe Joint Venture in a line or two.
• Consider arguments for and against the law. 
• 10 minutes - bullet points are fine. Orange books.

Useful links:

Joint Enterprise

Is Joint Enterprise a 'lazy' law?

Critical reception

The Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5 stars, calling it "profoundly engaging", with Nico Mirallegro, "giving a fine performance of coiled vulnerability". According to The Guardian, "When Jimmy McGovern gets off his soapbox this is a brutal and devastating drama", "bleak, powerful drama thick with political intent, which occasionally robs it of its quality", and "the knockout performance belongs to Susan Lynch, who plays the victim's mother".

The Daily Mirror noted that "Common was unrelentingly depressing. It's about real tragedy, where no character you invest in wins". And "McGovern's a genius wordsmith, an engaging social commentator who deftly avoids being throat-ramming with his message, but he also understands people – as sure as he can paint the most evil potential of mankind, he equally draws out the good."

The Daily Mail was more critical in its review, "the BBC spent licence fee money on commissioning a 90-minute drama railing against what lawyers describe as a 'powerful' and useful piece of legislation designed to stop criminals getting away with it by blaming each other." They also noted that the law had been used to good effect in the murder of Stephen Lawrence case as well as that of Malakai McKenzie.

GENRE

Common includes codes and conventions relating to TV crime drama such as angry policemen, shocked suspect, interview rooms, police trying to find the criminal, close up camera shots on reaction, serious music, low key lighting and generally, law and order versus crime.

The title sequence is typical of the crime/drama genre in that it sets the scene, highlights the characters, gives pace and sets up audience expectations.

Task 2:

Watch the first 15 minutes of Common, identify the following and how the narrative has been conveyed through the use of the following technical codes, who do we feel sympathy with? How is this achieved?

• Shot types
• Editing style
• Lighting
• Music
• Sound effects

Task: (Homework)

What are the genre conventions of Television Crime Drama?

• Explain, using these words:

• genre

• conventions

• plot

• character

• setting

IMDB 

BBC