Yr 12 OCR Media Studies

TV Drama:
Conventions and Sub-genres

Learning Objectives:

1. To understand TV Drama conventions.

2. To understand how to recognise different sub-genres
of TV Drama.
Starter

What are the conventions of TV Drama?

 TV Drama Conventions
• Characters – a crucial element, deeply embedded in narratives
consider the roles they play e.g. a young female detective
• Narrative – both its overall structure and how it is constructed e.g.
an episode storyline.
• Sets and settings – locations against which the story unfolds and
which frequently take on a symbolic significance e.g. council estate
connotes low social status.
• Camerawork – particular kinds of camerawork are often associated
with particular sub-genres e.g. tracking shots in medical dramas.
• Dialogue, sound and music – sound and music create effects and
often underline emotional content e.g. the use of silence to create
tension.
• Icons – these tend to be associated with particular sub-genres e.g.
police car in crime dramas.
Pair Work

What are the different types of TV Drama?

 TV Drama Sub-Genres
– Costume Drama
– Medical Drama
– Crime Drama (including forensics)
– Soap Opera
– Family Drama
– Literary Drama
– Teen Drama
Structured
Questioning

How do audiences recognise different

sub-genres of TV Drama?
 TV Drama Sub-Genre
Iconography
• Particular sub-genres tend to have items
symbolic
which make them immediately representation,
the
identifiable, look for Icons that symbolise
conventional
meanings
the sub-genre: attached to
what is seen.
• Police cars or ambulance
• Blue lights
• Operating theatres and scalpels,
triage/reception areas in hospitals.
 Student
Demonstration

TV Drama Sub-Genre Icons

TASK: Write a list of icons associated
with a particular sub-genre of TV Drama
(choose one that you know well from the
pair-work activity).
Independent
Practice

Identify an example of each TV

Drama convention:
• Characters

• Narrative

• Sets and settings

Bleak House
• Camerawork

• Dialogue, sound and music

• Icons of the sub-genre