Cinematography- Activity Suggestion 1

To start familiarising students with shot types and their role in representing characters it can be good to start with still frames so they are entirely focused on the shot type alone and how they can represent any character.

Give them a selection of shots and get them to annotate the shot type and what they signify/represent about the character.

Develop this by giving students a starting frame on a storyboard (eg. The shot above) The characters are about to step out of the lift and meet with another character this is a dominant female officer. Storyboard the next 8 frames of the scene using shot types, framing and camera movement to represent

her as powerful (This can later be developed considering mise-en-scene-editing and sound)

Cinematography- Activity Suggestion 2

TV Drama Blogs

A way to get students to engage with textual analysis is to set up their own blogs where they can embed clips and type their analysis underneath. Alternatively they could remove the sound from the clips and record a DVD commentary over the clip analysing the use of shot types, composition and camera movement.They can also post still images and analyse the mise-en-scene and the shot types used to represent particular characters.If students have not done any video work previously it may also help to consolidate camera shots if you get them re-create shot-by shot a short scene from a TV Drama to consider why the shots have been used.

Editing- Activity Suggestion 1

As continuity editing is often ‘invisible’ to create a sense of realism in TV Drama many students fail to notice and comment on the use of editing when textually analysing an extract.The pace of editing fairly simple for students to analyse and can often be tied to how characters are represented. To get students to be more aware of the pace of editing watch an extract and get students to do something physical to acknowledge every time the shot cuts, this can be clapping, clicking fingers or even standing up and sitting down. The actions should reflect the pace and create an awareness of editing even when it appears to be invisible.

Suggested Activities for Approaching TV Drama G322

Sound- Activity Suggestion 1

To draw attention to the use of diegetic and non diegetic sound extract the audio from a short extract where music/dialogue or SFX plays a significant role in representing the characters. Using the sound alone with no images get to students to analyse what these signify about the characters. Then watch the sequence again including the image and consider if these judgements were correct. Similarly this can be used for cinematography analysis. As TV Drama can often be dialogue heavy and students tend to tell the story rather than analyse what meaning the camera represents. Try selecting a scene which has very little dialogue or remove the dialogue from an extract and see how the cinematography is creating meaning.

Sound- Activity Suggestion 2

Dialect, tone and language can represent a great deal about how characters are represented. A quick activity can be extracting some lines of dialogue from a some scenes of the following characters and playing the audio alone:Posh Kenneth (Skins)Miles (This Life)Frank Gallagher (Shameless)Tony Soprano (The Sopranos)Jess (Mistresses)Trudy (Mistresses)Students can match the sound to the images of the characters and analyse how their dialect, tone and use of language represent their particular social group.Alternatively a useful classroom scene from Skins http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc7XxpArhhA&feature=relatedCan be used to compare and analyse sound to represent age, gender and social class/regional identity.

Mise en Scene/Cinematography-Activity Suggestion 1

Give students the following still images and get them to label which areas of representation is most relevant. They should then discuss the connotations of the visual codes that are constructing the representation.

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes of this social group?

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes of this social group?

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes of this social group?

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes of this social groups?

Sound activity

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes?

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes?

Discuss the connotations of the following and how they representing………………………..Shot Type:Framing:Costume/Props:Physical Appearance:Does this conform to or subvert stereotypes?