Conventional vs Unconventional

Casualty/ER

Character Analysis
Casualty - First man starts off happy and smiling - 'How you doing?' He language/tone is quite colloquial and friendly.
The patient's attitude stays the same throughout the scene. He seems grumpy and is wearing a dark blue medical gown. It is clear that he has some sort of relationship with the doctor that precedes doctor-patient confidentiality, from the conversation they're having.
It's clear that the female doctor isn't welcome and wasn't expected from the men's facial expressions when she enters the room.
This scene shows a typically male-dominated working environment and the woma is only featured for a short time.
ER - The scene starts with an argument between two ladies. The taller blonde one is being really dismissive of the shorter lady who is complaining to her. The first woman eventually wins the 'argument' which could be representing racial stereotypes.
The third woman 'Samantha' is clearly a subordinate but she also has an 'attitude' as at first she blatantly ignores what the first woman is saying to her.
There is a clear difference between the medics that bring the patient in, and the doctor. Apart from costume, the doctor's stance is taller and bolder and shows the relationship between the characters - he is superior


Sound

Casualty - Digetic sound is used as you hear the door opening and closing shut again. When the doctor and the patient are having a conversation, you can hear the beeping of the machine in the background, which adds to the atmospere and makes the hospital scene much more authentic.
Diagetic sound of the door opening is also used when the nurse enters the scene. It is loud, sudden and unexpected and immediately breaks up the conversation.
ER - Digetic sound is also used to add to the hospital atmosphere. You can hear talking in the background, the rustling of papers (especially when the man falls over at (0:20) and a telephone consistenly rings which gives the impression of the hospital being busy.

Mise en-Scene
Costume
Casualty - The doctor is wearing  wearing a dark blue shirt and dark trousers. A stethescope is a simply prop that hangs around his neck and allows the audience to know that he is a doctor.
 The nurse is wearing a pink t-shirt, a plastic overall and plastic gloves, which shows she is a nurse and has a lower status than the doctor.

Lighting
The lighting is quite similiar on these two shows. It's not too bright, as neither of the scenes are particularly cheerful, however, it's not so dark and depressing that it would seem unappealing to an audience.


Camera Angles/Editing/Composition


Casualty
Scene starts with a long shot of the main doctor, which also establishing the surroundings - you can see clearly down the entire corridor, and also his costume, which lets you know his role.

The patient is always shown in a close-up head and shoulder shot, which makes him look more powerful and less vulnerable.
The camera shots alternate between simply following the  characters and swivelling round to capture the action and simply showing reaction shots.
ER
In this scene, the camera swivels round to catch the actresses/actors at different angles. However, this one is interesting, as instead of cutting from character to character (Reaction Shots) the camera moves with and follows the characters (Tracking)

Techniques used to engage target audience/s
-Costume, Sound, Lighting and Composition immediately establishing the setting and immediately lets the audience know what to expect, e.g. if you are someone who enjoys medical dramas, you would be much more likely to want to watch the show if you KNOW it's a medical drama.
-Shots are close and personal - let's audience feel like they are part of the show and feel more attached to the characters

Scrubs (unconventional)
CHARACTER ANALYSIS
The surgeons are all portrayed as being 'cool' and 'popular.' E.g. They all sit around a big table, are loud, and are all high-fiving each other, as J.D walks past on his own.
J.D. wants to fit in but can't.
The medical residents are being stereotypically 'geeky.' Spilling drinks, wearing goggles/being unfashionable, etc.

SOUND
- Knife/Forks scraping against plates
-Sound of the camera as Karla takes a picture
Different sound effects are also used to create a comic effect. This is a very different style
E.g. As the 'Surgeons' are being cool, rock guitar chords are played in the background which adds to this idea.
Soft, floaty music is also played when J.D. is having a flashback.
Sound effects are also used when Turk makes his comeback at 1:03, and to accompany Turk/JD as they are escorted down the hallway (in J.D's imagination)
The sound/music used in this scene often relates to what is actually going on WITHIN the scene and adds to the humour of the moment.
J.D. also uses voice-overs throughout the entire thing to create humour, but also just to narrate the storyline and let the audience see his personal emotions/feelings.

                                                COSTUME/LIGHTING (MISE-EN-SCENE)

Medium lighting is always used, apart from the freezeframe in which Turk and J.D. take a picture. At this point, the camera is edits the shot to make it look like a black and white photograph.

It's obvious that the show is a medical drama as the doctors/surgeons are all wearing Scrubs. However, it detracts from the usual image of a medical drama as the opening scene starts in the canteen.
In J.D's imagination, the contrast in costumes is really huge. E.g. Turk is wearing a red fedora, golden chain and red trousers, while J.D. has a huge fur coat, a suit and a white hat.



CAMERA ANGLES/EDITING/COMPOSITION

-Composition is used for comedic effect. E.g. J.D. is dismissing the rumour that all medical residents are geeks, and at this point you can only see him and Elliot. However, after he has made this statement, the camera shot switches to his 'friends' that he is sitting with, showing them do 'geeky' things and creating an element of comedy.
- The camera zooms into J.D just before he has a flashback and then cuts straight to the next scene.
-The camera uses the 'zoom' technique a lot (the flashback is started with zooming in onto J.D's face, and ends with zooming in on J.D's hat)
- A Track is used when J.D. and Turk approach the fellow surgeons. The camera follows them as they walk down the corridor

Techniques used to engage target audience/s
-Voice over (Straight from the beginning. Engaging as is talking straight to audience. Let's us know the show won't be 100% serious.)
-Costume (Establishes setting)
-Composition (Used to create comedic effect, as opposed to ER/Casualty where it's used simply to explain effectly what is happening.)
- Camera angles are very different and I think this would engage completely differnet types of audiences, e.g. teenagers that perhaps don't have much knowledge/interest in medicine, however, the exciting different camera angles/techniques create interest.
- Sound/Music - Very sudden, might seem random at first but appropriae to specific event in the scene, as opposed to the earlier medical dramas, where digetic sound was only used to create atmosphere and no music used whatsoever. The use of popular music may help to engage a younger, more modern audience.

Comparing TV dramas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmIIEb1VPY4 - Skins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48CcQl77D-E&list=WL31CD517C9E926A0F&index=4 - Inbetweeners

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcngcqA6zHw&list=WL31CD517C9E926A0F&index=2 - Misfits

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I have chosen to compare the teen dramas Skins, The Inbetweeners and Misfits.
All three of these are teen dramas, first introduced by Channel E4.
'Skins' and 'The Inbetweeners' are quite naturalistic dramas, whereas Misfits has a stylised approach to comedy and it's producers have decided to combine elements of sci-fi/fantasy with teen comedy.

Skins

Sound
- In the first few seconds, diagetic sound is used when Effy opens/shuts her locker. You can also hear people laughing, talking and walking around them, which builds up the atmosphere of a secondary school and helps the audience identify with the surroundings.

Mise-en-scene

Costume -  Effy is shown to be wearing quite a light top with light colours, which is misleading as she has a darker. manipulative character and usually darker colours would be used to symbolise this.
Freddie is wearing a light top and a hoodie, to show he is quite casual and relaxed. He is also holding a fedora hat, which might symbolise that he is slightly 'classier' than his friends, which corrobates with what he calls his friends at 1:00, showing that he thinks he is above them.

Ethnicity- Freddie is clearly not 100% British (part Italian) and has clearly just moved into the school - "I'm new." His appearance on the show could be used to promote/discard racial steeotypes.

Character Relationship

Effy is clearly the one in charge, which is ironic because both visually and physically, Freddie seems as though he would be in control of the relationship. However, he starts confident and steadily deterioates. By the end shot, he is left alone, almost stuttering.
This is done cleverly, as even though Freddie towers over her, his reaction shots make it seem as though he looking down because he's nervous/confused.

Two Shot
(Medium)

The shots are a mixture of Over-the-shoulder, Reaction Shots, and Two-Shots.
These Two Shots are helpful in this scene as they show the differences between Effy and Freddie, and also the distance between them, which makes him seem even more awkward when he's fumbling for a response.
  They also help to establish the scene, as you can see school lockers in the background.

Over the shoulder

The 2nd video is 'The Inbetweeners.' This is also a teen drama.
Like Skins, it also focuses on the lives of a group of teenagers.
In this clip, the scene is a Track Shot, which follows the 'gang' as they walk along.
At first, Simon is at the centre, as he is the centre of attention has he's the one his friends are trying to convince to go 'clubbing.'

Unlike in 'Skins' this scene focuses more on use of costume to convey the setting. The boys are all wearing school jumpers, blazers, and ties. In the background, also seen in 'Skins' other students are passing by and talking, and these students are used to introduce diagetic sound associated with schools and to identify with the primary target audience (teenagers/students.)


The camera shows medium shots of all four of the boys to show their facial expressions clearly.
E.g. Will trying to smooth over a situation, Simon glaring warningly at Will, Neil looking slightly perplexed in the background as usual, and Jay staring in awe at the two girls. This shot is used to show their personalities in just one second!

Reaction Shots are used later on between Will and Carly's friend. Like Skins, the reaction shots are used to monitor the conversation and especially when the subject topic is becoming more personal.

In both TV dramas, the camera angles have been positioned carefully, to control the Composition.
In Skins, the camera shot only includes Effy and Freddie until Freddie insults his friends. Immediately, the shot allows the audience to see his 'friends' standing not too far away. This is deliberately only revealed to the audience later on for comedic effect.

Similarly, Simon in The Inbetweeners is talking about how 'uncool' he and his friends are, and how they could never get into a nightclub, when the girl he is trying to impress suddenly appears. Again, the camera is angled closely at the boys, only allowing the audience to see Carly after he's made his comment. He then proceeds to talk about how he is going clubbing with his friends.
Again, composition is used here for comedic effect.





On the other hand, 'Misfits' is another teen drama, however, it has a separate sub-genre, in the sense that  it has combined teenage drama with fantasy, and so it's themes are a combination of naturalistic and non-naturalistic styles.

The shots have been edited to show all the different 'young offenders' as they sit down on the sofa.
The costume helps set the context of the show, as they are wearing bright orange uniform jumpsuits, which allows the audience to understand that these teenagers are doing their community service.
There is no clue in this particular clip that this show is comedy/fantasy, as no fantasy element is shown, however, the comedic elements come across quite clearly. For example, when kelly is talking, the camera cuts so that she is in a different place each time she says her statement: 'They graffiti and we clear it up.' This makes it funnier as it is obvious to the audience that a long time has passed since she first said it.

Music is played in the background until Simon (the quite one) enters, and that is where all music stops.

The camera zooms out when it reaches Simon to a Medium Shot.
His body language shows that he is feeling uncomfortable and the frame makes him look smaller as he is sitting in the middle of the sofa with lots of space around him.

Another important thing about this show is that is focuses on teenagers from all walks of life. I think this is done effectively.
Similarly to the clip from 'Inbetweeners' these clip uses mise-en-scene to present this.
For example, Kelly and Alisha are wearing lots of make-up. (Kelly is also wearing golden hoop earings)  which enforces the 'chavvy' stereotype.


Composition 


Before each of the teenagers starts talking, the camera zooms in/smudges their profile, to allow the audience to guess who is going to speak next. This is purposely done to hide the identity of the speaker.

E.g. Before Nathan speaks the camera shot shows only his shoe, but before Kurtis speaks, the shot just shows shows the lower half on his face, but blurs his body.
A cross necklace is shown which is symbolic for regular watchers and symbolises
a) Religion - Kurtis isn't religious but he has higher morals than the other characters.
b) The character themselves.

Dexter

This clip is taken from Season 2 of the TV series 'Dexter.' In this scene, Dexter Morgan (the serial killer) is caught red-handed by local police officer Sergeant Doakes.

Dexter is wearing a dark tshirt and dark brown trousers to blend in with the darkness. This is his standard 'stalking/killing' apparel, but for anybody who does not watch this show on a regular basis, it is obvious he is hiding something and doesn't want to be seen, as the clothes camouflage him.

Doakes, on the other hand, is wearing a bright yellow shirt, and so the contrast between light and dark (and consequently, 'good' and 'evil') is instantly made.

This scene is filmed at night, and to add to the suspense, fast-paced music is played in the background to add to the action packed scene. The use of music, sound, and even voice-over all play a part in adding to the tension of the scene.

Dexter's voice-over at the beginning of the the clip - 'One more trip' makes everything seem more tense, as even he is anticipating something. As mentioned before, the music is fast and used to create tension. Also, at around 0:09, the music lowers drastically, and instead, eerie 'horror film' sound effects are used, to let the audience know that something is wrong.
   When Dexter finally realises 'It's over,' diagetic sound is used - this is the creaking of the planks, which add to the creepy atmosphere. The music then gets louder, with the occasional 'chime' which has the effect of perhaps counting down/towards something.
   Diagetic sound is also used later on - when the handcuffs thump to the floor, which is effective as it is like a final untilmatum for Dexter - also the gunshot at 1.52 which is loud and sudden. You can also hear gasping and splashing water in the seconds following. This means that even though the scene is shot in almost complete darkness, the audience can envision what is going on.




The scene starts with an overhead shot (left) which is used to show the immediate surroundings and settings in which the protagonist is in (pier, boat, river) etc.

When Dexter realises the game is over, the camera shifts to a long-shot, taken over his shoulder. This is used to show the relationship between the two characters; you can immediately see Doakes holding and pointing a gun at Dexter, and from this angle, an audience member is more likely to feel as if they're actually there, having the gun pointed at them  and sharing the experience.

Dexter talks

The characters speak in quick, short sentences. Between 0:26-0:36, the camera cuts between the two characters, so the audience can see Doakes as he's replying to Dexter and vice versa. These are 'reaction shots' and are done using medium close-ups. (left)

Doakes responds

This camera angle is also highly effective as it makes it feel as if the audience is looking directly into the barell of the gun.
The shots have been edited to quickly catch the response of the characters.

The camera then shifts to show Close-up, Head and Shoulder shots of both the characters, as the conversation becomes more detailed and personal. The camera focuses on Doakes for his entire mini speech at 3:16.

When Dexter Morgan kneels to put the handcuffs on, a Low Angle Shot is used, which shows that Doakes is the one in control of the situation, and makes him look intimidating, but Dexter to look small and inferior.

As Dexter's movement is so sudden at 1:48, a quick High Angle Shot is used to encapture all the action. This also shows the gap in the wooden planks, and lets the audience understand the iminent danger.

A quick transition is made from the 'pier scene' to the 'cage scene.' No blackout of fade out is used. Instead, the camera just quickly cuts to the next scene. The camera slowly zooms out from Doakes to show how he is alone, and the hopelessness of his situation.

Last piece of dialogue is used ('Morgan!!') then the music starts up again as the scene ends.