TV Drama Texts for Analysis

Heartbeat

This show is set in the 1960s and revolves around the work of a group of Police Officers in the fictional town of Ashfordly in the North Riding of Yorkshire, their "patch" also includes the village of Aidensfield, a fictionalised version of the real-life village of Goathland in the North York Moors. The show at the opening primarily focussed on a single policeman who had moved to the area with his wife, as the programme continued the show became an Ensemble Drama.

Although Heartbeat was often criticised for seeing the 1960s through 'rose-tinted spectacles', in reality it has tended to avoid the usual "swinging" clichés. It was said that if there was a cultural revolution going on, then it wasn't going on in Aidensfield and Ashfordly (Not a true representation of what was happening around most of the country at the time).

Textual Analysis

The fairly rural setting of a small town and village in North Yorkshire would immediately tell most people that it would be close knit community group being part of the police in such a small place. As with the picture everyone knows their neighbour and each other in small towns in villages as can be seen with the civilian looking people being upset with the policeman on the floor being injured.

The uniforms that the policeman wear are clearly similar to that of a show such as Dixon of Dock Green, this is based in the sixties so it would fit the same simple uniform style. One slight difference in the clothing here is that one of the officers can be seen in more of a jacket therefore it could mean that he is one of the known bike 'bobbys'. The environment around the situation that is occurring here shows a farming area with the barn in the background and the old stone house to the right in the still.

Another thing to notice with the close community is that the way the people are comforting each other, not just stood looking over the injured person, women hugging, the policeman with the hand on the shoulder of the civilian man and the policeman who is embracing most probably a very close friend of his. 

What can be seen from this image is that from the expression the policeman has is that he seems proud to do what he does and he loves his motorbike which is a key for being motorbike policeman. The jacket that goes over the uniform shows the slight differences that come with his role due to being dressed differently. With the background you know the community he works is a small one in the rural hills because of the sheer amount of clear land and little architecture being in place, plus the police department size would be considerably smaller compared to somewhere like the metropolitan police.

TV Drama Texts for Analysis

The Bill

 The show focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any certain aspects of police work.When The Bill started, the majority of Police  were opposed to the programme, claiming that it portrayed the police as a racist organisation, feelings towards the programme became mellowed as it carried on being aired. It was decided that the editorial relationship between the police and the show was sufficient so that there were no difficulties with filming or unhappy Police officers.

 As part of a new serial format, much more of the characters' personal lives were explored. The change to this new format also allowed The Bill to become more reflective of modern policing with the introduction of officers from ethnic minorities, the new Superintendent, Adam Okaro was also a key minority character now introduced to show the diversity of the police. It also allowed coverage of the relationship of homosexuals within the show.

Textual Analysis

The still to the right is an action shot of various members of this met police department going to some form of emergency. The rank of police varies within this picture with the women at the back and the man on the far left being possibly some form of detective or non-uniform police officers. These two with the two uniformed officers show the cohesiveness between the department and how these people come together as a strong team to help the populous as real police would do in times of emergency. Another thing to notice with this being a more recent image from the TV series is the diversity of people even within this small group, the police have always been accused of sexism and racism whereas in the image there is a women and a black man. The equipment the people are carrying also show the form of emergency they are going to, the small ram and other equipment in the black rucksacks show that officers are equipped at all times to deal with any manner of situation. The many police vans in the background also show the amount and possibly how quick the police can react to a reported situation. With these officers also running towards the camera it seems to show them as some form of heroes with them running from the direction of the sun to reveal themselves to those in need of help.

This image represents the other half to the lives of the police men and women that are in the service. The image contains a group of off duty officers in smart suits who have gone out to have as can be seen a drink. The dark environment with the leather chairs and dark tables shows the pub environment that they are socialising in and showing that they are not just police officers every day of the week 24/7 they have lives and are normal people to which the show, The Bill really looks into. 

TV Drama Texts for Analysis

Dixon of Dock Green - 1955-1976

Dixon of Dock Green was a benchmark to measure "realism" of police series such as Z-Cars and The Bill that came later on. The series was set in a police station in the East End of London and focused on uniformed police  doing routine tasks and dealing with low-level crime. Unlike later police series, Dixon of Dock Green focused less on crime and policing and more on family-like nature of life in the station with Dixon being a warm, paternal person, this was the central focus where crime was little more than petty.

The 60's and 70's brought more realistic police series,Dixon of Dock Green became increasingly unrealistic, a rosy view of the police that grew out of touch with the times. Yet stories were supposedly based on fact, and Dixon was an accurate reflection of what goes on in an ordinary police station.

Textual Analysis

Firstly what can be noticed with the group of people, including Dixon and other officers is that they are all smiling and look like they are enjoying themselves. What that can show is the togetherness of the community and the officers at the time, another connotation also seeming to be that if they are here being jolly with civilian looking people there isn't much dangerous crime around. 

From what the two officers are wearing in the still, is the 'old-fashioned' traditional 'Bobby' uniform which back at that time was designed similarly to a military uniform but with a black colouration. Similar to army uniform is the stripes representing the rank of the officer. The civilian man represents his role as well as the women of the time with being in a suit and the women being in a dress.

Something important to observe is the female police officer because as known throughout the nineteenth century there was much discrimination against women in the workplace, but with the women officer being involved, dressing the same and also looking happy it shows that there is no divide in the workplace and women are just as equal as men.

Again with this image you see Dixon dressed as the typical representation of a 'Bobby' police officer with an innocent young child and a dog.

What seems very significant to this image is that with Dixon down on one knee and petting the young girl's dog it reveals the care for the community the officer has and that he likes to make sure that everyone is safe and well. It gives the view that the police are in with the community and doing there best to make sure it stays a happy and safe place.

Theorists

Sara Mills - Works at Sheffield Hallam University, makes studies primarily into politeness and impoliteness. She also makes studies into gender and many feminist activities. Mills has done works such as the article in Media Magazine 2007 in which she uses her understanding of these elements of society to give useful representations from society of the British Police force.

"Uniform and flashing lights on cars symbolise... the element of 'good' in the 'good vs. evil' binary opposition."

David Buckingham - Is a leading international researcher in Media Studies and people's reactions and interactions with modern media, he also leads well funded projects into various aspects of research into the media areas. Therefore he makes contributions to various Media discussions including the examination projects of 'Collective Media Identity'.

Steph Hendry - Makes frequent contributions to the Media Magazine, has a Media Studies background consisting of fifteen years of teaching the subject and running a sixth form college.

Alternate Police Statements- Theorists

"Uniform and flashing lights on cars symbolise... the element of 'good' in the 'good vs. evil' binary opposition." - Sara Mills

"Policing takes place in a highly mediated environment and policing itself is an inherently newsworthy activity." - Frank Leishman

"Police drama is the eternal struggle between good and evil."
"The television image of the police is still dominated by the traditional male sleuth in a suit." - Sean Delaney

"Young people spoke of incessant stop-and-search accompanied by rudeness, arrogance and racism." from the police - Malcolm James

"The role involves many different elements that the media does not report unless there is some element of excitement to gain the public's attention." - Dantzker

"depiction is impressed an society and is usually aimed toward the crime-fighting element of policing."
"The media is in constant competition with other media sources. In competing for audience, they often choose stories about law enforcement that are exciting." - BJC(University student)

Police Research - Media Magazine (Sept 2007)

• They are an unmarginalised group, powerful, not a minority group in society.
• Sum up of their reprersentation nowadays: 'Gradual erosion of respect and authority'. Most traditional representations tend to move in an opposite direction.

• 'Crime over time':

Dixon of Dock Green: 1955-1976- 'Golden age of policing', image of the enduring good police officer.
Juliet Bravo: 1980-1985- A look at the feminist movements in the 1970's.
Gentle Touch: 1980-1984- Looks at the similar issues to that of Juliet Bravo.
Heartbeat: 1984-2010- A nostalgic look at simpler time, 1960's (aimed at an older audience)
The Bill: 1984- 2010- Definitive British representation of the police.

These are the options for me to look at for the section of Police TV Drama for the exam, my second section being the looking into the Police out of the major Newspaper companies.

• Iconography: Uniforms and flashing lights on cars symbolise the element of 'good' in the 'good vs. evil' binary opposition. The assumption that a police officer necessarily represents good vs. evil is the defining thing of representation.
• Early TV years: Dixon of Dock Green represented the 'golden years' of policing. Crime was totally preventable by a good Bobby at the time. Dixon contributed to the original stereotype, white man, not bright but reliable, honest & morally sound. Stereotype served for the 50's and 60's. Crime was on the rise and urban areas were changing. Police still did much good such as controlling mods & rockers and even battling ethnic groups at the Notting Hill Carnival riots. The Media was also changing rapidly.
• The 70's Power and Gender: Juliet Bravo & The Gentle Touch show women in positions of power. They are a result os a second wave of feminism in the 70's, results of Equal Pay act, Sex discrimination act of 1975 allowed women to rise higher in chosen professions. Juliet Bravo dealt with how a women with power dealt with 'Old-Fashioned' men.
• Police Under Threat: By the time The Bill started in 1984, lawlessness was at an epidemic that police couldn't solve every crime. Crime was firmly in society. The 'Good vs. Evil' had gone and that crime could be cured, had gone. A great change in view came with the Miners Strikes of 1984. The polic were in conflict with 'normal' people. The strikes showed the police were fighting 'us' which made them get seen as a 'political army'. The police were the aggresors.
• The 90's & Beyond Race and Reputation: The Stephen Lawrence case of 1993, the police reputation fell to an all time low. Macpherson Report of 1999 which discovered the police were racist. The Bill reflected this new understanding with more rounded characters. It changed to reflect the characters and not the police.
• Thinking Positive: The differences between Police and Criminals are far more blurred than they ever were in earlier TV series. The Bill always tried to make a positive representation.
• Crime Never Pays: Despite not all police being 'good' and criminals being 'bad'. Most cases are still eventually solved and criminals caught. Programmes could be seen as irresponcible for encouraging illegal or lawless behaviour. There is no longer a time of police being good and criminals just being tearaway teenagers.

Celebrity Representation

Police Textual Analysis

Collective Media Identity- Police Presentation

 This is my created presentation for the Police who are the group I am looking at for this initial collective identity study, the presentation looks at the history and previous representations of police from different media including TV programmes and news articles over previous big events to do with the police.

Collective Media Identity

I will be looking at the Media representation of "Law Enforcement" in TV(Documentary) and The News.

The first look at "Law Enforcement" for this collective identity is from the 2012 documentary "Ross Kemp's Extreme World". This 9pm starting programme is created to show the harsh realities of life for the extremely poor and suffering in some of the worst places to currently live on the planet. The focus of the analysis is on the Law Enforcement in these countries. They are presented simply as just as much of a cause compared to low life criminals and the government for problems caused in these cities or entire countries. Venezuela for example is a country that maintains the view of many that it is full of crime and death all year round which is true. Criminals thrive everywhere but the police forces in the area are always a cause or blamed for causing trouble themselves which adds to the further de-stability of the nation. They take up this work and have to be prepared for what happens but in these various places the police could simply open fire on someone and get away with it just as much as anyone else. The forces are shown as corrupt and just as crooked as the violent criminals that live there but their lives are also not easy for being a policeman because they can become specially targeted and many do die or have to take up crime themselves in parallel. 

The second look at law enforcement comes from a primary source of the modern media, the News in all forms, online, TV, and radio for example. The Law Enforcement or Police force of Britain clearly would be much altered compared to that of a suffering nation as somewhere like Pakistan or Venezuela. The force here is much more honest and crime is a much lower statistic than in many other nations around the globe. The News always has to present them in a good light with anything rarely ever making a smear on the reputation of the force. Even recently the Police have worked on the case of young Welsh girl, April Jones to which through the media the search was moving successfully in the right direction and at a good pace. The police in this country are allowed to get on with their job and the country doesn't suffer terribly so that the government and services are turned on due to the faltering economy and society of the country unlike some. To keep in relation and an understanding with the populous there are always conferences and talks that happen all over the country and Police frequently visit schools to keep an interest in the younger generations and prevent a generation from turning to crime as many do with modern society and the stereotype of the "Chav". Also with matters that always happen in regards to this abduction of April Jones the police forces ability to deal and act on matters are always placed into question and much criticism does fall in that direction and that the lack of funding that is now frequently questioned against government becomes an issue and that the current recession affects many aspects of life but that certainly control could be falling to that of a country such as Venezuela.

Post Production Revision

1. What did you use? How well did you use them? What did you learn about?

The first and most important programme I used for my AS coursework  was Adobe Photoshop which was key throughout the entirety of my coursework. This is a simple enough to use programme with some simpler parts that can be learnt quickly and it helped that I had experience with this programme at lower tiers of my education. The basic uses such as lassoing for images and cropping and layering for effects with images all works well but the brilliant thing with Photoshop is that every time I go on it there is something new to learn that I can carry on into future coursework and future projects in any area. Even this time around I can remember that I learnt how to use the Magnetic Lasso tool which is a simple alteration to the original which works better and quicker with cutting out certain sections of a photo.

Moving into A2 preliminary work I made my first use of the Apple Macs iMovie programme which I found to actually be an easy programme to get started off with and move into more detail further on which is what I plan to do with this years A2 coursework. With this programme I simply only tried to put together small sections of an overall music video to create the final piece including all its transitions, sound effects, speed settings and filters. With this programme in particular there will be much touching up on my skills with this as it will potentially be one of the most important I use over the course of my A2 course.

An important media website that I have become very familiar with over the last year is the "Blogger" website that allows you to create, with the use of templates a new blog for you do document research, planning and indeed the final product itself. This website comes very handy for the coursework and is extremely simple to use, it eliminates the need and aggravation for a portfolio to carry around all the time. It is also a website that I use frequently and I feel well during my Media studies time, its extremely simple to create new posts and edit previous ones it is just a very good web tool to have in the arsenal.

Conventions Revision

1. Which were the most influential conventions for you? How did your study of them affect your decisions and outcomes?

Almost certainly I wanted to stick closely to conventions at the time because I didn't want to make anything too different that it may have seemed an disliked change by the target audience. The two genres of magazine that I wanted to merge together to make my own was a combination of Rap and Indie, so that I could stick to the conventions and in particular the ones of these magazines but with making something new. With my front cover I stuck to the most simple conventions such as a readable font and reasonable text sizes, I wanted a central large image displayed relating to the main article of the magazine just like those of "Vibe" and "NME" I had studies the most. The colours I looked at pretty well because a trend has to followed with this as well because a bright yellow cover wouldn't go with the Indie side but a darker but still rich colour would. Simple conventions I stuck to pretty well but with obviously adding my own content and making alterations to the position of article titles and my title and images.

I would say that my decisions were altered by the use of conventions for the given magazines. I would feel that if my research would have been done, then if maybe gotten conformation that I could go crazy and create something new and revolutionary it would have sure up a position that I could be allowed to move much more independent direction. With having to complete the research and then relating my creation of my magazine to these others it made me feel that I had to be constricted to these styles and categories and that I would say eventually affected my decisions and outcomes. For example my final contents page became very similar looking to that of one I had used for research and completed analysis on so it wouldn't have really redefined any of the modern conventions and would have therefore limited the success and outcome that my magazine faced.

2. Did you subvert any conventions that you studied in music magazines?

In all honesty I think that I stuck pretty much to the conventions of music magazines and didn't move against any conventions at all either because I may have been unsure at the time or that I just felt that it would have been better to remain the way a certain convention. With the title and primary image of the front cover it seemed better to remain with the title at the top centre of the page and not go for anything like up the up the side or so on because it the kind of thing that doesn't work because it wouldn't be seen when seen in a shop. Ideas like this just made me really play it safe in the conventions department and also it is difficult to be creative on a subject such as this because most boundary changes have already been made and that there may not even be enough space on a page to fit cool, new ideas.

Research and Planning Revision

1. Detail how your understanding of the importance of good research and planning skills developed throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework.

At the opening of the AS course I quickly realised that research would be a key part of all coursework that would be done over the A level course. At the start research was made for the music magazine in the style of simply looking for the cover of other magazines such as "Vibe" and "NME" from the music industry and taking the details of them into consideration for when it came to creating my own magazine. The cover and contents would have been taken from certain magazines then the inspiration for a double page spread would have come from a studied student magazine that was shown to me at the opening of the pre-lim at AS level. Not really until it came towards the end of AS and there was time to look back at what had been done by myself for the coursework and look at others and then it had to be realised that maybe enough was done for research but more in depth analysis would be needed for future coursework such as for A2 and beyond. Even so far with A2 I have realised that much more in depth research for the band, directors, producers and videos is needed to really give the in depth element to the research and help me to bump up my marks for the final thing.

2. How did your knowledge of digital technology and your research and planning skills develop throughout the pre-production of your AS and A2 coursework.

My knowledge of digital technology actually increased fairly quickly because I had to quickly get to grips with the new Apple Macs and then other software was given more detail such as Powerpoint which I already had experience with but learnt further controls such as lasso, magic wand etc. New uses for some of the buttons on the programme was also learnt. Also direction was given by the teacher with programmes and hardware to use for the coursework and this assisted with simply furthering my knowledge and being a great help with my development. From the current research and planning made in my pre-production for A2 I realise that I have had my eyes open to the view that my work from least year wasn't really as good quality as originally thought. With my magazine front cover my ideas were fairly mimicking of magazines such as the "Vibe" which my title style and central image is focused on "Vibe". Lots could be done to improve my research and the planning for my Music Video and improve the overall quality from my entire coursework project this year and work to achieve a better grade overall.

Creativity Revision

1. Do you think you were creative or not throughout your coursework?

I do feel that there was a degree of creativity on my behalf during the AS coursework but it did happen more as I developed my skills with use of software such as Photoshop. Overall though I feel that not a huge amount of creativity came from me and that in terms of the creation of the music magazine, it was of a following of trends from current magazines that shaped my drafts and final design.

2. Did technology enhance your creativity or not?

The access that I had to new and known technologies was certainly a big help for creativity as oppose to being left to design things on basic programmes on home PC's or so on.

The developing of skills through the use of Photoshop in which I gained much more knowledge of new buttons, for example the magnetic lasso, normal lasso and so on. The hardware use with Apple Macs certainly assisted in the creativity element with the unique and different features that are on the Macintosh's themselves. Also the Sony Video Camera that was used for the filming was one of my own because I knew I had one at home.A new and simple enough to use camera that recorded a decent quality and was quick and brilliant in assisting the creation process.

3. What ideas did you communicate and what stylistic techniques did you use? How did you relate to your interests/self identity?

The ideas I really wanted to get across with the coursework was that people would enjoy the magazine that had been created and make a relation themselves to the genre of the magazine and enjoy the music reviews. They could relate it to one of their accepted genres and accept the style of the magazine that would be presented to them. An example of the research on certain genres that I did was searching for Rap and Indie style of magazines because that was the idea I had, to create a mixture of both genres. The interests I had I put into the magazine along with the kind of music I like and the style i liked as well I did put into the magazine. I did make the magazine one that I liked and maybe that became a mistake in the end because the appeal to a wide audience may have been slightly lost  with this decision. It could have still met success though due to the curious blend of two differing genres to attract a wider audience.

4. Was your product influenced by your environment?

The final product that was made come the end of the coursework I would say was influenced by the environment. With being in school and thinking about the music friends and others like the magazine was related to that also examples that were researched and looked at influenced the style and set up of the final magazine that was made. Example magazines I did research were texts such as "Vibe" magazine which presented the Rap side of my magazine and one for the Indie side would have been "NME".

5. Was it original or did you add something extra to an original media text?

The idea that was created was a new idea, a new magazine that had a new set up and features but the original influences for the magazine I suppose were a mixture of small ideas taken from other known music and other such as sport magazines such as "Vibe","NME" and even a little look at "ESPN" magazine just for alternative style tips. In basic I suppose the magazine I made was a combination of small ideas taken from a variety of 3 or 4 magazines. There was also a magazine that the contents page was the only thing looked at because it had a unique style so I wanted mine to be similar. My magazine could possibly be seen as new extra's being added to a few original media texts.

6. Would you take any creative skills into future projects or have you been influenced to engage these skills in any other projects?

The creative skills I have now and ones I've developed over the period of the year will be useful for future projects e.g. Furthered Photoshop use, iMovie and even developed skills with use of the Blog. I will still be very open to alterations and new developments in my skills being made during the course of the work this academic year. Being able to hone these skills and build on them will be vital for use in the future especially with a certain type of chosen media career.

Digital Technology Revision

What were the good and bad things about the software and hardware used at AS in terms of skills development?

The positives that can be said about the hardware used at AS level in general is that it was of simple use and no learning really needed to happen in that department. Everyone know how to use the cam- recorders and the cable connecting was simple enough. Plus the Apple Macs are similar in style to a PC, so they are easy to make good use of quickly.

However there were some irritating problems with the transferring of the videos recorded from the camera to the Mac, but then that could have been more of a software related issue.

With software and the use of the programme Photoshop, there was previous basic experience there but it is nice and easy to gain the use of a new mechanic or button every time it was used. Photoshop is simple enough to use anyway and there is always more to learn. The development that was made here was the gradual development of the skills needed and realising that later on something would need altering.

Skills development in the AS level was very basic and it was really only simple new things being learnt. Realy, there was a knowledge already on how to use most of the hardware and software.