Questions on Ethnicity Representation

How did Roots and The Cosby Show challenge previous stereotypical representations of black people in TV dramas?

For the first time on U.S. television some of the realities of slavery--brutality, rape, enforced de-culturation – were confronted over a protracted period, and through individual characters with whom, as they fought to escape or survive, the audience could identify. Against this historic first was the individualistic focus on screenwriter Alex Haley's determined family, presented as "immigrant-times-ten" fighting an exceptionally painful way over its generations toward the American Dream myth of all U.S. immigrants.

The Cosby Show (1984-92) was the next milestone. The fact it was popular with white audiences in the South, and in South Africa, was a favorite quick shot to try to debunk it. Some critics claimed it fed the mirage that racial injustice could be overcome through individual economic advance, others that it primly fostered Reaganite conservative family values. Both were indeed easily possible readings of the show within contemporary U.S. culture.

What does the article say about the representation of black policeman in programmes such as Miami Vice, NYPD Blue and Hawaii Five-O?

Miami Vice's tri-ethnic leads were less anchored in that tradition. NYPD Blue carried over some of that tradition as regarded the African American lieutenant's role, but actually starred two Latinos in the three key police roles in the second series (one was played by an Italian American, in a continuing variation on "blackface" seemingly popular with casting directors). A central issue, however, raised once more the question of "modern" racism. A repetitive feature of the show was the skill of the police detectives in pressuring people they considered guilty to sign confessions and not to avail themselves of their legal rights.

A vastly disproportionate number of prisoners, in relation to their percentage of the nation, are African Americans and Latinos. On NYPD Blue we see firm unity among white, black and Latino police professionals in defining aggressive detection and charge practices as legitimate and essential, even though it is procedures like those that, along with racially differential sentencing and parole procedures, have often helped create that huge imbalance in U.S. jails. A war is on, and hard-headed, loyal cops in the firing line, know it. Within the paradigm of "modern" racism, co-opting ethnic minority individuals into police work made a great deal of sense (the security industry was living proof). Any TV reference was extremely rare to the fierce racial tensions often seething between police officers.

One Tree Hill Credits

Link to the Old Opening of One Tree Hill that was played between series 1 and series 4.

Link to the Series 8 Episode 21 Opening of One Tree Hill as since the beginning of series 5, the artist singing the song changes every episode. 


           
GENERAL
The opening scene of series 1 introduces the actors that play the characters. They make this clear by showing a couple of different shots of the character in different scenes with their real name displayed at the same time. Below is an example of the character 'Peyton Sawyer's introduction where the writing displays that her real name is Hilarie Burton. 

                                                   
The opening scene also establishes the representation of 'Tree Hill' where the series is set. The following images create a calm, tranquil representation of the area and therefore creates a happy expectation of the drama for the viewer. 

MUSIC
The music used in the old opening was "I Don't Wanna Be" sung by Gavin DeGraw. This is important in this opening because every episode in the first 4 series is the same song sung by the same man. However, since the launch of series 5, every episode shown on air has featured the same song sung by a different artist every week. The change in artist reflects a change in the genre of the song, and also the style in which it is sung which varies from a light-hearted start to the episode, or produces a calm and maybe sad atmosphere for the viewer depending on the contents of the episode. For example, in an series 1-4, despite the fact that there were dramatic events taking place during the episode, they were still classed as drama because they were considered cheesy and as it was set in a school, they seemed more fictional and less significant to real life. Examples of these 'teen' issues included 'love-traingles', cheating in class, arguments with friends and keeping 'friends with benefits' pacts. This may have been a reason why until the end of series 4, every episode began with this more upbeat version of the song. However, series 5 was about the characters lives 4 years on where they had adapted to adulthood and their issues became more real and more significant. These issues included topics of love, marriage, babies and careers. The adaptation of 'I Don't Wanna Be' sung by Joshua Radin had an entirely different style and was significantly slower, therefore producing a different set mood for the audience as they prepared to be perhaps more effected by the contents of the episode.

VOICE OVER

Not often, but sometimes, the opening credits start with one of the characters vaguely introducing the program with what has happened previously. They only start with this when something important has happened that is crucial to know for the episode. This is often when the previous half of the episode has ended with "to be continued" or has ended with a major cliff-hanger. An example of this is the first 35 seconds of the following clip. Click HERE to see this example.

GRAPHICS
The lighting is one of the few uses of graphics in the opening credits. There are few graphics used as the drama wants to come off as a realistic following of the character's lives and would therefore not want lots of edits involved. Editors have given the opening scenes a hint of sun colour on the images so they avoid looking dull and boring. When the actors names appear on the screen they fade in by flashing and then dulling down so the reader can see it. As this is hard to explain, here are 5 screenshots of it happening in the opening credits of series 1.

REPRESENTATION
The genre of the TV drama seems quite clear by the opening credits. By showing that the majority of characters are young followed by the older ones (that happen to be less significant), viewers are clear that the TV drama is most likely to be targeted at teenagers as they can relate to the topics and issues that are hinted in the opening scenes. We know what kind of issues will be in the drama by the scenes shown at the start, such as the fact they play basketball (which is shown by a few male characters playing basketball on a court). We can also see that the series' will involve a range of different emotions as in the opening there is kissing which connotates topics of relationships, but also there characters may be perceived as angry with each other in the clips due their facial expressions or smug looks when both are in the scene. Overall, the choice to use the particular scenes that were used is important because the clips produce a certain mood and atmosphere which gives an overall impression of the entire TV drama. 

The Characters of EastEnders - Scene Analysis

Link to EastEnders Clip


This scene from Christmas Day 2007 starts off as a happy family Christmas celebration with all the Branning and Slater family gathered round in the lounge. However, when a DVD is accidently put on, a secret affair between Stacey and her fiancee's dad, Max is revealed to all the family.
Involved in this scene is Stacey (Bradley's wife), Bradley (her unsuspecting husband and son of Max), Max (Bradley's father and husband to Tanya), Tanya, Lauren (Max & Tanya's daughter who made the DVD but changed her mind before it was played), Abi (second daughter), Dot and Mo (elderly/older relatives of the family), Jean (Stacey and Sean's mother), Sean (Stacey's brother) and finally Jack (Max's brother). Below i have written a character profile of each significant character in this scene to show the stereotyping of the different roles.

STACEY SLATER

Stacey Slater had recently married Bradley Branning after ending a long secret affair with his father on her wedding day. She had ended it without knowing about the camera that Lauren had set up knowing about their affair, and clueless to the fact her unloyalty had been caught on tape, she had continued to keep the affair a secret not planning to tell Bradley or anyone else. Stacey Slater was known perhaps as one of the most common character from EastEnders. She worked on a stall in Albert Square market selling knock-off items and still lived with her family. She hadn't had the most promising start to life after looking after her psychotic mother and trying to look out for Sean, who was a very angry and revengeful adolesence. However, when she met Bradley, she finally seemed happy with her life. Stacey and Bradley were one of those couples that all audiences adored and knew about, and this why it was such a surprise when the audience found out about her affair with his father.


BRADLEY BRANNING

Bradley Branning was known on EastEnders as the one who was too old for his age. He had vibrant ginger hair, dressed in knitted jumpers, he knew everything about computers and was an expert on Star Wars. Bradley had not suspected a thing until the DVD revealing the affair was put on after exchanging gifts on Christmas Day, but after finding out about the affair with his new wife and his own father, Bradley fell to pieces in the following episodes. His bright, funny and warm personality turned sad and lonely, and he became short, unfriendly and bitter towards some people.


MAX BRANNING

Max is in his 40's at this time married to Tanya with two children, Lauren and Abi. He works in a car lot, and always has done, selling dodgy cars on the Square for a living. He appeared to audiences as a loyal, regular father-figure and husband to the Branning family, but since the affair with Stacey, Max has been known on the square as the cheat; people no longer have high, if any expectations for Max to do the right thing. Over the following couple of years, you see Max have non-serious, casual relationships, but after time, it is clear that Max is still in love with Tanya; the woman he first cheated on. This makes the audiences either pity him or make them feel it is deserved for him to not be able to have Tanya (explained in Tanya's paragraph). However, after time, the cracks in Tanya's pretence began to show as they re-connected and began their own affair cheating on Max's fiancee Vanessa, and Tanya's husband, Greg.

 TANYA BRANNING

Tanya was the wife that Max cheated on. She was very much a family woman who cared more for her immediate relatives than anything else. But being a mother of two (now three) and owning her own salon business, Tanya didn't take the surprise affair too well. She struggled to cope with Max for a while, but after she moved away with the girls for a while and sorted herself out, she returned to Walford shortly after with Greg; her new fiancee. However, after time, she reformulated her relationship with Max as it was clear they were both still in love, and embraced on a long affair with him. With people finding out one-by-one, they still tried to keep it a secret only for it to be revealed to Vanessa and Greg a few months later in a dramatic episode.

LAUREN BRANNING

Lauren was a sweet young teenager who didn't truly mean the harm she caused by wrapping the revealing DVD up for a Christmas present to Bradley. She did this when she found out about the affair and wanted to hurt her father while also letting everyone know the truth. However, during Christmas Day she realised the pain she would cause by doing this and how much it would effect, and potentially destroy her family. Because of her realisation, she attmepted to get the DVD back from under the tree many times, but none of which were successful.

TV Drama Conventions - EastEnders

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpkYVb3gOjY


Name of Drama
EastEnders

Broadcaster
BBC1

Writer
Sarah-Louise Hawkins and Tony Holland

Director
Sue Dunderdale

Producer
Bryan Kirkwood



Characters in the Scene
'Alfie Moon' and 'Nana Moon'.

Narrative
Alfie Moon is spending Christmas Eve with his very elderly Nan in this scene talking about family past and the fact she had had a very good day. They sit together on a sofa when Alfie admits he is scared about Nana dying, to which she says "There's nothing to be scared about." She then asks Alfie to put the moving Christmas snowman on again so she can watch it. When he turns around again after watching it, he finds Nana to be laying still on the sofa after she had quietly passed away. The scene then becomes emotional as Alfie repeats "not yet Nana" and begins to cry.

Mise-en-scene
The scene is set a a calm, christmas-decorated living room with tinsel hanging and a dark, cosy atmosphere. The two sit on a sofa with standard furniture surrounding them including a table, some ornaments, sofa cushions and a lamp. The mise-en-scene is a calm cosy red colour as the curtains are drawn and there are elements of Christmassy gold and green, too.


Camera Shots/Angles

There are a few different camera shots and angles during the few minute scene. This is a two-shot/close-up shot which is filmed at a normal angle. This is to be able to see both of the character's reactions at the same time to help the viewer be able to establish their relationship.








This shot is a normal-angle close-up shot of Alfie looking at the snowman. This type of shot lets the audience focus on Alfie and his expressions to get to know his character better. 

This is filmed as an extreme close-up shot of Alfie's hand and Nana's hand after she has passed. It not only shows their relationship, but gives the audience a last impression of the style of Nana Moon. It is filmed as a slightly high angle to be able to see the rings as opposed to the sides of their hands. 






This last shot is also an extreme close-up as it doesn't even fit the whole of Alfie's head/face in it. The effect of this shows the extreme emotion of Alfie as he cries. The angle of the shot is again just a normal, face-on angle. 








Sound
The conversation is just between the two characters; there is nobody else that is involved in it. The conversation talks over the sound of the dancing snowman as it plays a Christmas tune, but apart from that and their calm, quiet voices, there is no undiegetic sound.

Icons
Alfie and Nana Moon are two very well-known characters in EastEnders. Nearly everyone who used to watch/watches EastEnders remembers that character Nana Moon because she was so sweet and loving and stereotypical of an elderly woman. Alfie has been a character on EastEnders since 2002 meaning everyone who watched it 9 years ago will know his name. EastEnders has been on BBC's screens since February 1985 and is therefore nearly 27 years old, and an incredibly well-known soap.

Industry
It is broadcast on BBC1 at either 7.30pm or 8pm depending on the day. It is shown four times a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The omnibus of EastEnders is shown midday every Sunday. The fact that the soap has a 2-hour omnibus every week also displays its popularity.

Audiences
It is not on very late, but it is still in the evening. Children under the age of about 10 go to bed around 7pm, therefore implying the target audience to be any gender and any age between about 11 onwards. Also showing this target audience are the ages of the characters. All active actors in the soap are from a wide range of ages, from the youngest (apart from the babies) being about 9, and the oldest being Dot Cotton, who was born in the year 1936, making her character 75 years old. These varied age ranges means that people of either gender and any age should be able to relate to some of the day-to-day storylines of different issues in EastEnders, or just enjoy the dramatic and exaggerated twists of the plots. 
Day-to-day, EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional 'Albert Square' in the East End of London. The series primarily centres around the residents of Walford and its neighbouring streets which encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community centre, café and various small businesses, in addition to a park and allotments. This standard community brings mundane realism to the soap and enbales viewers to relate to the lives and stories of the different characters.

Print Screen Scene

This is a print screen of the TV Crime Drama, "CSI", where the man is half stuck in cement with a policeman and a policewoman/investigators talking to him. The caps and black bullet-proof vests gave away not only the sub-genre, but the fact it is CSI as they always wear them. They are both crouching down which also implies they are looking at something/someone on the floor, which is usually assossiated with detective work. The mise-en-scene also includes a dead body towards the bottom right of the screen which is a major giveaway to the sub-genre. 

The camera angle is a plain face-on angle that is the same level as the characters. It's a three-shot as there are three people in the scene, and the camera is the distance of a long-shot as the whole body is included in the image.