Unit 22 task 2

Task 2
Expanding My Premise
This is a drama, set in modern day, about one father and son who purposely target rich
corrupt families in order to seek justice. They achieve this by learning about each family’s
lives and secrets before exposing the corrupt person(s) in the family for the world to see.
They take away their money, status and criminal activity through blackmail, extortion and
evidence gathered to leave the corrupt person powerless, financially ruined, in prison or
killed.
Because the storyline weaves in and out of each character’s lives, each episode exposes more
secrets, connections and truths. I wanted the viewer to discover hidden secrets about all the
characters including the teenagers, as well as witness the characters trying to discover who is
blackmailing and targeting them, as each episode unfolds, rather than being told about a
secret through dialogue. Even though each character is complexed the storyline is still easy to
follow. I felt that this way it makes it more difficult for the viewer to guess the storyline,
therefore when they discover the information through little clues here and there that build up
throughout the episode, then the revelation is more of a surprise and engages the viewer
more, than if they were just told about it through dialogue. My story is just as much about the
things that are said as well as the things that are not said, but seen throughout the episode and
sequential episodes.
All four families have known each other since their children were born, and some have
known each other for much longer. All four mums lunch together and intermingle with the
other families and all the Dads, mix on a daily basis with the other Dads and with some of the
Mums. Therefore all families interact with each other, individually and together, in daily life
so they have a very strong bond. Daniel and Hugo Spencer arrive and immediately integrate
themselves into the family’s lives. All the families welcome them and they are instantly liked.
Charles, Hugo and Zacharias all attend the Keswick Grammar school and next door is St
Bernadette’s’ school where Fleur, Beatrice and Emily attend. Because of the close proximity
of both schools to each other, all the teenagers meet up every day for lunch. They are all
friends with each other and they have known each other all their lives, except for Hugo. All
the seventeen and eighteen year olds can drive and have their own cars except for Beatrice
Keswick. She can drive but she does not have a car, as she is chauffeured everywhere.
For Hugo and Beatrice it’s love at first sight but they both try to ignore it. The more their
characters see each other, the stronger the bond becomes. I wanted a strong romantic
involvement between two teenagers, to attract the younger audience, as it seems realistic to
have one strong teenage relationship ‘sweethearts’ as well as fickle, meaningless teenage
relationships, experienced by the other characters. I wanted the parent’s marriages to reflect
real life, with a mixture of second marriages, settling in a marriage, one loves the other, true
love and both loved each other once.
Hopefully the viewer can follow all the thoughts and feelings of the main father and son
character and travel with them through each episode; enthralled as to what happens next,
whom they are going to target, how they shall achieve this and why. Equally when the other
characters try to discover who is behind the blackmail and have many near misses to finding
out the truth, I would like the viewer to be captivated by it all. One of my aims is for the

viewer to escape into another world for a short time and learn about human nature and life
experiences in a fun way by watching this drama through the characters viewpoint.
I wanted to create this drama in this way for two reasons; one to keep the viewer entertained
and hooked on the drama as they don’t know what is going to be revealed and by whom and
secondly, to generate feelings and a divide amongst characters, as some viewers will want the
main characters to succeed and others will want the supporting characters from any of the
four families to succeed, depending on who they relate to the most. I also wanted the viewers
to love or hate each character for different reasons and hopefully all the viewers would have
their ‘favourite character’ that they can relate to. Some of the viewers might hate Dean, feel
sorry for Ashley or Madison or aspire to be like Henry or Oliver. I wanted to create weak and
strong parents both from a Dad and Mum viewpoint as well as weak and strong teenage
characters to ensure the viewers learnt about each character and to make the drama more
realistic. Some of my characters grow stronger as the drama unfolds and other characters
remain the same and never change. Again this is to reflect real life.
Supporting Characters
My drama has four families that support the two strong main characters, Daniel and Hugo
Spencer. All appear to be wealthy, respectable families that give the impression that they lead
happy, honest and perfect lives. They are as follows:-
Family one – The Parker’s
Secret drug lord Dad, Dean is in his late thirties. He is generally weak and a workaholic, with
no time for family. Everyone thinks he made his money through good business investments
and is now enjoying life, owning multiple bars and nightclubs. Alcoholic Mum, Ashley is
thirty six, also weak, resents Dean, hates life and craves attention. She was working in a bar
when they met. He instantly fell in love with her and started a relationship; she was eighteen
and he was twenty-one. She became pregnant with Charles a few weeks later. They got
married shortly afterwards, before Charles was born, as Dean wanted to ‘do the right thing’.
He is a true romantic, who bought the bar where he met his wife and gave it to her on their
wedding day. They have two children, Charles a lonely, bored, strong, eighteen year old son
that drinks, gambles and is promiscuous and a daughter Fleur, an intelligent strong, fifteen
year old.
Family two – The Keswick’s
Father, Henry is a powerful strong character in his early fifties. He is a businessman that
owns most of the town and on a second marriage to a weak trophy wife, Madison, in her mid-
twenties. She busies herself with luncheons, shopping and sleeps around for attention. He has
a seventeen year old daughter, Beatrice from his first marriage. She is a weak character but
becomes stronger throughout the storylines. She is a daddy’s girl and hates the step-mum.
She misses her mum and thinks Madison is a gold-digger and has taken her father away from
her. She wants to be a rebel to get back at her father for not paying her enough attention. Both
step-mum and daughter is in a relationship with Charles Parker, son of family one.
Family three – The Lawrence’s
Both parents were poor and they have never told each other the truth about their upbringing.
They both think the other have always been well off and feel they have to prove themselves
to each other all the time. They are both likeable, strong characters that work hard to gain
success. Dad, Oliver worked his way through law school before he met the Mum, Rebecca in
her restaurant. She inherited money from a neighbour to open her restaurant, before she met
and married Oliver. Dad is in his late forties, a lawyer and secret detective and Mum is in her

late thirties and owns a prestigious restaurant in Farley. They have a seventeen year old son,
Zacharias who dreams about seeing the world and is saving money on his own to do so. He is
weak and easily led, but his character grows stronger throughout the storyline. He is a
genuinely nice guy with a secret crush.
Family four - The Griffiths’
Dad, John is in his early fifties and a weak character. He is a Chief Superintendent, ‘local
police chief’ from a long family line of police officers. He met and married his wife, Lauren
when he was twenty-nine and she was nineteen. She is now in her early forties and has
always lived in Farley. She works part-time in the Farley library and has Henry Keswick as
her boss, whom she confides in. John and Lauren both loved each other once but with the
strain of life, they have grown apart. Their daughter, Emily is a strong seventeen year old,
who is highly intelligent, very academic, always reading and is a secret detective. She has a
romantic relationship with Hugo Spencer.
Other characters within Farley, school and the City that mix with the main and supporting
characters would be written into the story, as and when they appear. For example, teachers at
each school, other pupils at the school seen in the background when the teenagers meet up for
lunch and Beatrice Keswick’s chauffeur.
Format Features
Series, Serial or Stand-alone
Each type of drama can be recognised by the features of their format. There are three
different types of story structures to fit the needs of television; a series, serial and stand-
alone. For my story I wanted to create a drama series that was open ended and kept
continuing with the same title and showed my story split into multiple episodes of between
six to fifteen episodes in series one. I wanted it to be diverse and interesting enough to enable
it to hopefully return for a second series and sequentially, have the potential for multiple
series, like Pretty Little Liars, which currently ran for six series and had 140 episodes, so far.
Many popular dramas can run for over five or more series without becoming stale or boring.
For example ER, an American medical drama on at a primetime slot was shown for fifteen
series with over 300 episodes.
I didn’t want my drama to be a serial that reflects real life and be divided into typically one to
three episodes with an endpoint and no sequels, like classic English drama novels such as
Charles Dickens and Jane Austen adaptations because I feel like my drama has the possibility
to continue on over many series.
I also didn’t want a stand-alone, single drama that told its story over one, self-contained time-
slot, like feature films or short films that run with a start, middle and end, as my drama has
multiple storylines, with a deeper underlying story that unfolds as each episodes progresses.
Therefore a ‘one-off’ drama piece would not be long enough to show the complex nature of
the story accurately. I also want to capture the audience’s attention on a weekly basis and this
wouldn’t be achieved with a ‘one-off’ short film structure.
Genre
Drama programs can be categorised by the features of the genre that they best represent in
order for the viewer to understand what each program is about in order to decide whether
they want to watch it or not. This is normally established by the setting (western, road trip),

topic (crime) and mood/tone (comedy, thriller) of the program. Popular single camera
productions on television would include crime drama, supernatural drama, period drama and
medical dramas. ER would be easily recognisable by its genre as a medical drama, as
thinking about anything medical you would naturally assume you would see doctors,
hospitals and operations within the drama. Cinematic genres include horror, comedy, sci-fi,
fantasy, action and adventure. My drama series would be best suited in the thriller, mystery
and crime drama genre because it contains an element of detective, crime and thriller
combined.
Target Audience
The audience plays an important role to the story because they have certain expectations as to
what they want to watch, when they see a drama advertised on television or in a television
guide. They also look at the genre to see if they would be interested in this ‘type’ of drama, as
well as, looking to see what actors are in the production. They also observe the location of the
drama in order to see if it would be of interest to them. As if a viewer does not like war
dramas, then they would not watch a drama that was set back to 1915 England such as
‘Downton Abbey’. I think my drama would mainly appeal to the younger female audience as
well as the mass market because the younger audience of thirteen to twenty year olds would
be interested in part of the story that is about all the teenagers of the families whom are
seventeen and eighteen years old, as they would find this relatable and interesting to them.
They would also appreciate the romantic storyline of Hugo and Emily and how it unfolds
throughout each episode. Whereas the mass market audience would like the intrigue,
suspense, interweaving stories and the lives behind the characters. All the female mass
market viewers would like the good looking male ‘Dads’ of the families but would equally be
able to understand and relate to the different characters of the ‘Mums’ of the families. The
male mass market would be drawn into the security surveillance, expensive lifestyle, and
pretty female actresses of the ‘mums’ and ‘daughters’ in the drama. Overall I think the
audience would find the drama to have a thrilling storyline, fast-paced action, be mesmerised
by the twisting plots and subplots of all the characters and how they all connect to each other,
as well as Daniel and Hugo’s never-ending passion to succeed.
Slot/Main Competitors
Because of the nature of my drama and the content contains violence, murder, scenes of a
sexual nature as well as extortion, I felt that the best timeslot for my drama would be on or
after 9:00 p.m. I studied all the main channels and slot times in order to establish where my
drama series would work best and fit in with other programs around it.
I concluded that BBC programs in that timeslot were mainly documentaries such as Secret
Britain and A History of Ancient Britain, sport programmes like World Championship
snooker and comedy shows like Mrs Brown’s Boys and Peter Kay. The only drama programs
after 9:00 p.m. on BBC were Casualty and Holby City, which are both based in a hospital and
a new drama called Undercover, which is focussed around a lawyer and her family.
ITV channels showed entertainment programs like Play to the Whistle (quiz show),
documentaries like Her Majesty’s Prison, which is a peak behind UK prisons and numerous
dramas like; Marcella, (viewpoint of the detective trying to catch a serial killer), Murder, She
Wrote (detective story) and Home fires, (a drama set around a small farm/village during
World War two).

Channel 4 and Channel 5 mainly aired entertainment programs after 9:00 p.m. like 8 out of
10 cats, Gogglebox, Alan Carr and First Dates. The drama programs aired were The Good
Wife and Blue eyes, which are both based on politics, and The 100, a post-apocalyptic US
drama.
ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 had commercials, so if I were to use these channels, then each
episode would be 60 minutes including 15 minutes of breaks, as I felt a 30 minute slot,
usually used for comedies like Miranda would not be long enough for my drama.
My drama could be shown on Sky, Netflix or websites such as TV.com, as they have many
competing dramas already such as NCIS, Dexter, Endeavour and White Chapel. I feel that
limiting my drama to paid subscription channels, like Netflix or Sky or ‘pay for what you
watch’ websites like TV.com, may reduce the audience, as not everyone has these. But if my
drama was shown on non-subscription channels like BBC, ITV, Channel 4 or Channel 5, then
hopefully it would be seen by a wider audience.
Therefore, I concluded that BBC1 would be the best fit for my drama as they usually had
drama programs on this channel, so the audience would be used to seeing them. Currently all
the dramas on BBC1 were medical and lawyer dramas. Due to a gap in the market on BBC
for dramas such as mine, and the fact that neither channel had any dramas that detailed plot
twists and turns with multiple story lines running in tandem each episode, this would be a
good time to highlight the need for my drama on this channel. ITV1 had standard crime based
stories with detective versus criminal scenarios, so my drama would be competing against
those. Murder, She Wrote and Home fires shown on ITV1 were dramas from years ago,
whereas my drama is current, up-to-date with modern plots and storylines, such as the use of
computers, mobile phones and the internet to blackmail and commit crimes, so my drama
would appeal to the younger audience more. Furthermore, another reason for choosing BBC1
was to avoid unnecessary time of cutting each episode down to 45 minutes to accommodate
for the commercials on ITV1.
Narrative Features
A narrative is when a story has a start, middle and end to it but not necessary in that order.
Narratives also rely on non-technical features that give structure to the story by establishing a
setting, a story that enables the characters to develop because of a good storyline and
relationships each character have with one another, and an engaging plot and climaxes for the
characters. Technical features are also important when creating a drama because the story
would not reach its full potential without features such as good camera shots, the correct
lighting for each scene to enhance the mood, good use of sound for dialogue and music
throughout the drama, as well as the ability to edit the drama correctly in order to see the end
vision. The following are all narrative features.
Narrative Structure - Forms
Circular
A circular narrative is when part of the storyline or action starts and ends at the same point.
They follow a set format of Equilibrium then Disequilibrium. This means that they have a
balanced, calm storyline, and then the action is triggered to create chaos, before a solution is
found to rectify the chaos. This narrative can have flashbacks to enable the story to start at the
solution, before the story then moves to the beginning showing a balanced, calm storyline, to
start the cycle in order to discover how this part in the story was reached. An example of a
circular narrative is the 1995 film ‘Twelve monkeys’. This is about the main character, Bruce

Willis, who plays a convict in a future world, is sent back in time to obtain information
(Equilibrium) about a man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population
(Disequilibrium) on the planet. He discovers the information and reports it back to try and
avoid the virus from happening (rectifies the chaos). The following link explains this in more
detail. https://youtu.be/N78zkGDeBUY
Sequential/Linear
This is when the story is in chronological order. This means that events happen in the order to
which the characters experience them. Because everything is seen in order, it is easier for the
viewer to understand the storyline, but they can become predictable and boring.
Sequential/linear features follow a set format of Equilibrium, Disruption, and Equilibrium,
i.e. a balanced, calm storyline, then the story changes to allow for the chaos to start, a
solution is found to rectify the chaos and then a balanced, calm storyline again. I would use
this narrative for my drama with flashbacks on the smaller stories to give the viewer a more
comprehensive backstory on each character, so that the viewer can follow each character and
get to know them. Soaps like EastEnders and Coronation Street use sequential narratives as
they have a storyline between two characters (Equilibrium), then the story builds and shows
the characters having an affair, the affair is discovered and causes chaos (Disruption), before
the finish there affair or one character leaves to end this storyline (Equilibrium). This
EastEnders clip builds the reveal by having an audience. https://youtu.be/f949uafKpCc
Non-Linear/Non-Sequential
This is when a story is in a non-chronological order, i.e. it is shown out of order or appears
random. This is achieved by showing the middle of the story first, and then it takes the viewer
to the beginning of the story, so that the viewer can see how the character(s) got there.
Flashbacks of their life or events are shown to lead up to where they were at the ending of the
story. Non-linear is used to tell a narrative in a different interesting way and follows a set
format of Middle, Middle, Beginning, Flashbacks, Ending. They also use flashbacks or the
same event from different points of views to progress the story. However, a disadvantage of
this is that the viewer has to pay more attention to the program, as it is not as easy to follow
as a linear programme. I would use this narrative on my drama on the main big story about
Daniel and Hugo because it gives me the ability to use flashbacks and add depth and
background to my story and characters. Dramas like Dr Who or NCIS use this feature. For
example, on NCIS it shows the person killed first and then the NCIS team try to solve the
murder. It then shows the entire relevant story ’48 hours earlier’. Flashbacks are used to
capture the victim’s final hours as NCIS piece together the case, to bring the story up to
where it was at the start of the program, before showing the end of the story, which is to solve
the murder. This clip shows Kensi from NCIS believed to be shot (which is the middle of the
story), then the episode goes back 72 hours to show you why she was there and what
happened to her, and then you see the ending and how she is rescued.
https://youtu.be/GaoiapyVK7U
Single Strand
This is when one story is told from the beginning through to the end. It usually has a point or
moral element to it that the producer is trying to make or to get the audience to engage with a
particular storyline. A single strand narrative concentrates on one particular person (main
character) but has minor supporting characters. This is to ensure the audience are able to
focus on the main character to understand their story from start to finish. However, if the
main character is not interesting to the viewer, then the story can become stagnant and boring
because of the lack of other strong characters in the storyline. I would not want to use this

narrative for my drama as I want multiple storylines running at the same time that conclude
throughout the episodes or at a series finale. My drama is not about one main character, but
has five families as main characters. A single strand follows a set format of Equilibrium,
Disruption, and Equilibrium, the same as a Sequential/linear narrative. An example of a
single strand narrative is in this clip of ‘Superman’ as it keeps the focus on him and
highlights his story and adventures above anything else that is happening in the story.
https://youtu.be/AM9zdLkxLBo
Multi-Strand
Instead of one main character and minor supporting characters, a multi-strand has more than
one main character. It tells two or more stories alongside each other, which often cross over
each other to offer an alternative reality. Each character is essential to the storyline and the
audience would follow each characters action and outcomes and how each character relates to
each other. The different narrative threads of the story may also come together in key scenes
within the story. This allows the viewer to see how a supporting character in one scene, could
be the main character in another scene. By having multi-strands with a number of main and
supporting characters, and the interaction this gives, can produce an entertaining story with
suspense and intrigue. I would want to use this narrative in my drama because I have five
main families each with a story to tell, so a multi-strand narrative would be the best option for
my drama. Television adverts such as Kellogg’s Frosties, mix a fictional narrative as a short
drama (Tony the Tiger on an adventure) mixed with the product information narrative as a
voiceover, letting you know how great the cereal is for you, is a good example of multi-strand
narrative. A film with multi-strand narratives is Harry Potter as it has multiple characters with
multiple storylines that interact. The viewer cares about each of the main characters and is
invested in them all. The story is not just focused on Harry, as a main character but the
audience sees Hermione and Ron as main characters too. https://youtu.be/db3W717Tc4E
Narrative Structure - Types
Realist
This is something that could happen in real life. It also reflects real life situations such as
families, affairs, work and friends. This allows the viewer to be able to relate to the story and
makes it more believable for them. A real narrative is if it is Christmas in the real world then
it is Christmas in the programme. My drama would be a realist narrative because each
situation is realistic enough to happen in a real life situation. My drama is about the lives of
five families and how each family intertwines. Soaps such as EastEnders follow a realistic
narrative as they reflect real life daily events of the characters. This clip demonstrates
Christmas and real life events of all the characters. https://youtu.be/Hpn0um8OHgQ
Anti-realist
This is when a green screen, Computer generated imaging (CGI) or other techniques are used
to create a story with a non-realistic scene. This allows the viewer to experience a different
type of reality to a storyline, such as a story that they would dream about as opposed to one
that could actually happen. My drama would not be anti-realist because each situation to each
character could happen in real life. Buffy the Vampire and The Vampire Diaries are both
anti-realist narratives, as they have vampires and werewolves, fictitious characters within
their program. Dr Who is another example of an anti-realist narrative as the situations in the
show are also non-realistic. This clip is from the Vampire Diaries showing two main
characters discovering they are vampires. https://youtu.be/lMCi1eCgwfc

Flashback
Flashbacks are a way of portraying a non-linear narrative as they are an insight to the past of
the character and are usually shown to tell a story or to re-create the story to show us how the
character got to where they are in the film now. An advantage of this is to enable the
audience to understand the character and storyline. I would use flashbacks in my drama to
show the backstory of each character, so that the viewer can understand why each character
acted in a certain way and why they made the choices that they did in the drama. Flashbacks
were created by D W Griffith and are very popular in all types of productions. A well-known
soap flashback is when EastEnders used a flashback to discover ‘what happened on the night
of Lucy Beale’s murder’. It was discovered that Lucy’s half-brother, Bobby, was responsible
for her death. This clip shows Lucy Beale looking back at her life.
https://youtu.be/1T6U6PqweQ4
Voiceover
It is a non-diegetic voice (sound that isn’t visible on screen or hasn’t been implied in the
action) used over the top of the program to explain information. They are usually pre-
recorded and are read from a script. They are used in film, radio and television as a quick way
to update the viewer to a storyline without actually showing them the storyline. They also set
the scene and create an atmosphere to give the viewer clarity, so they understand what is
happening in the story. I would not use a voiceover in my drama, as each scene would be
‘shown’ to the viewers in order to piece together each storyline. An example of a voiceover
used in documentaries is David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet. The viewer sees a scene of a
particular species, such as a polar bear walking across the snow, and then a voiceover
provides information, such as the polar bear’s environment, diet, mating, hunting and daily
life without actually seeing all of this information. https://youtu.be/RR-xllh_h5A
Dramatic Irony
This is when the viewer is aware of an important part to the storyline, but the characters are
not aware. When a scene shows dramatic irony, the viewer learns something about the
storyline, this is followed by a scene to show the characters finally discovering what the
viewer already knows. An advantage of this is that the viewer watches in anticipation to see
whether the characters uncover the plot or discover the secret. I would use dramatic irony
because the viewer is aware of Daniel and Hugo and what they are trying to achieve, but the
other characters within the drama are all oblivious to who they are and what they are really
doing in Farley. Films and television use this technique. Disney films such as Snow White,
Frozen, Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid are good examples of this. In
Snow White the viewer is aware that the evil queen has a poisonous apple and intends to give
it to Snow White to eat. However, Snow White doesn’t know that the old woman is the evil
queen in disguise, but the viewers do. This creates tension for the viewer as they watch the
evil queen offer the apple to Snow White; we want to warn Snow White not to bite the apple,
because she doesn’t know what we know. This frustration can be a disadvantage because the
viewer may become bored with the other characters remaining clueless to the storyline.
Current dramas such as Arrow and Flash also use this as the viewer is aware of who is behind
the mask i.e. that Oliver is Arrow and Barry is Flash but some of the characters in the story
do not. This clip is from Snow White about to eat the apple as she is not aware it is
poisonous, but the viewers are. https://youtu.be/pMTWmqFBWBo

Narrative Structures – Endings
Cliffhanger
This is when the storyline has a main character in a dangerous or life-threatening situation or
the viewer learns about a shocking storyline at the end of an episode. This is used to keep the
viewer interested in the story and to ensure that they watch the next episode or series to
discover what has happened to the characters and how the situation is resolved. I would use
cliffhangers in my drama to keep the viewer enthralled enough to watch the next episode and
subsequently the next series. A famous example of this is in an episode of Dallas in 1980, the
‘Who shot JR?’ mystery. A murder attempt was made on the main character, JR Ewing at the
end of the third series, but it was not resolved until in the fourth series, eight months later.
This guaranteed the viewer would watch the next series to discover who shot the main
character, JR Ewing. A disadvantage of this is that it is frustrating for the viewer to wait eight
moves in order for a storyline to be resolved. As a result of this the viewer might become
bored of waiting or forget the storyline completely and not bother to watch the next series.
Cliffhangers are also used to show a villain being beaten at the end one film, with another
villain making a brief appearance at the end, so that this new villain will be the main
character in the next film. An example of this was in the Spider-man two films. Peter (Spider-
man) defeated Octavius at the end of the film, only for Harry to discover the Green Goblin
lair and that Spider-man was responsible for his father’s death. So he becomes the next villain
in Spider-man three in order to seek revenge for his father’s death.
https://youtu.be/pZG4YhMrodY
Endings – open or closed?
Endings are an important narrative; they can be open or closed. An open ending is when the
narrative appears unresolved and left open, so that the audience can interpret as they wish.
Television series such as soaps and dramas can be left with open endings in two types of
examples. Firstly, at the end of each episode they are left open so the next episode can
continue on with the narrative of where the previous episode has left from. Secondly, the
drama could be broken into a set number of episodes over one season with the premise of a
season two by leaving the ending of season one open to be interrupted in various ways, so
that the viewer is hooked enough to watch the next series. This can be a surprise for the
viewer as they might not have guessed the ending, as to how it is revealed in the next
episode/series. Nevertheless, it can also leave the viewer frustrated as they don’t know what
has fully happened, because they haven’t received complete closure to the story. I would use
open endings for every end to a series, so that the viewer would be more likely to watch the
next series. For example in season one of Pretty Little Liars, the ending scene leaves the
viewer unaware as to whom is terrorising the girls and why. https://youtu.be/lcQIccddiKA
A closed ending is a storyline with a start, middle and a definite end with no room for
alternative interpretations. This is easier for the viewer as they receive proper closure and do
not have to wait for another episode or series to find the conclusion. This also ensures that the
viewer is not confused as to what happened at the end of the story. A disadvantage of this is
that the viewer has a conclusion from the story, so another series would not be necessary and
it is for this reason that I would not use a closed ending for my drama. Generally films use a
closed ending narrative. Sequels of films are still interesting to the viewer, because although
the viewer is aware of the characters, each sequel can show another story with a start and end
each time, so that each sequel film has a closed ending. The sequels can also add more
storyline to the main characters, i.e. giving them a love interest. For example in the Indiana

Jones films, he goes on an adventure to collect an artefact or solving an artefact mystery.
Each film starts and ends. This clip shows the ending of Indiana Jones and the Temple of
Doom where he discovered the artefact/treasure and saved the day before returning home.
https://youtu.be/elehy4EIBjc
An example of the open ending scene for my end of series finale, after lots of series, would
have a thrilling climax for Daniel Spencer, the lead father in my drama. The storyline would
be set around whether he stays in Farley and runs the risk of becoming caught or makes a
quick getaway and leaves Farley with or without Hugo. The main centrepiece to the story
would be whether he is caught or does he get away as the police close in. The final
conclusion would be revealed in the last episode of the final series. I would envisage it to go
as follows:-
The police are closing in; they think they have all the evidence to solve this case. They obtain
a warrant to search Daniel’s residence; at the same time Daniel and Hugo are just about to
leave Farley for good. The police race towards Daniel’s residence, just as Hugo has cold feet
and does not want to leave his girlfriend Emily behind. Daniel understands and reluctantly
says goodbye to Hugo and leaves. But at the very last minute, just when Daniel is about to
disappear into the distance, Emily convinces Hugo that they should both leave Farley. The
final scene is Hugo and Emily in their car, racing after Daniel in a bid to catch him up, just as
the police turn the corner and travel up the road. Daniel is at the airstrip boarding his plane,
and just as the plane door is about to shut, he sees Hugo and Emily race towards him in their
car, with the police not far behind in the distance. He quickly opens the door and informs the
pilot to wait. Hugo stops his car abruptly next to the plane door and they both run out and
onto the plane. Daniel quickly informs the pilot to take off, just as the police are closing in.
The plane taxis down the airstrip chased by the police cars with full sirens. The plane
eventually takes off and ascends into the daytime sky. They all look out of their windows at
the police cars becoming smaller and smaller, as the plane soars higher and higher. Daniel
then looks at Hugo and Emily and lets out a sigh of relief, not realising he was holding his
breath. Emily and Hugo look at each other and smile before turning to Daniel and say “where
to next…” Daniel looks at them and smiles, raises his eyebrow and winks.
Technical Features
Lighting and Sound
Lighting and sound are two key technical features when creating a drama because they both
can show the power, mood, emotion and meaning of each scene. For example, low key
lighting is used in crime drama to portray the darker side of human nature. When the viewer
is shown a character walking into a dark, dimly lit room or walking through an outside space,
such as a dimly lit park, then the viewer is already expecting something bad to happen to that
character. Whereas if the character walked into a fully lit room or walked through a park that
was fully lit, then they are not expecting anything bad to happen to that character. Lighting
can also be bright or natural to show the lighter, humorous, funny side of life, like in comedy
dramas. For my drama it would be a mix of the light, bright lighting to portray the
glamourous lifestyle that the characters have and then I would have low key lighting to
portray the crimes, drugs and alcohol and how it affects the characters to describe the darker
side of the characters personalities. I would also use sound to interpret the mood of the
characters through happy, upbeat music for the good scenes and heavy, bad, dramatic music
for the bad scenes such as when Daniel is committing a crime. This would allow the viewer

to feel the emotion of the character and be able to see the characters emotion building and
building until it reaches a high, through the choice of music. I would also use sound through
the characters speech, so when Dean and Ashley Parker are fighting, then their voices would
become louder and louder to portray the emotions that they are feeling.
Camera Techniques
Point of view shots
The camera represents what a character is looking at through their eyes before it changes
viewpoints to show a shot of the character's reaction to whatever they are looking at in order
to build a scene/story. These can be a single point of view (POV) shot or multiple POV’s
shots. A single POV is when one person is in a scene and the camera is on them or looking at
what they are looking at. A multiple POV is a scene with multiple characters. The camera
will be on one character so that the viewer can see what is happening, and then the camera
will move to another character, so that the viewer can see them, before the camera moves
again to another character and so forth. Therefore a multiple POV shows a scene from the
points of view of all the characters. This allows us to see the action of the story from a
number of different viewpoints. For my drama I would use both single and multiple points of
view depending on the scene. For example if it were a scene with Daniel on his computer,
then I would have a single shot of the camera looking at Daniel, then another shot of Daniel’s
computer, so that the viewer can establish what he is doing, before moving the camera shot
back to Daniel. However, if a scene were of all the teenagers meeting for lunch at school,
then I would use multiple points of view shots to show the conversation and reactions
between them. For example in sniper when a character lines up his target and shots and the
camera shows you his target, then that is a point of view shot. https://youtu.be/gQ7TvLFduRo
Close up shots
This is when the camera looks closely at a person or object to show the emotion on the
person’s face or to see details on the object clearly. This would be useful when characters are
in conversation with each other. I would use this in my drama when the female characters are
lunching together, so that when they are talking, a close up shot is able to see their emotion
on their face. For example in Pretty Little Liars the opening scene shows close up shots of
Alison. https://youtu.be/BWRyURPeGC8
Editing Techniques
Editing as a narrative device is important in producing a quality profession standard. The
following editing techniques such as cross-cutting and shot-reverse-shot would be used in my
drama to enable me to effectively describe my storyline. Cross cutting would be used to show
each shot alternating between two spaces, for example John Griffiths in a police car chasing
Charles Parker in a car. And shot-reverse-shot is when the camera alternates between two
characters talking to each other to show the conversation. A scene would show one person
talking, and then the camera would show the other person talking. For example if Madison
Keswick is lunching with Ashley Parker, then the camera would show Madison talking, then
you would see Ashley talking and so forth. In this clip from Pretty Little Liars it shows a
good representation of a shot-reverse-shot as the camera shows the different characters
talking whilst drinking coffee. This shot makes it a lot easier to understand the conversation
and scene as it unfolds. If the shot had just been on one person talking and then you heard the
other characters talking, but didn’t see them, then it would not portray what the other
characters are feeling and thinking as much. https://youtu.be/i06eIccXVzE

REFERENCES
Task 1
http://startingpremise.blogspot.co.uk
http://www.thewritersguide.co.uk/television.html
Task 2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ER_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretty_Little_Liars_(TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Television_series_by_genre
www.bbc.com
www.itv.com
www.sky.com
www.tv.com
www.channel4.com
www.channel5.com
https://www.netflix.com/browse
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative_structure
http://digitaldonewrite.com/essays/realism-and-narrative/
https://prezi.com/a86vxyy2cm3d/open-closed-multi-strand-linear-and-non-linear-narratives/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematic_techniques
https://youtu.be/N78zkGDeBUY
https://youtu.be/f949uafKpCc
https://youtu.be/GaoiapyVK7U
https://youtu.be/AM9zdLkxLBo
https://youtu.be/db3W717Tc4E
https://youtu.be/Hpn0um8OHgQ
https://youtu.be/lMCi1eCgwfc
https://youtu.be/1T6U6PqweQ4
https://youtu.be/RR-xllh_h5A
https://youtu.be/pMTWmqFBWBo
https://youtu.be/pZG4YhMrodY
https://youtu.be/lcQIccddiKA
https://youtu.be/elehy4EIBjc
https://youtu.be/gQ7TvLFduRo
https://youtu.be/BWRyURPeGC8
https://youtu.be/i06eIccXVzE
Task 3
www.rightmove.co.uk
Task 4
https://youtu.be/epc-Z974eiQ
https://youtu.be/Q8z5vpsta4k
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-people-next-door/on-demand/58485-001

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Unit 22 task 2