Four aspects of the theoretical framework:
Media language: How the media communicate meanings through their forms, codes, conventions and techniques.
Media representations: How the media portrays events, issues, individuals and social groups
Media industries: How the media industries' processes of production, distribution and circulation affect media forms and platforms.
Media audiences: How media forms target, reach and address audiences, how audiences interpret and respond to them, and how members of audiences become producers themselves.
Drama: TV drama is a broad genre. At its simplest, it is fictionalized action in narrative form.
Long form TV drama: Long Form Drama is a term coined to describe the recent shift of interest towards television series of high quality that many consider to have replaced the cinema as a locus of serious adult entertainment. Unfolding over multiple episodes, hours, and even years, these TV shows are seen to provide a content, often dark and difficult, and an innovative style that strain against the conventions of cinema as well as network television.
Media conventions: A code is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning. In media texts, we look at a range of different signs that can be loosely grouped into the following:technical codes - all to do with the way a text is technically constructed - camera angles, framing, typography etc. verbal codes ...
technical codes: all to do with the way a text is technically constructed – camera angles, framing, typography etc.
verbal codes: everything to do with language -either written or spoken
symbolic codes: codes that can be decoded on a mainly connotational level
Genre: A genre is basically the category of any type of art or literature, for example categories of movie would be comedy, horror, thriller etc.
Genre hybridity: Some media texts are hybrid genres, which means they share the conventions of more than one genre. For example Dr. Who is a sci-fi action-adventure drama and Strictly Come Dancing is a talent, reality and entertainment show verbal codes ...
Synopsis: A brief summary of the major points of a written work.
Barthe narrative codes:
Text may be -
Open: An open narrative is a television programe or a soap opera. The reason for this is because they have no sense of ending and they can go on forever. They also have a lot more characters.
Closed: Closed ending structures is when the story is fully told and complete by the end of the episode. A closed narrative structure is the most common narrative structure found in TV.
Enigma code: The Hermeneutic Code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and hence becomes a mystery to the reader.
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The purpose of the author in this is typically to keep the audience guessing,
arresting the enigma, until the final scenes when all is revealed and all loose
ends are tied off and closure is achieved.
Semantic code: This code refers to connotation within
the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative
meaning of the word. Any element in a text
that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotationMain characters:
House of cards follows the legal career of Francis Underwood who is played by Kevin Spacey. From the first episode, it seems that he will continue to be in association with the characters of Zoe Barnes and Peter Russo. The show also features characters Garrick Walker and Linda Vasquez.
Sub-Genres:
House of cards is a political drama and a political thriller which explores the American law system in Washington DC. A political drama is the examination of human conditions within the life of a political person. Political dramas are made dramatic by multiple conventions used in the making of the show. This is mostly due to the show mirroring real life interactions in the law career.
A genre is set out by multiple conventions such as Mise-en-scene, setting, visual style, Etc. A thriller can be defined as a show that exhilarates the viewer leaving them with breathlessness and excitement as they watch. A thriller has to thrill the audience. Thrillers are often seen through crime shows, mystery shows and physiological shows which often mix together as one show such as in House of cards. Techniques used in thrillers usually include plot twists, mis-direction, pursuits, Etc. Thrillers also have types of characters that make the show what it is, these characters include criminals, menaced people, police, Etc.
Every genre has a code which is a system of signs which can be decoded to create meaning, the different types of codes include; technical codes (Which is to do with how a text is constructed through use of camera angles, framing, Etc.), verbal codes (Everything to do with language) & symbolic codes.
Some examples of thriller movies include:
- Inception
- Fight club
- Taken
- The Dark Knight
And many more...
House of cards uses these conventions effectively as well as making the show a hybrid of a political thriller and a politician drama. It does this effectively by using the conventions mentioned above for the both genres.
Neales theory
Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.
Steve Neale believes that a film and the genre is defined by how much it conforms to its genres individual conventions and stereotypes, a film must match the genres convention to be identified as a part of the genre. a film is also defined by how much a film subverts its genre conventions and stereotypes, it must subvert its conventions enough to be considered unique.
Identify character roles:
Frank Underwood:
The character wears a suit (Work uniform) in the evening, this suggests that he is a hard working man and works through his whole life not only the time he is at work. Frank is also seen to strangle a dog who is in pain, he takes the matter into his own hands as he believes that his decisions are ones to be followed and abided by, he also shows no signs of distraught or stress in this scene. Frank also addresses the audience of the show by talking straight into the camera, this is a clear indication that he is the main character of the show. Frank is a patriarchal man and has doors opened for him when he walks to show his ideologies of power within. Frank destroys glasses when he is distressed to show that is a destructive and sometimes angry man.
