Exam preparation

Pre-release materials - 14th May
Exam - 14th June


TAKE INTO EXAM:
- Coloured  Pencils
- Fine Liners
- Ruler


Practical tasks you could get in the exam:
- make a DVD COVER,
- a FRONT COVER 
- LISTING MAG
- MAGAZINE COVER
- WEBSITE HOMEPAGE (keep in mind)
- STORYBOARD
etc, etc.. It will not JUST require you to write huge essays.


* TIP: Make sure to also add sketches and diagrams - spider diagrams/ bullet points


YOU WILL NEED:
- Depth Knowledge of 3 crime dramas - 
You need to mention 3 atleast in the exam, e.g: Luther, CSI, Sherlock 
- Use own independent dramas that you have researched/watched yourself


Make sure to use a variety of each show
 (American - Harito - perfect cop
Fantasy - Sherlock
Gritty - Luther - anti hero. )


- A-A* NEED WILL NEED ATLEAST TWO THEORIES.


Uses and Grafitications - reasons why we like media
- information
- for escapist environment
- entertainment
- personal identity
- personal relationships


Propp -
The theory of each different kind of role a character is:
Hero, Villian, Princess, Donar. 


Barthes -
The theory that every narrative has an enigma = something to be solved, a puzzle. An enigma is very clever and important for a crime drama.


Tudorov -
The theory that all narratives follow 3 different parts:
1- equilibrium - normality
2- disruption - problems
3- resolution


Levi Straus -
The theory that all naratives revolve around opposites that conflict one another. 
Good vs Evil
Good Guys vs Bad Girls
Law vs Criminal
Lies vs truth
Good vs bad
= BINARY OPPOSITES
...OR involve crime dramas you have personally watched e.g 'technology of CSI: Miami vs stupidity of the criminal', or 'Luther is on both sides of Levi Straus' argument as he is both Good and Bad.'






- Detailed knowledge of characters.
3 Characters with a lot of information about each
e.g Luther - complicated character, thinks he's above the law. He has a warped view of the law and is a high risk-taker who wears his heart on his sleeve and is very emotional and aggressive. He is passionate and determined about his work and usually takes it outside of business and home with him.


- Good understandings of settings
Vegas - gambling, casino, american, desert.
Miami - glamarous, multi cultural.
London - rich, nice apartments




- Set pieces and iconography
E.G:
- Sirens
- Police tape
- crime scene investigation
- water on desk


Jargon - types of words the detectives use associated with crime drama e.g 'detective'


Modus Operandi (MO)
- the detective's manner of working e.g 'he uses the same pattern of stabbing the criminal 5 times' et


Write in ROLE.
- you are writing to SELL, so you need to stay in that role and use flashy words and be enthusiastic about your drama


Your Rationall
- which means you need to use REASONS for everything and support your ideas/opinions etc

Luther Series 1 Episode 4

The episode begins in a field; a woman is laying dead, and the murderer is laying out the woman's belongings that are gathered around her head. He stole the crescent necklace she was wearing. This murder was committed by the same man the 3rd time in 5 weeks, named Graham Shand. As it's his wife's birthday and Graham and his wife and two friends are at the pub. Graham presents his wife with the necklace he has stolen from his victim, when he suddenly gets a phonecall 'from work' and leaves at that instant. Graham is a cab driver and so this is an easy method for him to be able to endure people in. Being so used to his tactical ways of enduring his victims in, this time, his easy 'trap' doesn't go so well because all murders are placed in strange, extravagant places that only taxi drivers or residents would know about. Sitting in his office, Luther had just found out that the man Graham had supposedly killed in Episode 1 had woken up from his coma, and had to stay in his office and try and make as much progress with the new case as much as he could. Suddenly he figured out that the murderer must be a taxi driver and with that he got DS Justin Ripley to fish through and track down all the taxi drivers that had been involved with the police before this current incident. Ripley and Luther finally come to the conclusion that the murderer must be Graham and decide to pay his wife a small visit to find out if she knows anything about her husband's despicable and notorious lifestyle.  Linda, the wife, soon spills to Luther that she is cheating on Graham with one of his friends and she explains further that Graham had said to her that if she ever leaves him he will kill himself, and that she had attempted to leave him in the past but he slashed his wrists to stop her from leaving. She then further explains that Graham usually checks her phone whenever she hasn't got it and the other day she left her phone and had forgotten to delete one of the texts from Graham's friend she is cheating on him with.
While all of this is happening, Alice once again wants to help Luther with the 'Henry Madsen' situation and let Luther go out and investigate. She dresses up as one of the nurses and enters the Henry Madsens room, then silently kills him. Luther finds out and goes absoloutely berserk and lashes out on the phone to her as he did not want her to do this. The murder of Henry Madsen means a complete disruption to Luther's plans because it means that he has no live evidence that Henry did what he did to people. Infuriated at Luther's reaction to what she thought was helping him, Alice decides to go and tell Mark about Luther and Zoe in her heated anger. Meanwhile, Luther soon realises that the man Linda is cheating on Graham with is in serious danger as to the fact that Graham ordered a prostitute to come to his house. Graham turns up before she does and kills the man that has been sleeping with Graham's wife. Then, soon the prostitute turns up at the house and it is clear that she is his next victim. Layla, the prostitute, recieves a phonecall who she thinks is her friend but to her surprise is Luther. Luther tells her to just stay calm and stay in character as if she is on the phone to her friend and to quickly find a safe place to hide as this man is extremely dangerous. Layla puts down the phone and instantly her body language changes from relaxed, cool and prepared, to stiff and blank. Nervously she turns and asks Graham if she would be able to go to the toilet and he refuses to let her, and begins to touch her. Layla sprints to the bathroom instantly and manages to lock the door, and Graham begins to knock on the door and then start breaking through. Layla turns around, and to her shock and despair, sees the man's body Graham had just killed in a bag on the floor. Graham meanwhile goes downstairs, grabs himself a hammer and then returns, and begins to hammer the door down. Meanwhile, the police ask Linda to take Graham out of the house instead of themselves as the police may trigger him and it is less risky. Linda goes inside to get Graham and Graham goes downstairs with a hammer in his hand. Policemen surround him and he is soon taken away. Linda goes upstairs to find Layla and to her horror, sees the man she loves in the body bag. Her instant reaction is to go downstairs and grab the hammer. She runs after Graham with the hammer in her hand and catches up with him, then hits him in the back of the head and kills him.
I was really impressed with the ending of this episode as it was surprising and quite unexpected, but I was glad this was the ending because Graham deserved it. :)


Basic TV Crime Drama conventions used in this Episode:
- Interviews/Interrogation
-Montages
- Murder
- Crime Scene

Set Pieces

Set Pieces

• What typically happens in the scene?
• What part does it play in the narrative?
• What iconography is used?
• What audience pleasures arise from the scene?
• What language may be used?

Interogation Scenes - This is where people associated with the crime/victim are interviewed to see if they have information. This allows more evidence to be gathered and provides more information as to who committed the crime.

• 2 Way Mirrors
• Empty Room
• Table and Chairs
• Tape recorder

Press Conference-  Where people are informed  about the

crimes and then people from the press are able to ask questions based on the murder.

• Cameras
• Press
• Microphones
• Desks
• Rows of chairs
• Flashes

Crime Flashback - The crime flashback is usually done to show the crime taking place, and in many occasions it is done with a different suspect to enhance to the audience the range of suspects that may have been part of the crime.

• Dark, as the flashbacks usually show scenes of violence and crime
• Flashback Scenes may cause frightening moments to the audience and it allows them to witness the crime themselves.
• Clarification, gives proof of who, how and where the crime was committed in the narrative.
• Jolty Camera
• Quick Montages

The Eureka Moment - The moment when some important information is uncovered and an investigator may have a moment of intelligence and can figure out who the suspect is.

• In many ocassions this is the moment when the crime will finally be solved or a step away from it being solved.
• This may be a moment when the audience will either find out that they were right or wrong about who the victim was. This makes the audience feel involved and  intelligent if they were right.
• Facial Expressions are usually happy and exciting as the moment everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived.

Crime Scene- This is the scene where the crime has been.

committed and the investigators go to see what has happened. This scene allows evidence to be collected and taken back to the lab so that they may be able to find the perpetrator

•Detective arrives at crime scene

•Police tape

•Evidence Markers

•Cameras

The Chase - This is when the police or the investigators are chasing the suspect.

• Builds tension within the narrative, is the moment that causes the audience to consider will they/won't they catch them
• Cars, alleyways, pathways, buildings, street lights, city streets etc.
• Gets the audience excited and more involved in the crime drama.

Next of kin- This is where the family of the victims are informed of their death.

• This tends to be sad for the audience and it is usually a silent/quiet scene as the family or relatives are being informed about a not very good and 'happy' thing.
• This could sometimes bring further clues as the family may know someone who could have committed the crime.

Autopsy - This is when the body of the victim is investiagted and

sometimes there is further evidence found through the investiagtion

of the body, and connecting a person with the murder.

• Body Bag
• Tweasers
• Lab Coat
• Table which the body is on

The Laboratory - Forensics used.  Usually where

they have collected evidence from the crime scene and they analyse it to see if they can gather any clues. It plays a part in the narrative as the investigators are able to find clues as to who is the perpetrator.
•Lab coats
•Gloves
•Test Tubes

TV MAGAZINE

Luther

The set for Luther is mainly quite gloomy. It is based in quite a 'rough' town with many estates and dark places giving the program quite a negative, serious and dark atmosphere about it.

Luther as a flawed Anti-hero

Luther as a flawed Anti-hero

Luther is not your usual conventional detective; we usually think of detectives as law abiding citizens however he is not.

• He has a hot-temper and loses it easily
• He chose to leave a man to die instead of saving his life
• He takes business home with him and approaches it in a very dedicated, sometimes aggressive way e.g when he met up with a murderer several times outside of work
• He attempted to arrest a murderer on his own, however he needed back-up. This is against detective rules.
• He was almost taken in by seductive behaviour of a potential murderer and allowed himself to build an innapropriate relationship with her.
• Fighting
• Previous blackmail, e.g he blackmails Alice when he finally gets her gun
• He breaks into Alice's house in one of the episodes
• He contemplates suicide in one of the episodes. His emotional/aggressive side comes out a lot and this is stereotypically not very professional for a detective.
• He has quite an evil side, he hints and suggests about the Devil and Satan quite a lot in previous episodes.
• He develops personal hatred or liking for some of the criminals instead of just keeping it to business, e.g this happened with Alice