2.0 How audiences consume and interpret long from television dramas

Long form TV dramas such as House of Cards are – open ended narratives.
This makes compelling viewing as audiences cannot be sure how the story will be resolved
House of cards has enjoyed 5 years of success since its release in 2013
Frank Underwood and Claire represent the anti-hero their characters are complex, what makes us want to watch/empathise with these characters?


They are relatable, because they want power and influence like other people.


They have ambitions that they clearly have investment in. For example Frank does not get the job he was promised, therefore he ends up wanting to get revenge.


Frank has a monologue. This describes what he is feeling and gives the opportunity for people to relate more to frank, as he is describing his thoughts, and how he is working.


One way in which camera work can be used to create a sense of realism is by having them pan around a room, this shows the whole of the room and all of its contents including the people. This helps to create a sense of realism because it is something a person would do when they enter a room.
The candles make a good source of realistic lighting.

Breaking the fourth wall.

House of Cards "The Influence of Technological Change"

How has technology influenced the production of House of Cards and other long form media

Long form media is a cross between movies and normal television dramas. Due to the fact that they have high budgets they tend to have high end actors and production. Not quite to the extent of films, but much more so than normal television dramas. This means that they can afford higher end effects, special camera moves, cgi, etc. They start with an intense beginning to draw in the audience and contains several cliffhangers in order to keep the audience interested in the long form media.

Economic context.

Reduction in the cost of technology such as

CGI allowing visual effects even within TV budgets

Drones allowing ariel photography (ref. opening sequence of HOC and Washington)

Developments in Streaming e.g. 5G (generation) fibre optic technology which has enabled digital streaming service providers such as Netflix and Amazon to provide TV viewing.

Cultural contexts of technological change

This means that the way we consume TV has radically changed  as a result of high speed broadband connections. 

Consumers can view programmes outside of a TV schedule

Programmes can be watched as a complete series (binge watching)

Programmes can be watched on phones and tablets 

How Long form dramas came into being.

Digital (streaming) 

In just a decade, Netflix has grown from a video service with seven million U.S. subscribers to one that reaches 93 million people worldwide.

When Netflix first launched in the late 1990s, it distributed DVDs – mainly films – by mail. 

during the early 2000s, advances in compression technology – coupled with more homes gaining access to high-speed internet services – allowed large video files to be easily streamed over the internet.

video streaming services such as Netflix deliver programming “on demand” via the internet, viewers can choose what and when to watch instead of watching “what’s on.” 

Subscription TV therefore offers significant benefits to terrestial TV.

Netflix has developed its global market with a presence in 190 countries. 

Its popularity is achieved by providing high production content in several TV serial genres.  This includes complicated serial dramas (“House of Cards”), action series (“Daredevil”), horror series (“Hemlock Grove”). 

House of Cards

House of Cards

Media language

Camera work

Editing

Sound

Mode of Address

Representation

Mise un Scene

Drama:  What is TV drama? TV drama is a broad genre. At its simplest, it is fictionalised 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 convention:  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 ...

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 Hybrid

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

Roland Barthes 

Open or closed? 

texts may be

 ' open ' (i.e. unravelled in a lot of different ways) or

 ' closed ' (there is only one obvious thread to pull on). 

Barthes also decided that the threads that you pull on to try and unravel meaning are called narrative codes and that they could be categorised in the following five ways:

The Hermeneutic Code    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.

 • 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.

The Proairetic Code

 (ACTION CODE)

• The Proairetic Code also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something else is going to happen, and which hence gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next. 

Action code - applies to any action that implies a further narrative action. For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. 

The Proairetic Code

 (ACTION CODE)

• The Hermeneutic and Proairetic Codes work as a pair to develop the story's tensions and keep the reader interested. Barthes described them as:

• "...dependent on ... two sequential codes: the revelation of truth and the coordination of the actions represented….."

The Semantic Code 

• This code refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word. 

The semantic code - any element in a text that suggests a particular, often additional meaning by way of connotation

List the main characters.

President elect Garrick Walker,

Linda Vasquez The President’s Chief of staff, woman, Latino! ”tuff as a 2 dollar cheque”

Frank Underwood, narrator (t the camera) protagonist/anti-hero House majority whip – “keep the sludge moving.”

Claire Underwood  (Owner of Charity Clear-water Initiative) – dependant on Franks electoral success (Sand-corp)  

Zoe Barnes Journalist at Washington Herald: 

Michael Kern – Recently elected  secretary of state  (frank’s rival) 

Peter  Russo -    drink driver,, solicitation, use of controlled substances.

Doug – Frank’s sidekick.

Walker – The President elect.

Summary

Set in Washington D.C

Political Drama

The protagonist character Frank is cold and sinister. Lacks empathy

General Plot

South Carolina Congressman Frank Underwood, the Democratic Majority Whip, leaves his Washington, D.C. residence after hearing his neighbours’ dog get hit by a car. As he comforts the mortally-wounded dog, he addresses the audience before calmly strangling it, introducing his cold and vicious nature. Frank and his wife, Claire , go on to attend a New Year's Eve party in honour of the new President-elect, Garrett Walker. Frank confesses to the viewer that he does not like Walker, but ingratiated himself to him in the hopes of being nominated as Walker's Secretary of State.

Frank meets with Walker's Chief of Staff, Linda Vasquez , and is initially incensed to learn that she and Walker have decided to go back on their promise of nominating Frank so that he can aid the President-elect's education agenda in Congress. Despite his assurances to Linda that he will remain Walker's ally, Frank feels personally betrayed and, with help from Claire and Chief of Staff Doug Stamper, formulates a plot for revenge. Meanwhile, Claire is forced to downsize her non-profit organisation, the Clean Water Initiative, which had been promised a large donation upon her husband's confirmation, without which the organisation is forced to substantially curtail its budget.

On a whim, Washington Herald reporter Zoe Barnes pays a late-night visit to Frank at his home. She offers to be Frank's undercover mouthpiece in the press in exchange for the elevated profile that she would gain from breaking substantive stories. Meanwhile, Peter Russo, a young, inexperienced congressman from Philadelphia, is arrested for drunk driving with a prostitute. Stamper finds out about the arrest and immediately contacts the D.C. police commissioner, offering Underwood's support for his mayoral campaign in exchange for releasing Russo. Russo is picked up from jail by his secretary and romantic partner, Christina Gallagher, and falsely tells her that he was alone when he was arrested.

Frank meets with Donald Blythe, a progressive congressman with whom the Walker administration wants to work on an education bill. Frank dismisses his proposal as too ambitious and asks him to rewrite it, but secretly passes a copy to Zoe. He then meets with Senator Catherine Durant and suggests that she ought to consider seeking the nomination for Secretary of State. He also privately confronts Russo about his arrest and past behaviour, and demands his loyalty in exchange for making the incident disappear. Zoe takes the draft of Blythe's bill to the Herald’s political editor, Lucas Goodwin, and its chief editor, Tom Hammerschmidt, who gives her the lead on the story over chief political correspondent Janine Skorsky. The episode ends the morning after Walker's inauguration, with Frank visiting his favourite restaurant, Freddy's BBQ Joint, for breakfast. On the front page of the Herald is Zoe's story about Blythe's "far left" education plan.

Definition? James Patterson, June 2006, "Introduction," Thriller ► ..There are all kinds. The legal thriller, spy thriller, action- adventure thriller, medical thriller, police thriller, romantic thriller, historical thriller, political thriller, religious thriller, high- tech thriller, military thriller. The list goes on and on, with new variations constantly being invented. In fact, this openness to expansion is one of the genre's most enduring characteristics. But what gives the variety of thrillers a common ground is the intensity of emotions they create, particularly those of apprehension and exhilaration, of excitement and breathlessness, all designed to generate that all-important thrill. By definition, if a thriller doesn't thrill, it's not doing its job.

Generic conventions Generic conventions ► A film genre is defined by its codes A film genre is defined by its codes and conventions and these must band conventions and these must be present to make a film a genre film present to make a film a genre film but should involve some aspect of but should involve some aspect of innovation, subversion and/or innovation, subversion and/or inflection (otherwise it becomes a inflection (otherwise it becomes a formula film)formula film)  Mise-en-scene Mise-en-scene  Setting Setting  Visual style Visual style  Themes Themes  Ideology Ideology  Stars Stars  Character-types Character-types  Narratives Narratives  Iconography Iconography  Cinematography Cinematography  Special effects Special effects  Sound/music Sound/music

Neale's Theory

Steve Neale’s theory of Repetition and Difference. 

Steve Neale states that genres all contain instances of repetition and difference, difference is essential to the to the economy of the genre.

Neale states that the film and it’s genre is defined by two things:

How much is conforms to its genre’s individual conventions and stereotypes. A film must match the genre’s conventions to be identified as part of that genre.

How much a film subverts the genre’s conventions and stereotypes. The film must subvert convention enough to be considered unique and not just a clone of an existing film.

I AM THE HERO IN HOUSE OF CARDS!!!

Frank is not true hero, but rather an anti hero because of how he acts and treats people. He is doing what in his mind is morally right, but his actions are still questionable.

Conventions of a Political Thriller

A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle. They usually involve legal plots, designed to give political power to enemy, while protagonist has to try to stop the enemy. They can involve national or international political scenarios. The common themes are: political corruption, terrorism, and warfare. Political thrillers can be based on true facts such as the assassination of John F Kennedy. In political thrillers there is usually a strong overlap with the conspiracy thriller. For example in the 2012 film Argo, the protagonist has to rescue the American hostages from Iran

Character Analysis

Claire Underwood is Frank Underwood's wife, who is in charge of an environmental nonprofit organisation. Claire mirrors Frank when it comes to money and the way that she treats people; she isn't a shoulder to cry on, but she is the person who would make you cry (breaking the stereotype of women). However, she does follow the stereotypical way of acting when it comes to meeting Zoe and degrades Zoe for using her sexuality to create her career. Claire subverts to feminine qualities and is more masculine to Frank, breaking the patriarchy. Overall, Claire is ruthless, corrupt and is corruption to those around her.



Frank Underwood is the wife to Claire Underwood and is running for Secretary, however, is disappointed and is told to stay in the Congress. In the beginning, Frank is shown killing off a dog so that it ends suffering, this immediately starts off the ruthless demeanour that he spreads. Throughout the first episode, Frank uses an extensive amount of blackmail in order to get what he wants and stereotypes the politics (for example relating to Donald Trump and Boris Johnson). Frank shows a lot of monologues, evoking a sense of individualism and breaks the fourth wall. He is the main protagonist. Frank is patriarchal, holding the power as a middle-class white man. Frank relates to the consumerism when he is at the ball and is narrating what he is thinking - judging everyone for what they are wearing and whereabouts in the economic scale they lie. Alike his wife, he is both corruption and is corrupt himself.